Rome as Spectacle - Week 5

Question 1

Answer 1

Name: Belvedere Courtyard

Architect: Donato Bramante

Date: 1506

Location: Vatican Palace, Vatican City

• Bramante regularized the slope as a set of terraces, linked by rigorously symmetrical stairs on the central longitudinal axis, to create a sequence of formal spaces
• courtyard broken into 3 parts by Sixtus V who breakaway from the imperialism and immensity.
• immensity of scale compared to other courtyards, imperial ambition was common in the 16th century

Question 2

Answer 2

Name: Museo Pio Clementino

Founded by: Pope Clement XIV

Date: 1771

Location: Vatican Palace, Vatican City

• Contains greek and roman work
• Museum and collection enlarged by Pius VI
• Total of 54 galleries, the final being the sistene chapel; journey to that destination
• Notable galleries:
• Greek Cross Gallery: (Sala a Croce Greca): with the porphyri sarcophagi of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great.
• Sala Rotonda: shaped like a miniature Pantheon, the room has impressive ancient mosaics on the floors, and ancient statues lining the perimeter, including a gilded bronze statue of Hercules.
• Gallery of the Statues (Galleria delle Statue): as its name implies, holds various important statues, including Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of Menander. It also contains theBarberini Candelabra.
• Gallery of the Busts (Galleria dei Busti): Many ancient busts are displayed.
• Cabinet of the Masks (Gabinetto delle Maschere): The name comes from the mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana, which shows ancient theater masks. Along the walls, several famous statues are shown including the Three Graces.
• Sala delle Muse: Houses the statue group of Apollo and the nine muses as well as statues by important ancient Greek sculptors.
• Sala degli Animali: So named because of the many ancient statues of animals.

Question 3

Answer 3

Name: Chapel of Nicholas V

Artist: Fra Angelico

Date: 1447-1450

Location: Apostolic Palace in Vatican City

• The name is derived from its patron, Pope Nicholas V, who had it built for use as his private chapel.
• The chapel is located in the Tower of Innocent III, in the most ancient part of the Apostolic Palace
• only the pope uses this chapel
• dedicated to St. Stephen (stoned-rock in head) and St. Laurence (burned)
• The frescoes, full of fine architectural details, allude also to Nicholas V’s desire to rebuild Rome as the new capital city of Christianity

Question 4

Answer 4

Name: Stanze of Raphael

Artist: Raphael

Date: 1508

Location: Palace of the Vatican, Vatican City

• Frescoes, painted by Raphael and his workshop.
• Patrons: Julius II and Leo X
• Together with Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, they are the grand fresco sequences that mark the High Renaissance in Rome.
• Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael, in 1508 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely.
• Rooms are: the Sala di Costantino (“Hall of Constantine”), the Stanza di Eliodoro (“Room of Heliodorus”), the Stanza della Segnatura (“Room of the Signatura”) and the Stanza dell’Incendio del Borgo (“The Room of the Fire in the Borgo”)
• Frescoes often allusions that mixes historical facts with politics at the time, or retouching the story for the papacy to regain legitimacy

Question 5

Answer 5

Name: Sistine Chapel

Architect: Baccio Pontelli, Giovanni de Dolci

Date: 1473-1481

Location: Apolistic Palace, Vatican City

• Patrons: Sixtus IV, Julius II, Leo X, Paul III
• Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored it between 1477 and 1480
• Team of Renaissance painters created frescoes 1482
• Ceiling by Michaelangelo 1508-1512
• Tapestries by Raphael 1514-1517
• Last Judgement by Michelangelo 1534-1541
• Illustrates Book of Genesis, Creation of Man, Noah as Protagonist
• Rafael designs the tapestries which are hung on the side walls during important events
• The Last Judgement, unlike the ceiling frescoes, has no architectural element drawn in, no pictorial space, instead, it is organized in bands, which are similar to the side wall organization
• Fresco was later “censored” by other artists, and during restoration, kept some of the figures as partially clothed to expose the early censorship