Rome: Palazzo Mattei di Giove. Elevation of a Doric loggia with a serliana, c. 1600

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Made ca 1600

Material / Technique

Dimensionsh x w: 28,3 x 41,7 cm

Inventory numberNMH CC 2005

AcqusitionDonated 1941 by Eric Langenskiöld. Formerly in the Cronstedt collection, Fullerö

Other titlesTitle (sv): Loggia med serliana för Palazzo Mattei, Rom. Elevation Title (en): Rome: Palazzo Mattei di Giove. Elevation of a Doric loggia with a serliana, c. 1600 Previous: Loggia with a Serliana for the Mattei Palace, Rome. Elevation

DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Bortolozzi, Italian Architectural Drawings from the Cronstedt Collection, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2020 (cat.no. 161) Carlo Maderno (1556–1629), his workshop Squared in graphite, pen and brown ink, brown wash. Drawn with straightedge, compass and freehand, 28.3 × 41.7 cm NM H CC 2005 PAPER: heavy, lower left corner cut. Four small holes in the four corners of the sheet indicate that the drawing was once pinned to a wall or drawing board. Other minor holes are visible along the horizontal folding line WATERMARK: Christ monogram 15 MEASUREMENTS: Roman palmi; scale key in the lower edge: 10 units [palmi] = 6.9 cm PROVENANCE: Carl Johan Cronstedt and descendants; Eric Langenskiöld; gift to the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm 1941 BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bortolozzi 2008, 96–97, fig. 1 The drawing shows a loggia composed of a major Doric order framing a minor Ionic order with an arch in the form of a serliana. On the wall above the entablature of the lateral bays are two rectangular stucco mouldings, the left one of which is decorated with a classical bust inserted in an oval strapwork frame. In the metopes of the frieze of the major order are an eagle and two chessboards crossed by a diagonal band, alluding to the coat of arms of the Mattei family. It is reasonable to assume that the drawing represents a project for Asdrubale Mattei, whose palace in Rome was built by Carlo Maderno between 1598 and 1616. The Mattei Palace is a significant building among Maderno’s work, since it is the only palace entirely designed and executed by the architect. It is acknowledged that in 1599 Asdrubale Mattei paid Maderno for “diversi disegni fattimi della scala, loggia, finestre, e di tutta la fabrica” (Panofsky-Soergel 1967/68, 116, n. 30). The drawing in the Cronstedt Collection was probably a variant for one of the two ground-floor loggias, rejected in favour of a more severe, classical design with three Tuscan arcades with pilasters. However, a few decorative elements of the design can be recognised in the existing building: the Mattei coat of arms in the Ionic frieze of the first storey of the southern loggia and the classical busts in oval frames in the staircase and in the upper wall of the courtyard. The scale at the bottom of the drawing indicates that the intended height of the storey was 31.5 palmi (c. 7 metres) and the entire length 43 palmi (c. 9.60 metres). This measurement is 2.5 metres less than the width of the actual courtyard, the southern side of which was built by 1606. The difference may be explained by the fact that the overall plan of the palace, drawn between 1598 and 1599, was subject to several modifications during the construction. It is thus suggested that the Cronstedt drawing relates to an early stage of the planning for the palace and that it should be dated before 1606.A similar design can be found in the loggia of the Casino dell’Aurora in the Garden Palace on the Quirinal (now Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi), built for Cardinal Scipione Borghese from 1612 onwards and probably designed by Maderno (Hibbard 1971, 191–192). An analogous composition also appears in Maderno’s water theatre in the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati. LITERATURE: Panofsky-Soergel 1967/68; Hibbard 1971, 127–129; Bortolozzi 2008 [end]

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