Rome: St Peter’s. Project for the stucco ceiling of the portico, 1618

Artist/Maker

DatesMade: Executed c. 1620

Material / Technique

Dimensionsh x w: Mått 40,9 x 66,6 cm

Inventory numberNMH CC 1713

Other titlesTitle (sv): Peterskyrkan, Vatikanen, Rom: projekt för innertaket i portiken till Peterskyrkan i Vatikanen (korrekt inv nr CC 1713+1714. ) Title (en): Rome: St Peter’s. Project for the stucco ceiling of the portico, 1618 Previous: Project for the ceiling of the portico of St. Peter's in the Vatican

DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Bortolozzi, Italian Architectural Drawings from the Cronstedt Collection, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm (2020, cat.no. 134) Giovan Battista Ricci da Novara (c. 1537–1627) Graphite, pen and brown ink over graphite, brown and blue wash, construction lines in graphite, drawn with straightedge, compass and freehand, 40.6/40.9 × 65.5/66.6 cm NM H CC 1713–1714 PAPER: medium weight, two sheets joined vertically, losses along the junction, trimmed edges WATERMARK: Eagle 39 MEASUREMENTS: Roman palmi, canne; scale at the upper right edge with 5 units [canne] = 17.5cm PROVENANCE: Carl Johan Cronstedt and descendants; Eric Langenskiöld; gift to the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm 1941 BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hibbard 1971, 162, pl. 62a; Bjurström, Magnusson 1998, Cat. no. 560; Pallottino 1999, Cat. no. 175; Bortolozzi 2011, 165, fig. 36; Bortolozzi 2012, 160, fig. 80 EXHIBITED: Lugano 1999, 325–326, Cat. no. 1756 The drawing shows a proposal for the stucco decoration of the vault of the portico of New St Peter’s, fairly close to the accomplished design. It is conceived around seven large panels placed at the centre of the ceiling, though the draughtsman depicts only the left half the vault. In the first rectangular panel on the left is St Andrew presenting St Peter to Christ, and in a roundel between two of the larger panels is the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. In the pendentives of the vault are four seated figures that could be identified as Popes (the two figures wearing the tiaras) and Doctors of the Church. On the sides of the windows are seated figures, probably prophets and apostles, and at the top of the lunettes feigned oculi contain putti playing. Strapwork cartouches with the arms of Paul V Borghese decorate the corners of the composition. In the final design, accomplished entirely in stuccowork from 15 May 1618 onward on cartoons provided by Giovan Battista Ricci, all references to the Old Testament were omitted. The iconographic programme was thus centred around four panels with scenes from the Legend of Constantine and two panels with the standing figures of the apostles Peter and Paul, surrounded by twenty-eight roundels representing scenes from the life and miracles of the apostle Peter. Thirty-two seated figures of the first canonised popes flanked the feigned windows. The symbolic meaning of the cycle became the establishment of the Roman Church through Christ and his successors and the legitimacy of the papacy's temporal power. An initialproposal for the decoration of the vault of the portico of St Peter's is alsoin the Nationalmuseum (NM H THC 4536, Cat. no. 133), most probably with the same provenance.The remarkable dimensions of the sheet and the quality of the execution suggest that the drawing can be regarded as a presentation one. LITERATURE: Hibbard 1971, 160–163; 178–180; Teza 1996; Lugano 1999, 325–326, Cat. no. 175; Bortolozzi 2011 [end]

Collection