Posted on 04/08/2005 7:50:39 AM PDT by Liz
View of the Cathedra Petri through the Baldacchino, both by Gianlorenzo Bernini
The Cross and Apse
Baldacchino: Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1624-33, gilt bronze, ht. c.100 feet, San Pietro (St. Peter's), Rome.
As part of the decoration of Saint Peter's in Rome by Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644) [Maffeo Barberini], Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) received the commission for the design and construction of a structure that would be placed over the tomb of St. Peter in the crossing of the newly rebuilt basilica.
The resulting structure, known as the Baldacchino, is a combination of ideas that stem from earlier attempts at distinguishing the high altar and the tomb.
Many of the design elements such as the spiral column establish a link to the basilica of Old Saint Peter's and to the Temple in Jerusalem.
It is important to realize that Bernini early on in his career to the time of his death had always some connection to the decoration of Saint Peter's. It is his overall view of what the basilica should look like that makes Bernini's designs the essence of the Baroque style.
The size of the Baldacchino is approximately 100 feet tall. However, when compared with earlier models, it was not that much taller. Depending on where the structure was placed, either in the apse or over the tomb, and if it was part of a screen separating the choir from the nave, the earlier versions were just as large.
The Baldacchino is constructed from bronze, much of it stolen from the Pantheon (portico) and from the dome of St. Peter's (ribs). The height of the Baldacchino is supported by the use of bronze, rather than the perishable materials used in earlier versions.
The spiral columns of the Baldacchino are imitations of the ancient spiral shafts that were salvaged from the Old St. Peters and earlier basilica decoration. The original columns were moved to decorate the reliquary niches in the four corners of the crossing. In Bernini's version of the column, instead of alternating fluted and floral sections, he has placed the fluted section at the bottom and the remaining sections are foliage, consisting of the Barberini laurels.
1 Medieval folklore stated that the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul were divided, half of each is buried in St. Peter's basilica and the other halves are buried at St. Paul's Outside the Walls (Lavin, 1) Atop the four columns that support the canopy of the Baldacchino stand four angels, over life-size. The affect that the angels produce suggests that they are what is supporting the canopy and not the columns (Lavin, 12).
The crown is comprised of four curved ribs that support a globe and cross. Records indicate that the globe and cross were not in the original plans by Bernini. Bernini's concept was to have the Resurrected Christ aloft the crown, as it would have worked in his entire plan of the crossing decoration. Between the angels, there are two putti that hold the papal tiara and St. Peter's keys, and two more putti hold a sword and book, symbols of St. Paul.1
Throughout the decorative elements on the Baldacchino are the symbols of Urban VIII, sun and bees, as well as the laurel of the Barberini family (mentioned above).
Bernini managed to fuse together parts of earlier ciboria and baldachin constructed in St. Peters, while adding elements that were indicative of his style.
Cathedra Petri
Gianlorenzo Bernini, 1656-66, gilt bronze, marble, stucco, glass, San Pietro, Rome
The crowning achievement of Bernini's design for the decoration of St. Peter's can be found in his later work Cathedra Petri (Chair of St. Peter) located in the apse of the basilica. This large reliquary was designed to house the original wooden chair of St. Peter's. In ecclesiastic tradition, Bishops always have their seats in the chief church of their district (cathedra=cathedral), and the Pope has his seat in St. John's in Lateran. Symbolically, the chair of St. Peter recognizes that St. Peter was the first pope and that San Pietro is and forever shall be his seat.
The Cathedra Petri is similar to Bernini's other works, like the Ecstasy of St. Theresa, in that it is not a single piece to be viewed by itself. Rather, the Cathedra Petri should be viewed in conjunction with the Baldacchino and the four pier sculptures.
Right: Detail, St. Augustine, gilt bronze, located proper right of the sculpture. Represents one of the Doctors of the church from the West. Far Right: Detail, St. Athanasius, gilt bronze, located inside proper left of the sculpture. Represents one of the four Doctors of the church from the East.
The base of the sculpture is made of colored marble. The Fathers or Doctors of the Church (Sts. Ambrose, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and Augustine) and the Chair are made of bronze, partly gilded. The original chair is housed in the bronze chair that is flanked by the Fathers or Doctors of the Church. The chair appears to hover by divine will.
Above the chair is what is commonly known as the Glory. This is a combination of stucco putti and angels surrounding a stained glass window that is the actual light source for the apse. Bernini was disappointed with the original window and the glare that it created, so he incorporated it into the final product of Cathedra Petri. The window and dove act as the light and word of God and the Holy Spirit. Bernini diffused the light by using colored glass and reduced the harsh glare he so detested.
Details, The Glory, stucco and stained glass. The overall effect of the Cathedra Petri is awe-inspiring; rays of light, made in stucco, jut out from the real source of light. So much emotion is worked into the piece by the expression on the Doctors' faces and the movement of the putti and angels. Also located on the Cathedra Petri are bas relief of Washing of the Feet and The Handing Over of the Keys to St. Peter, created by Bernini. On the back side is a bas relief regarding Christ's decree to St. Peter, "watch over my flock."
Bernini reduced the size of the Cathedra Petri so that it could be viewed in its entirety through the Baldacchino. In that view, Bernini emphasized the importance of the relics contained in each and the foundation of the Church.
Created by Gwen M. McKinney, mckinney03@sbc.edu, 13 April 2003
OK, you are on the art ping list, thanks.
I actually kind of like the dogs playing poker, for their irreverance toward Art with a capital A. Not that the Bernini doesn't deserve the capital A, it deserves everything.
But I've come up with a new classification for some art, it occurred to me at an art fair in Ocala while lookins at some ghastly glass and painted little corny statues. I was calling it rifle range art, anything that would be fun to take to the range and use for target practice.
Rifle Range Art would cover a lot of work. Especially anything by Andy Warhol (sp).
One of the poplar panels he was aging warped and rather than discard it, he went ahead and did an Elvis icon...complete with gold leaf background. It was so technically perfect and yet so anomalous that the overall effect was hilarious.
I've always been fond of the dog paintings...but then I've always been a dog guy.
I love dogs too !
Sorry to be late in responding. I had a skating competition this weekend so I am getting caught up now.
I haven't done much painting in the last few years so getting back to it was my New Year's resolution.
An FR art gallery sounds like a cool idea!
Man, how did I know you were gonna post that? LOL.
I know absolutely nothing about art, but the stuff here sure does look a lot better than the crap that passes for "art" today!
Clever, very clever.......would make a fun thread.
I guess I'm predictable in some respects.
I am very much in awe of art forgers and their ability to duplicate virtually any work of art---the Old Masters----even down to the unique brush strokes of say, a Seurat.
There's several books written about forgers......one of the most famous is David Stein.
Predictability----an admirable trait, to be sure.
I'm only predictable in some areas. In others I purposely defy logic, (for security reasons).
The art I'd really like to pattern my shotgun on is the work of Terry Redlins. Never heard of the guy 'til this week, but he's made so much money on his fake and maudlin Americana framed by sunsets that he's become a philanthropist. He has skills, but for a reason that I can't put my finger on yet, his art is kind of nauseating. Same goes for that guy that calls himself the artist of light.
I have 5 dogs, all strays. One is actually a hound dog that we found as a puppy in the woods alongside the road in VA.
I only have one dog right now. But I will have more in time. Never heard of Redlins. I'll check it out!
Van Meegeren also fascinates me....
Salvador Dali Christ of Saint John of the Cross 1951. Oil and canvas, 205 x 116 cm. Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum
LEGEND By far the most popular of all Dali’s religious works is without a doubt his Christ of Saint John of the Cross, whose figure dominates the Bay of Port Lligat. The painting was inspired by a drawing, preserved in the Convent of the Incarnation in Avila, Spain, and done by Saint John if the Cross himself after he had seen this vision of Christ during ecstasy.
The people beside the boat are derived from a picture by Le Nain and from drawing by Velázquez for The Surrender of Breda.
At the bottom of his studies for the Christ, Dali wrote: "In the first place, in 1950, I had a ‘cosmic dream’ in which I saw this image in color and which in my dream represented the ‘nucleus of the atom’. This nucleus later took on a metaphysical sense; I considered it ‘the very unity of the universe’, the Christ ! In the second place, when thanks to the instructions of Father Bruno, a Carmelite, I saw the Christ drawn by Saint John of the Cross, I worked out geometrically a triangle and a circle, which ‘aesthetically’ summarized all my previous experiments, and I inscribed my Christ in this triangle."
This work was regarded as banal by an important art critic when it was first exhibited in London. Nevertheless, several years later, it was slashed by a fanatic while was hanging in the Glasgow Museum, proof of its astonishing effect on people.
Dali relates that, when he was finishing the picture at the end of autumn in 1951, it was so cold in the house in Port Lligat that Gala abruptly decided to have central heating installed.
He remembers the moments of terror through which he then lived, fearing for his canvas on which the paint was still wet, with all the dust stirred up by the workmen: "We tool it from the studio to the bedroom so that I could continue to paint, covered with white sheet which dare not touch the surface of the oil. I said that I didn’t believe I could do my Christ again if any accident were to befall it. It was true ceremonial anguish. In ten days the central heating was installed and I was able to finish the picture in order to take it to London, where it was shown for the first time at the Lefevre Gallery."
When it was at the Biennial of Art in Madrid, along with other works of the painter, General Franco asked that two of the oils of the master of Figueras be brought to the palace of El Prado - Basket of Bread and Christ of Saint John of the Cross.
Certainly there is that!
I was most struck and amused, in some respects . . . perhaps you've seen--the inside of the main Dome in St Peters is so magnificent with all the mosaics, gold leaf etc.
And then in the stairwell on the other side of all the majestic surfaces of the inner dome was plaster with all manner of grafiti from all over the world.
I wonder how many people realize from below that the words around the base of the dome are in letters 6 feet or so high.
Just went to his website. I was not impressed.
Hoving also discusses the confusion caused by the "Grand Master" of forged Renaissance drawings, Eric Hebborn, and the remarkable forgeries of Han van Meegeren, the "Vermeer Man."
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