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
I love that painting. Thanks for posting it.
That has become one of the things I do when I go to an exhibit I especially like - I buy the book for me!
Wouldn't that make the price go DOWN? (It sure did in the case of my print!)
I've heard that story too. Supposedly somebody found a cache of the blank/signed paper.
The thing that's always struck me is that the Apostles look like priests and altar boys kneeling at the Consecration.
You are both on the list, thank you.
The central figure in this Dali looks a lot like Gala---Dali's wife---with whom he was obsessed---and who he put into so many of his works.
Have you read Kipling's short story "Dayspring Mishandled"? As a miniature aficionado it should interest you!
I think Sargent is the one who said that "a portrait is a painting in which something is wrong with the mouth." Apparently a lot of his sitters wanted the mouth adjusted.
Eventually he got tired of doing portraits, but I guess by then he had enough money so that he could paint what he wished.
I have seen some nice watercolors by him, hadn't been aware that he'd even done any until recently. Anyhow, he was a master at that too.
Another writer (and approximate contemporary of Kipling), M.R. James, who many consider the father of the 20th Century ghost story, served as the Provost of King's College, Cambridge, but had been originally trained as an antiquarian and medievalist. A lot of his stories either allude to, or are centered around medieval texts, totems, practices, etc. I don't know if you remember "Friday the 13th - The Series," which aired back in the late 80's early 90's and had little if anything to do with the movies...a lot of their episodes seem to have been patterned after James' stories.
Please add me to the art ping list. Thanks!
I think setting up an FR art gallery is a terrific idea. I'm also taking watercolor and oil painting classes and post on wetcanvas.com now and then. It's a great source for artists.
I saw this painting at the Met when I was an art student, many years ago, and it took my breath away. I was told that the model for Mary was his wife.
OK, have placed you on the art ping list, thanks.
I've got to photograph a few more images, then I'll be ready to post an Art Gallery thread. Or anyone else could whenever they want to. I'm not sure exactly which of us are artists, but I know there are a lot.
This small image of the painting whispers the artist's power over his canvas.
(Dali used Gala's image in many of his works.)
Will be out of town until tomorrow evening. I will check my pings then to see if there is anyone else to put on the art ping list.
The sculpture "Laocoön," at the Vatican Museums, was unearthed in 1506, but a new theory says it is a forgery by Michelangelo.
A (Lynn Catterson) scholar has suggested that "Laocoön," a fabled sculpture whose unearthing in 1506 has deeply influenced thinking about the ancient Greeks and the nature of the visual arts, may well be a Renaissance forgery - possibly by Michelangelo himself.
The strikingly naturalistic sculpture, 95 1/2 inches tall, depicts a deadly attack on the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons by writhing sea snakes dispatched by Athena - or, some say, Poseidon - after Laocoön warned against admitting the Trojan horse during the siege of Troy. It resides in the Vatican Museums in Rome.
Richard Brilliant, Anna S. Garbedian emeritus professor of the humanities at Columbia and an authority on classical antiquities - his works include "My Laocoön: Alternative Claims in the Interpretation of Artworks" (University of California Press, 2000) - said that Dr. Catterson's contention was "noncredible on any count."
For one thing, he said, "she made absolutely no reference to ancient sculptures that could be related to 'Laocoön,' " including a large body of ancient fragments found just before World War II at Sperlonga, a site near Rome where Tiberius had a luxurious villa, that refer specifically to episodes of the Trojan war. Some scholars have also found fault in relating the "Laocoön" to the Michelangelo drawing of a torso, now at the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.
"To my eye, the Michelangelo drawing does not bear a close resemblance to the torso of the Vatican Laocoön," said Katherine E. Welch, an associate professor at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts and an expert in Hellenistic and Roman imperial antiquities, in an e-mail message. "The latter is distinguished by a vigorous torsion or twist, which is lacking in the drawing."
The "Laocoön" was placed at the Vatican Museums by Pope Julius II not long after it was discovered on Jan. 14, 1506, on the Esquiline Hill. Upon hearing the news, the pope immediately dispatched the architect Giuliano da Sangallo to view it; Sangallo brought along his colleague Michelangelo Buonarroti.
As a young artist under the patronage of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Michelangelo had witnessed the Medici family's willingness to spend considerable sums on ancient Greek or Roman objects, which he would have had ample opportunity to study and perhaps try to recreate, she said. He was an astute forger who earned his Bacchus commission after a carved sleeping Cupid that he had buried in the ground to "age" had been sold to a wealthy cardinal in 1495.
EXCERPTED--Rest here http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/18/arts/design/18laoc.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1113840396-KymdyZFLo6BWNI75eOk4KQ
What more fitting visual contemplation for the Cardinals as they convene in the Conclave this week, than this masterpiece by Michelangelo.
Last Judgement
As I recall, the 'hanging flesh' is Michelangelo's self portrait.
The Cardinals convene the all-important election conclave amid the magnificence of these works.
More on The Last Judgment (from a Michaelangelo biography)
In Rome, in 1536, Michelangelo was at work on the Last Judgment for the alter wall of the Sistine Chapel, which he finished in 1541. The largest fresco of the Renaissance, it depicts Judgment Day. Christ, with a clap of thunder, puts into motion the inevitable separation, with the saved ascending on the left side of the painting and the damned descending on the right into a Dantesque hell. As was his custom, Michelangelo portrayed all the figures nude, but prudish draperies were added by another artist (who was dubbed the 'breeches-maker') a decade later, as the cultural climate became more conservative. Michelangelo painted his own image in the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew. Although he was also given another painting commission, the decoration of the Pauline Chapel in the 1540s, his main energies were directed toward architecture during this phase of his life.
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