Сикст IV как заказчик Сикстинских капелл

The name of Sixtus IV is associated with three Sistine Chapels: in the Vatican Palace, in the former convent of San Francesco in Savona, and in the old Basilica of San Pietro in Rome (also known as the Choir Chapel and Immaculate Chapel). The former is well studied by scientists. While remaining two chapels are much less discussed in the literature since their Quattrocentist setting has largely been lost. The article compares these three major artistic orders and for the first time shows how different their ecclesiastical and social significance were, and how distinctively the outstanding personality of Sixtus IV was manifested in each of them. In the Vatican chapel are depicted his religious, political and philanthropic activities. The funeral chapel in San Pietro was designed to provide the customer with a happy afterlife and perpetuates Sixtus IV as a real Pope-King. The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception located far from Rome became the mausoleum for the pontiff's parents and provides the most complete picture of his personal qualities. In this monument Sixtus IV is shown as an attentive son, but also practically dared to put himself on a par with the saints. С именем Сикста IV связаны три Сикстинские капеллы: в Ватиканском дворце, бывшем монастыре Сан-Франческо в Савоне и старой базилике Сан-Пьетро в Риме (также известная как капелла хора и капелла Непорочного зачатия). Первой из них посвящено множество исследований. Две другие представлены в литературе значительно более скромно (их кватрочентистская декорация во многом была утрачена). В статье путем сопоставления этих трех крупных художественных заказов впервые показано, насколько разными были их церковное и общественное значение и как самобытно в каждом из них проявилась выдающаяся личность Сикста IV. В ватиканской капелле запечатлена его религиозно-политическая и меценатская деятельность. Погребальная капелла в Сан-Пьетро, призванная обеспечить заказчику счастливую загробную участь, увековечивает его в памяти потомков как настоящего Папу-Короля. Удаленная от Рима капелла Непорочного зачатия, ставшая мавзолеем родителей понтифика, дает наиболее полное представление о его личных качествах. В этом памятнике Сикст IV не только проявил трогательную сыновью заботу, но и практически дерзнул поставить себя в один ряд со святыми.

Introduction

In the Cappella Paolina in the Vatican Palace hangs Michelangelo’s Crucifixion of Saint Peter, one of the most recognizable images in Christian art. As a crowd of onlookers watches, the aged and surprisingly muscular apostle lies nailed to a cross, his intense eyes glaring directly at the viewer. One soldier digs a hole for his cross, while seven others struggle to raise the cross into position so that Peter will be suspended upside down....

Depicting the Heavens: The Use of Astrology in the Frescoes of Renaissance Rome

This paper explores the use of astrological imagery in four ceiling frescoes painted during the Renaissance in Rome: the scenes of the Sala di Galatea in the Villa Farnesina, and those of the Stanza della Segnatura, the Sala dei Pontefici, and the Sala Bologna, all within the Vatican Palace. Significantly this imagery was not confined to the pages of private manuscripts as it had been in the Middle Ages, but took the form of frescoes on the walls and ceilings of public rooms, allowing viewers to bask in the celestial glory of the patron. Commissioned in 1575 by Pope Gregory XIII, I argue that the Sala Bologna imagery represents a critical juncture in attitudes toward natural philosophy, and demonstrates a shift from astrological interpretation, as condemned at the Council of Trent, to astronomical calculation, as promoted by the Catholic Church. I argue that the placement of these murals demonstrates that this type of pictorial aggrandizement was intended to reach a wide audience and was used by the patron, popes being the most prominent among these, as a form of visual self-promotion. I also examine how contemporaneous events - notably the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent - affected astrological practice and the monumental display of these horoscopes. Astrological imagery is not limited to Rome, but the four examples I discuss represent the peak of such decoration and offer insight into a widespread feature of early modern Italian culture that has yet to be adequately explored.