DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48462#0359
Howard Hibbard. The Date of Lanfranco’s Fresco in the Villa Borghese and Other Chronological Problems 355
255. Villa Borghese, Rome. Decorations of the Galleria on the Piano Nobile by Lanfranco
THE DATE OF LÄNFRANCO’S FRESCO IN THE VILLA BORGHESE
AND OTHER CHRONOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
by Howard Hibbard
After Bernini the most important Roman artist of the 1620’s was Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647).
Second to the dorne fresco of S. Andrea della Valle, this reputation is based on the large ceiling fresco in
the Villa Borghese (fig. 255). These two paintings may be considered the core of his monumental work
in Rome.
Until now our knowledge of the Borghese vault was based on Passeri, who reports its commission as the
direct result of the painter’s success in the Cappella di S. Guglielmo in S. Agostino1. On circumstantial
evidence the dates of both these works are commonly placed in the second decade of the Century. The
S. Andrea dorne is supposed to have been next in turn, begun sometime soon after the Borghese fresco
and, according to Passeri, at the beginning of the 1620’s2. With the aid of both new and already published
documents, however, it is now possible to fix precise, and rather later, dates for the Borghese as well as
the S. Andrea frescos.
1 Die Künstlerbiographien von Giovanni Battista Passeri, edited by Jacob Hess, Leipzig/Vienna 1934, pp. 144f. (henceforth:
“Passeri-Hess”). G. P. Bellori, Le vite . . . , Rome 1672, p. 382, seems to imply that the Borghese painting was executed before
the death of Paul V early in 1621 (henceforth: “Bellori”). Usually the fresco has been dated 1616-1620 since the palace itself was
being finished in those years. For the S. Agostino paintings, see below, and notes 5, 6, and 7.
2 Op. cit., p. 150. Passeri thought the work was begun in 1621 and finished for the Jubilee of 1625.
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255. Villa Borghese, Rome. Decorations of the Galleria on the Piano Nobile by Lanfranco
THE DATE OF LÄNFRANCO’S FRESCO IN THE VILLA BORGHESE
AND OTHER CHRONOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
by Howard Hibbard
After Bernini the most important Roman artist of the 1620’s was Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647).
Second to the dorne fresco of S. Andrea della Valle, this reputation is based on the large ceiling fresco in
the Villa Borghese (fig. 255). These two paintings may be considered the core of his monumental work
in Rome.
Until now our knowledge of the Borghese vault was based on Passeri, who reports its commission as the
direct result of the painter’s success in the Cappella di S. Guglielmo in S. Agostino1. On circumstantial
evidence the dates of both these works are commonly placed in the second decade of the Century. The
S. Andrea dorne is supposed to have been next in turn, begun sometime soon after the Borghese fresco
and, according to Passeri, at the beginning of the 1620’s2. With the aid of both new and already published
documents, however, it is now possible to fix precise, and rather later, dates for the Borghese as well as
the S. Andrea frescos.
1 Die Künstlerbiographien von Giovanni Battista Passeri, edited by Jacob Hess, Leipzig/Vienna 1934, pp. 144f. (henceforth:
“Passeri-Hess”). G. P. Bellori, Le vite . . . , Rome 1672, p. 382, seems to imply that the Borghese painting was executed before
the death of Paul V early in 1621 (henceforth: “Bellori”). Usually the fresco has been dated 1616-1620 since the palace itself was
being finished in those years. For the S. Agostino paintings, see below, and notes 5, 6, and 7.
2 Op. cit., p. 150. Passeri thought the work was begun in 1621 and finished for the Jubilee of 1625.
23*