A primer on “Bernini & the Roman Baroque”

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Character Style

written by SARAH J. HALL

DIRECTOR, WASHINGTON COUNTY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

This summer, for the first time since 1965, the museum is bringing a spectacular collection of Old Master paintings to Hagerstown. “Bernini & the Roman Baroque: Masterpieces from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia” includes 50 works by 40 artists, exploring the artistic influence of Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680).

Who is Bernini?

Perhaps the greatest of the Baroque artists, throughout his long life, Bernini’s work as a sculptor, architect, artist, set designer, playwright and actor had resounding influence. Bernini, a visionary, conceived of the visual arts as a synthesized whole that worked together to create one large, total work of art. His philosophy was groundbreaking and exerted a profound impact on European art of the 17th century. Aspects of Bernini’s style and conception of the arts evolved into a broad cultural phenomenon, spreading concurrently from Naples to Venice, Vienna to Prague, and Bohemia to St. Petersburg, finally assuming full global dimensions when it reached the Americas through monumental church architecture, painting and sculpture.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Guillaume Courtois, called “Il Borgognone,” Agar and Ismael, c. 1670, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of Collection Fagiolo, Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia.

1600s, the goal of Baroque art was elevating the viewer in mind and soul, and it achieved that through drama, theatricality and emotional appeal. A style that evolved in response to the Protestant Reformation (which began in 1517), Baroque artists in Rome used their artistic skills to hold believers in thrall of the Catholic Church, but the bold and emotionally expressive style rapidly influenced all forms of visual expression and was not simply in service to religion. Baroque art is characterized by theatricality, an interest in dynamic, complex compositions, rich color and dramatic lighting.

About the collection

The exhibition comes to Hagerstown June 26 to Sept 19 from the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia, a hill town about 16 miles from Rome. It is in Ariccia that the Chigi family purchased their country palazzo in 1664, outside of the city and near the pope’s summer residence. The family commissioned Bernini to renovate its palazzo and make extensive changes to the plan of Ariccia.

The palazzo, owned by the Chigi family until 1988, became a public museum in 2000. There, the collection of the Chigi family has been augmented and forms the nucleus of the Museum of the Roman Baroque.

The exhibition

Organized thematically, the exhibition will begin with an orientation to the palazzo and the town of Ariccia, setting the stage for an understanding of the context of the collection. Bernini is represented through prints depicting his architectural achievements in Ariccia, and also through 10 artworks

Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Nelli, Decorative Ceiling Lamp, 1885, Bronze and gilded bronze, Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia.

that exemplify his profoundly influential and characteristically Baroque concept of the total work of art. Bernini’s work for the Chigis is represented by decorative items from the palazzo, including a rare leather wall hanging bearing emblems of the Chigi family, an exquisite length of red silk embroidered with the Chigi coat of arms and a decorative ceiling lamp depicting cherubs in flight, raising a crown for the Virgin Mary. Other sections of the exhibition explore portraits, landscapes and historical paintings, as well as narrative works depicting mythological and biblical subjects.

Don’t miss

The use of courtly portraiture to display and elevate status is shown in a number of works portraying members of the Chigi family and other Roman nobles, including the lovely “Portrait of Maria Isabella Capranica Cerri” by Jacob Ferdinand Voet, an example from a series of 37 portraits of Roman princesses commissioned by Cardinal Flavio Chigi between 1672 and 1678. The sitter’s elaborate ruffled sleeves and beribboned costume complement her softly rendered hair and lustrous skin. Other notable portraits include an arresting depiction of Cardinal Flavio Chigi (also by Voet), and a compelling self-portrait by Giovan Battista Gaulli. Displaying subtle variegations in color and the characteristic dramatic use of light

Ferdinand Voet, Portrait of Cardinal Flavio Chigi, 1670, Oil on canvas, Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia. Pier Francesco Mola, Bacchus, or the Allegory of Taste, 1662-66, Oil on canvas, Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia.

associated with the Baroque period, the artist exudes a sense of alert composure and confidence.

A showstopper in the exhibition is the allegorical canvas “Summer” by Mario Nuzzi (Mario de’Fiori) and Carlo Maratti (il Maratta), which is more than 9 feet long. The subject is from a series of monumental paintings depicting the seasons as stages in life, which were commissioned for the palazzo around 1658. The goddess of the harvest, Ceres, is depicted admiring herself in a mirror. The exuberance and opulence of nature in this work is meant to convey the richness and plenty of summer, while also referring to the fullness of accomplishment in adult life.

Key historical and biblical paintings to note include Domenico Fetti’s highly emotional “The Suicide of Cleopatra,” Jacques Courtois’ (“il Borgognone”) remarkable “Agar and Ashmael,” Pietro da Cortona’s dramatic “Flagellation” and Giuseppe Cesari’s (“Cavalier d’Arpino”) “Orpheus and Urydice.”

The genre of landscape is represented by Jean de Momper’s expansive “Landscape with Hunting Scene” and Salvator Rosa’s “Landscape with a Rock and Tree.” Other artists of note in the exhibition include Giovanni Battista Salvi (“il Sassoferrato”), Matia Preti, Pier Francesco Mola, Andrea Pozzo, Ottavio Leoni and Giovanni Battista Falda.

A day trip to Italy – no passport required

Hagerstown is one stop on a four-city U.S. tour. The exhibition was organized by Glocal Project Consulting and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C. A fully illustrated catalog is available.

This landmark exhibition brings to Hagerstown an extraordinary variety of artworks and decorative objects that mirror the cosmopolitan and sophisticated taste of Roman patrons during the 1600s, when Rome was a destination and crossroads for adventurous artists from every region of Italy and Europe.