Cappella Raimondi
The Cappella Raimondi is a side chapel of the Church of San Pietro in Montorio in Rome . It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini .
The Cappella is the Raimondi's family chapel . The altarpiece and the general design of the chapel are dedicated to the life of St. Francis of Assisi . A special feature is the artistic staging of the light. The Cappella Raimondi was "the most light-filled room in Rome at the time", one of Bernini's first attempts to make his design work with light effects. According to the Bernini researcher Irving Lavin, the Cappella Raimondi is characterized by its specific and conscious design principle, which serves to subordinate all elements of the Cappella - walls, tombs, altar, vaults and floor - to a single system.
history
The Cappella Raimondi is one of eight chapels of the Church of San Pietro in Montorio , a titular church on the eastern slope of the Gianicolo . It was designed by Bernini, but executed by Francesco Barrata , Guidobaldo Abbatini, Nicolo Sale and Andrea Bolgi . Contrary to the assumption that has been made several times, it is unlikely that Bernini himself would be involved in the craftsmanship and the final execution. The church is a hall with an elongated choir and an approximately semicircular end of the choir. Four chapels are built on each side of the ship. While the chapels on the south-east side were expanded at the beginning of the 17th century and have different floor plans and dimensions, the size of the chapels on the north-west side was given because the church is adjacent to the Franciscan monastery. These chapels are therefore not directly illuminated by natural light. As part of the later expansion, the room of the Cappella Raimondi was probably also created on the opposite side, as Bernini found it and as it has been preserved to this day.
On the right side of the chapel is the grave of Francesco Raimondi, who died in 1638. On the left is the grave of Gerolamo Raimondi, who died in 1628 and was transferred to the family chapel. The start of construction and the duration of the design of the chapel are determined on the basis of these two dates of death. The commission was probably given to Bernini in 1638, the year Francesco Raimondi died. The implementation is said to have started four years later and ended in 1646. The date of completion is set on the basis of other contracts with Francesco Barratas and Nicolo Sales, which otherwise would have overlapped with this work. Bernini's contract only referred to the draft of the artistic design of the existing space. For the Cappella Raimondi, too, Bernini used antique architectural elements, modified classic patterns and refined the staging of space, architecture and sculpture through light. The altar relief with the stigmatization of St. Francis was made by the sculptor Francesco Baratta, a close collaborator of Bernini. The busts of Andrea Bolgis differ subtly from Bernini's original designs. The bas-reliefs on the front of the coffins were made by Nicolo Sale. The original painting of the ceiling by Guidobaldo Abbatini has not been preserved. Today's ceiling painting is a restored or reconstructed version.
The founding family
The order for the family chapel was given by Monsignor Marcello Raimond of Savona in 1638 to bury his two relatives, the priests Monsignore Francesco Raimondi and his uncle, Monsignor Gerolamo Raimondi. A coat of arms is the only reference to the Raimondi. It shows a leoparded lion ( Lion rampant ) on a rolled field. The Lion of Raimondi carries the so-called coronet of a marquis . The artistic and material expenditure suggests that the Raimondi family was very wealthy. Otherwise there are hardly any sources about the family at the time.
architecture
Seen from the outside, the Cappella Raimondi is not a spectacular building, its walls are only adorned by an empty coat of arms, which is adorned with a shell on the upper edge. It is not known whether the ornate coat of arms was added later by Bernini or whether it was used when the walls were built. When Bernini received the order, the spatial dimensions of 3.50 m deep, 3.80 m high and 2.15 m wide were given by the existing building. The chapel is separated from the nave of the church by a balustrade made of pale gray-tinted white marble. The rectangular chapel space is closed off by an apse with a three-part apse dome . Due to the complete cladding of the room with white marble and the many light sources, the room appears very bright, color accents are only set by the painted ceiling vault. The floor made of white marble is structured by a Greek cross made of dark gray marble, which, according to Irving Lavin's interpretation, on the one hand reflects the subdivision of the ceiling, on the other hand symbolically refers to the four cardinal points.
The altar
Two steps lead to a flat platform with the simple cafeteria of the altar, on which an elaborately designed aedicula with the altar relief is pedestal . The architectural elaboration of the altar is very similar to the main altar in the church of Santa Bibiana , where Bernini developed a new type of altar: he places the figure of the titular saint in an arcade niche that is framed by an antique aedicula. There, too, the saint herself is illuminated from above by a hidden source of light.
The altar relief
The theme of the altar relief is the stigmatization of Francis of Assisi, which is passed down in legends that emerged after his death.
Bernini deviates from Giotto's much-received image finding of the subject , who humbly sinks to his knees and shows the saint with arms outstretched how he receives the wounds of Christ in ecstasy through a seraph sent from heaven . Rather, Bernini orients himself to the image type of an angel spietà ( Imago pietatis ), a type of devotional image popular since the 13th century, except in France, especially in Italy , where one or two angels present the body of Christ to the viewer. In Bernini's work, the seraph as a messenger is replaced by the heavenly light that pours over the scene.
The group of figures is accompanied by two small putti and two angel heads. The putto on the right side of the saint looks on with a painful expression on his face. The putto at his feet is holding his belt in his left hand and a martyr's palm in his right . The bas-relief at the bottom of the picture shows the monastery of La Verna , where, according to legend, the stigmatization of the saint took place. Francesco Baratta's signature is on the lower left in a stone that is overgrown with grass.
The light
The chapel is illuminated by several light sources, which enable a refined and targeted lighting. Bright, unfiltered light falls through the two large openings on both sides of the altar, which enables the relief to be lively modeled through light and shadow. Another window directly above the altar relief is covered by the framework of the aedicule and only dramatically stages certain parts of the relief, such as the face of the saint and the actions of the angels, who grasp the slack body of the saint with a firm grip under the armpits . Light falls from the ceiling from the four windows of the lantern placed on the roof , which is given a golden, supernatural sheen by the painted golden rays in the apse dome.
The light, in relation to the altar relief and the surrounding space, can be understood as a connection between sculpture and context as well as the viewer. The light comes slightly from above and does not fall directly on the sculpture, which creates a spiritual, sacred aura that is associated with the transfiguration. It creates a separate space around the group of figures. Bernini achieves this effect through the concave background, which until then was so rarely used in composing. This composition turns the ecstasy of Francis of Assisi into a “true miracle”. Bernini uses natural lighting to illuminate its highlight, the Cappella Raimondi, and tries (made more difficult by the path of the sun) to generate a controlled incidence of light through four precisely calculated lateral windows.
In the Cappella Raimondi, Bernini uses three different stylistic devices of light. It forms a light space, a space without material value, which is delimited by shadows or darkness. This was possible because the only source of light before was a small lantern in the main nave. The incident light cones from the windows reinforce the feeling of a place of retreat and security by suggesting intimacy and privacy.
Compared to the lighting in the Cappella Cornaro
Bernini's lighting in the Cappella Cornaro is considered the climax of dramatic lighting in Baroque architecture. As if on a theater stage, the moment of mystical delight is staged here: golden rays of light pour over the two participants, the angel, who starts throwing his arrow with a smiling face and aims at the breast of the saint, whom Teresa raptures from all earthly things and hers Senses no longer powerful, expected.
In the Cappella Raimondi, on the other hand, the altarpiece with a relief from the life of the saint, who, as the patron saint of a family member, is closely related to the founder of the chapel, with its positioning above the altar and the representative frame, corresponds in every respect to the conventions that exist in the course of occidental art history for the shape of the altarpiece . The side lighting and a hidden window above the altar relief achieve an optimal modeling of the relief through light and shadow, the light itself already takes on an effective role, as Bernini later perfected in the Cornaro Chapel.
The vault
The ceiling is the keystone, the last link in the cycle. Holiness is attained and the cycle of life is complete. The recipient is now closer to the holy dove of God than ever before. Francis of Assisi spans the sky, while from below he can be identified by attributes. From the heavenly movement in the area of the altar one has reached this transfigured position. While Francis of Assisi (in a symbolic context also the Raimondi) identify with Jesus in the altar relief, he identifies himself with the apocalyptic angels in the design of the ceiling vault. Both themes are, like two cinematographically narrated parallel strands, which come down to one goal: holiness, God and light.
The current painting of the Cappella Raimondi is no longer the original. The real ceiling has been replaced and only the structures remain after the reconstruction.
Some areas are shown in monochrome , others in multiple colors. The monochrome structure, real and painted stucco and frame, correspond to the original version. The image content and representations have been reconstructed. In the center we have the motif of St. Francis of Assisi, surrounded by three putti. In this depiction, he presents the stigmata on his right hand while looking towards the sky with an open gesture. Two more frames have been added to the sides, presumably depicting scenes from the mythology of Francis of Assisi. They are held by two putti each. The remaining fields are filled with personifications, some of which only have half-accompanied symbols with them, a lamb on the top right, a bundle of grain on the left, a tool like a hammer on the bottom left, only none can be seen on the bottom right.
The ceiling of the chancel has the holy dove in the center, a popular theme of Bernini (signs of holiness, light and the way to God). It is surrounded by a semicircle, from which golden rays of sun decorate the ceiling. The structure of the apse carlotte cuts neatly with the design of the gable and forms three lunettes. In each of the three fields there are two putti, which hold a frame. In the middle frame you can see Francis of Assisi standing in front of his disciples. In the right frame an animal, presumably a deer, lies at his feet. On the left he is holding a cross in his hand, so he is currently on a mission.
The tombs
The arch pillars are also the walls of the chapel. They strive towards the ceiling in the area of the structured floor and contain the Raimondi grave monuments. The architecture of the tombs has grown together with that of the chapel. The wall area is made of white marble, has a context in terms of content, but is ordered and divided into shapes and elements. In the vertical structure there is initially a base on which another sits. These bases are unadorned. The upper plinth has a cranked beam that surrounds the entire room. The finely sculpted frieze of the beam is decorated with thorn-studded rose branches, blossoming roses and birds. Ionic columns with half and quarter pilasters frame the section of the wall where the sarcophagi and busts are located. They wear a frieze of acanthus vines . The cornice and the serration again run around the entire chapel and are only broken up by the Raimondi coats of arms above the busts.
The lively busts themselves are in niches. The design of the grave representations is also unique for this time. The standard for graves were usually Roman models or Michelangelo's Medici Chapel . There is a natural (bust) representation of the buried person above a sarcophagus, in which the buried person is depicted as a dead person. Putti accompany the coffin and enliven what is happening around the dead, they lift the lid and look into the sarcophagus.
This representation of life and death comes from the tradition of the floor graves of the French Middle Ages. The open coffin is a frequently used symbol of the resurrection. This juxtaposition of the dead and the living, the mortal and the immortal body forms a contrast that has never been seen before. He explains this unusual confrontation, which during Bernini's lifetime could definitely be viewed as a violation of tradition, with the aid of two reliefs on the trapezoidally shaped front side, which deal again with the buried place and address the separation of body and individual, matter and spirit.
Both sides span an arch, which is picked up on the side facing the altar and forms an arch of honor. Gerolamo is absorbed in a book, the Bible, while Francesco looks towards the entrance and seems to receive the visitor.
Francesco's grave relief
Francesco's relief can be divided into three parts. A central group of people has gathered in front of a bearded man who blesses the group. This scene is flanked by a group of suffering people and death, symbolized by a skeleton. On the other, paradise is depicted, beautiful bodies lying relaxed in the shade of a tree.
Gerolamos grave relief
With their pictorial program, the graves relate to those buried. The relief Gerolamos shows a group of people on the left, one in the right third and scattered in the background. The female person mourns, while the male points to an angel who hovers over the scene in the middle of the relief and blows a trumpet, an allusion to the Last Judgment , when the dead come out of the graves to appear before their judge. The graves also open on the relief, skeletons rise out.
literature
- Charles Avery : Bernini . With recordings by David Finn. Munich: Hirmer 1997, ISBN 3-7774-7630-7 .
- Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts . London, New York: Oxford Univ. Press 1980. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures). ISBN 978-0-19-520184-0 .
- Rudolf Wittkower : Art and Architecture in Italy. 1660-1750. Volume 2. High Baroque . Yale Univ. Press 1999, pp. 5-38. (Pelican History of Art.)
- swell
- Giovanni Battista Passeri : Vite dei pittori, scultori ed architetti che anno lavorato in Roma morti dal 1641 fino al 1673 . 1772. Edited by Jacob Hess. Leipzig: Keller 1934.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, ISBN 978-0-19-520184-0 , pp. 23 .
- ^ A b Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 22 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 40 .
- ↑ Gert von der Osten: Engelpietà. In: Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte, Volume V (1960), Sp. 601–621; in: RDK Labor accessed on June 12, 2017.
- ^ A b Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 34 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 37 .
- ^ A b Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 29 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 41 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 48 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 49 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 35 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 25 .
- ^ Irving Lavin: Bernini and the Unity of Visual Arts. (The Franklin Jasper Walls lectures) . Oxford Univ. Press, London, New York 1980, pp. 28 .
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 18.7 ″ N , 12 ° 27 ′ 59.7 ″ E