Pietro Berrettini, called Da Cortona Cortona 1596-1667 Rome 36 Study of a Reclining Male Figure; preparatory for the figure of “Rage” Black chalk heightened with white chalk. 239 x 369 mm. (9 1 /3 x 14 1 /2 in.) Provenance: Private Collection, Switzerland, since the 1930s. Born in Tuscany, Pietro da Cortona began his career in Florence, apprenticed to Andrea Commodi but quickly left for Rome probably at the age of only 16. In Rome, he stayed amongst the circle of Tuscan artists and quickly came to the attention of the powerful Sacchetti brothers, originally Florentine themselves. Cortona’s first significant commission in Rome was the fresco decorations for the church of St. Bibiena, newly designed by Bernini, painted over two years from 1624 to 1626. The Sacchetti family subsequently employed Cortona to design and decorate two family villas, in Ostia and in Rome itself, behind St. Peter’s. It was through his work for the Sacchetti that Cortona met Maffeo Barberini, later Pope Urban VIII and with his patronage, Cortona became second only to Bernini in his importance in the Roman art world 1 . Apart from an interlude of six years spent chiefly in Florence between 1641 and 1647, where he executed successful fresco schemes in Palazzo Pitti but was mainly obstructed in his architectural ambitions, Cortona lived out his career in Rome. Rivalry between himself and the highly political Bernini was intense but Cortona was able to keep ahead through his preeminence as a painter. Jörg Martin Merz, in his study of Cortona as an architect, describes his career as being an ”extraordinary mixture of success and frustration”; unassailable success as a painter but considerably mixed fortunes as an architect famed for the extravagance and expense of his projects. The son of a stonemason, Pietro da Cortona was in fact a man of greater learning than many of his contemporary painters and he repeatedly told his pupils that without knowledge of ancient and modern history, both sacred and profane, it would be impossible to become a successful artist. Romanelli, Cortese, Ferri and Baldi are some of the many followers who carried on his style into the early years of the 18 th century. Vigorous and powerful, this black chalk drawing is a fine example of Cortona’s magnificent figure studies which characteristically depict complicated poses and viewpoints. Here the reclining man lifts himself with arms bent and one leg raised, his weight resting on the left hand side of his body, his fists clenched, the muscles of his back and stomach straining with the effort. The drawing is preparatory for the figure of Rage in Cortona’s vast fresco The Triumph of Divine Providence and the Fulfilment of her Ends under the Papacy of Urban VIII which covers the colossal ceiling of the Gran Salone on the piano nobile of Palazzo Barberini (figs.1-2). A considerable part of the Barberini archive is conserved in the Vatican Apostolic Library, making it possible to retrace the progress of the fresco’s conception and design. Cortona began work in November 1632 and completed the project seven years later. Giuseppe Passeri recorded the circumstances of the commission which had at first been given to Andrea Camassei: A change in opinions and fortunes caused this vault to be assigned by the Pope himself to Signor Pietro da Cortona: and in the space of fourteen years he transformed it into this work of beauty that can be seen today … 2 1. Pietro da Cortona, The Triumph of Divine Providence and the Fulfillment of her Ends under the Papacy of Urban VII, Fresco (detail), Palazzo Barberini, Rome. Pope Urban VIII was an intellectual and a foremost patron of the arts. He kept 116
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