Costa Chapel (Santa Maria del Popolo)
The Costa or St Catherine Chapel (
History
The chapel was originally owned by
Description
The small chapel is hexagonal with a sexpartite ribbed vault and the entrance is protected by an elegant marble parapet which is decorated by garlands, ribbons and patenas. The fresco decoration was painted by a helper of Pinturicchio, stylistically close to
Lunettes
The most important original frescos in the chapel are the paintings of the five lunettes (1488-90). Four of them depict the Fathers of the Church in front of a blue background: St.
Sculptural works
The funeral monument of a young Roman knight, Marcantonio Albertoni, who died in a plague at the age of 30 in 1485, covers the right wall. The marble sepulchre with the recumbent effigy of the deceased was created by Iacopo di Andrea da Firenze in 1487. Originally, at least until 1600, it was placed in the right transept. The marble tomb was commissioned by the knight's mother, Caterina Albertoni. It is the only known work of the Florentine sculptor who was mentioned in the contract dated to 20 April 1487.[2]
On the opposite side is the monument of Cardinal Jorge da Costa created by the school of Bregno. The lunette is filled by a lovely relief of Mary in mandorla with two angels. Costa died in 1508 but the tomb was probably prepared well before this date, probably few years after the dedication of the chapel. The inscription on the sarcophagus declares that "Giorgio, bishop of Albano, cardinal from Lisbon, while he turned over in his mind that he was mortal, erected [this tomb monument] for himself while still alive". It is very similar to the monument of Cristoforo della Rovere in the Chapel of the Nativity but "in a less masterly workmanship".[3]
The third original monument is the tombstone (in the floor) of Archbishop Giorgio Bracharin by the workshop of Antonio del Pollaiuolo (end of 15th century). The tombstone is undated. The Archbishop lies in full robes, his hands crossed. The relief is very deep and a rich spiral border runs around the slab.[4]
In 1833 another monument was placed in the chapel: the funeral monument of the nine-year old Vincenzo Casciani by Luigi Poletti and Matteo Kassel. The left-hand window was walled up to provide space for the new neoclassical marble monument.
A white marble slab was set under the other window in 1830 for Eugen von Ingenheim, the one-year old infant son of Count
Effigy of Pietro Foscari
The marble and bronze sepulchral monument of Cardinal Pietro Foscari was originally placed in the middle of the Foscari Chapel, which was demolished for the building of the Cerasi Chapel in 1600. It was made by a Sienese sculptor, Giovanni di Stefano in the 1480s but previously thought to have been created by Vecchietta.
The prelate wears a richly folded robe, gloves, boots and a particularly sumptuous mitre which all serve to emphasize his dignity. All the details are modelled with great precision and virtuosity. The austere dark colour of the bronze is further enhanced by the contrasting white marble support. This bier is decorated with gilded reliefs of festoons, winged angels and trophies and it is covered by a folded drapery. The head rests on an embroidered cushion sculpted of glossy white marble.[5]
Gallery
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The marble altar-piece by Gian Cristoforo Romano
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Tomb of Cardinal Pietro Foscari by Giovanni di Stefano
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Monument of Jorge da Costa by the school of Bregno
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Monument of Marcantonio Albertoni by Jacopo d'Andrea da Firenze
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Effigy of Marcantonio Albertoni
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Inscription on the tomb of Cardinal Costa with his coats-of-arms
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Tombstone of Giorgio Bracharin by the workshop of Pollaiolo
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The sixpartite ribbed vault with the lunettes
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Sts Ambrose and Gregory the Great by Pinturicchio (lunettes)
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Sts Jerome and Augustine by Pinturicchio (lunettes)
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The coat-of-arms of Cardinal Jorge da Costa with the wheel (central lunette)
Notes
- ^ Passaglia Bauman, cit., pag. 56.
- ^ Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Vol. 62 (2004)
- ^ Gerald S. Davies, cit. pag. 308
- ^ Gerald S. Davies, cit. pag. 310
- ^ Antonio Foscari: Il cardinale veneziano Pietro Foscari e lo scultore senese Giovanni di Stefano in Santa Maria del Popolo a Roma, in: "Arte Documento", n. 14, Edizioni della Laguna, Gorizia 2000, pp. 59-63
Bibliography
- Lisa Passaglia Bauman, Piety and Public Consumption: Domenico, Girolamo and Julius II della Rovere at Santa Maria del Popolo; in: Patronage and Dynasty. The Rise of the Della Rovere in Renaissance Italy, Truman State University Press, 2007
- Sara Magister: Iacopo di Andrea, in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Vol. 62 (2004)
- Gerald S. Davies: Renascence. The Sculptured Tombs of the Fifteenth Century in Rome, E. P. Dutton and Company, New York, 1916