IL PRIMO BAROCCO
1585 - 1590 - Sisto V prosegue, ampliandolo, il programma di Gregorio XIII. Ricopre Roma di nuovi edifici e apre nuove vie come via Sistina e via Panisperna; nelle piazze (S. Pietro, S. Giovanni, del Popolo, Esquilino) vengono collocati antichi obelischi, quasi a recuperare la funzione unificante e redentrice di Roma cristiana.| 1595 - Nel convento di Sant'Onofrio
muore Torquato Tasso |
Alla fine del XVI secolo la chiesa cattolica era diventata molto potente. L'immensa ricchezza accumulata era continuamente ostentata insieme al lusso nel quale vivevano i papi e la curia, a maggior ragione, l'esibizione continua di ricchezza da parte della chiesa strideva, se confrontata con le condizioni di vita del popolo, misere e continuamente minacciate. Questo fu uno dei motivi delle forti critiche mosse dalla riforma protestante.
| 1599 - La tragica vicenda di Beatrice Cenci |
Per contrastare il protestantesimo, la Chiesa, oltre a far funzionare i tribunali dell'inquisizione (nel 1600 fu messo al rogo a Campo dei Fiori il filosofo Giordano Bruno e nel 1633 Galileo venne condannato per eresia), fece costruire numerosissime chiese, monumenti e fontane al fine di dimostrare con la loro magnificenza la superiorità dei papi e della Chiesa cattolica.
| 1600 - Gli attentati anticattolici di un misterioso inglese |
In questa pagina:
Papa Sisto V
La fondazione della Roma Moderna
Papa Clemente VIII
Sviluppi favorevoli
Papa Paolo V
Centro artistico
Processi famosi
Iconografia
Papa Sisto V
Nel conclave che seguì alla morte di Papa Gregorio XIII nell'Aprile del 1585
i cardinali raggiunsero presto l'accordo unanime sull'elezione del Cardinale Felice Peretti, noto anche come Cardinal
Montalto (dal nome del paese delle Marche dove aveva cominciato la sua carriera ecclesiastica).
Come da tradizione, durante il conclave he feigned being very ill e così si guadagnò il sostegno di coloro
che desideravano un papa debole; gli storici concordano del dire che un fattore chiave per la sua elezione
fu il sostegno del Cardinal Ferdinando de'
Medici who lobbied for him (Questo cardinale viveva a Villa Medici e in seguito divenne Grand Duca di Toscana).
Durante il pontificato di Papa Gregorio Gregory XIII, il Cardinal
Peretti avevava mantenuto un profilo molto basso e sembrava completamente dedito ad abbellire la sua
villa vicino a S. Maria
Maggiore. Fu nominato cardinale da Papa Pio V di cui condivideva lo zelo apostolico;
per questo motivo non apprezzava l'atteggiamento più lassista di Papa Gregorio XIII; inolte apparteneva
all'ordine Francescano e aveva in sospetto la crescente importanza dei Gesuiti, favoriti dal papa.
Scelse di chimarsi Sisto V, un omaggio a Papa Sisto IV
che era stato per anni a capo dell'ordine Francescano e che aveva promosso la Renovatio Urbis, un piano per lo sviluppo
di Roma come Città Santa della Cristianità.
The new pope immediately tackled the
lawlessness into which Rome and the Papal State had fallen during the last
years of Pope Gregory's pontificate. Non veni pacem mittere, sed
gladium - I did not come to bring peace, but the sword (of justice) -
he told a cardinal who congratulated him on his election. Four youngsters
who had attended the papal
procession carrying weapons were arrested and put to death. For some
time the sight of bodies hanging from gallows or of beheaded heads at the
top of pikes became common in Rome; in 1587 a medal coined by the pope
announced that la politica papale "Legge e ordiner" aveva raggiunto il suo obbiettivo;
it portrayed a pilgrim peacefully resting at the foot of a tree
and the inscription Perfecta securitas.
S. Maria
Maggiore: (a sinistra) Monumento a Papa Niccolò IV disegnato da Domenico
Fontana, statue di Leonardo Sormani; (a destra) Statua di Papa Sisto V delValsoldo
Papa Sisto V aveva una predilezione per S. Maria Maggiore; quando era cardinale vi eresse un monumento dedicato
a Papa Niccolò IV, il primo papa appartenente all'ordine Francescano.
Divenuto papa, migliorò l'accesso alla basilica aprendo strade che da essa raggiungevano
Porta S. Lorenzo (e da lì
S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura),
S. Croce in Gerusalemme,
S. Giovanni in Laterano, il colle Quirinale (Via
Panisperna) e
SS. Trinità dei Monti (Strada Felice).
Questa rete di strade è visibile chiaramente nella Pianta di Roma del 1781 di Giuseppe Vasi.
Papa Sisto V volle essere sepolto in S. Maria Maggiore and he wanted to be portrayed in a very humble position:
not seated on the papal throne, but praying on his knees, without the
crown: he thus introduced a new pattern for the Papal Monuments: his
example was followed by Pope
Alexander VII (monument by Bernini),
Pope Clement XIII (monument by Canova)
and for a statue of Pope Pius IX.
La Fondazione della
Roma Moderna
Pope Sixtus V tackled other issues with the
same resolution he showed in restoring security. He redesigned the
structure of the papal government by creating fifteen
Congregazioni, permanent committees of the College of Cardinals
having jurisdiction over a specific branch of the administration, a sort
of modern government department. The congregazioni however were
only asked to advise the pope on the best course of action as he retained
the last word. He dismissed the tradition of discussing the most important
decisions in concistorio (in a meeting with the cardinals): these
meetings became purely formal. He also increased the number of Italian
cardinals with the aim of reducing the influence of Spain on the election
of the pope and in general on the policies followed by the popes.
He
also improved the financial situation he had inherited from his
predecessor by increasing taxation which was mainly based on
gabelle, duties collected on the goods entering a town. He called
two extraordinary Jubilee Years in 1585 and 1590 which helped in
collecting additional revenues.
He had a difficult relationship with
Philip II, King of Spain: he supported the king's attempt to invade
England, but he resisted Philip's calls for a more resolute papal
intervention against Henri of Navarre, who, following the 1589 murder (by
a monk) of Henri III (the third son of Catherine de
Medici) was the legitimate heir to the French throne. Henri was the
head of the Huguenots, but Pope Sixtus V was wary that Philip was trying
to claim that throne for his own daughter Isabella. He preferred to call a
Jubilee Year to pray for the restoration of a Catholic king on the French
throne, rather than financially support Philip II in sending an army
against Henri.
(a sinistra) S. Maria Maggiore: modello della Cappella Sistina; (a destra) cortile dell'Archiginnasio della Sapienza.
The landscape of Rome when Pope Sixtus V was elected was marked by a sort of gigantic ruin: the unfinished new S. Pietro: four gigantic pillars stood out supporting an empty drum, very much resembling those of Caracalla's Baths: the leading architects of the time had doubts whether these pillars could support the dome envisaged by Michelangelo: the pope pushed for moving ahead: in January 1587 he ordered Giacomo Della Porta to build the missing dome: with a workforce of 800 he was able in just two years to accomplish a task which many thought would require ten years at least.
The pope tackled with his usual resolution the never ending issue about what to do with the many remaining monuments of Ancient Rome: the pope decided that either they could be turned into a Christian monument or they had to be pulled down and their marbles used for the decoration of churches. What remained of the Septizodium was pulled down and its columns and marbles were used in the chapel (almost a separate church) the pope built in S. Maria Maggiore and which was named Sistine Chapel after him. The Colosseo risked being pulled down too, but Cardinal Santorio and others succeeded in persuading the pope to spare the very symbol of Ancient Rome.
The obelisks instead were seen as the first arm of a cross and four of them were restored and relocated in Piazza S. Pietro, Piazza laterale di S. Giovanni, Piazza del Popolo and in front of the abside di S. Maria Maggiore. The pope placed a cross at their top and new inscriptions on their pedestals explaining how these monuments to the pagan gods were now celebrating the triumph of the True Faith. He turned Colonna Traiana and Colonna Antonina into monuments to St Peter and St Paul. He placed some ancient statues on the balustrade of Piazza del Campidoglio.
His heraldic symbols (a lion holding pears, three mountains topped by a star) appear on many monuments of Rome:
a) Porta Furba and another triumphal arch near Porta Chiusa celebrate the completion of a new aqueduct which supplied water to 27 fountains among which Mostra dell'Acqua Felice, fontana di Piazza dei Monti, fontana di Piazza d'Aracoeli, fontana di Piazza in Campitelli and the fountains in Piazza del Campidoglio;
b) S. Girolamo degli Schiavoni, Loggia delle benedizioni in S. Giovanni in laterano, the steps leading to SS. Trinità dei Monti are all decorated with his lion while during his pontificate the façade of S. Luigi dei Francesi was completed;
c) he entirely renovated Palazzo del Laterano and built next to it Scala Santa; he promoted the construction of Archiginnasio della Sapienza and he modified the entrance of Palazzo della Cancelleria.
Papa Clemente VIII
Sisto V morì di malaria in August 1590: he was followed by three popes whose pontificates were very short: Pope Urban VII: 13 days; Pope Gregory XIV: 10 months; Pope Innocent IX: 2 months. The frequency of conclave is most likely at the origin of the so-called Prophecies of Malachy a list of attributes of the popes: Pia civitas in bello (pious city involved in war), the words associated with Pope Innocent IX seem a reference to the military (and financial) intervention of the pope in the war in France: Gregory XIV abandoned the prudent policy of Pope Sixtus V and spent a fortune to support a military expedition: the "prophecy" suggested a continuation of that effort.
At the conclave which in January 1592 followed the death of Pope Innocent IX the cardinals were determined to choose a man who could ensure the stability of the papal state and who would not entirely accept the policies suggested by the King of Spain.
The choice fell on Cardinal Ippolito Aldobrandini who belonged to a rich Florentine family. He was very devout and often fasted or visited the seven basilicas. He chose to be called Pope Clement VIII.
During his pontificate the Counter-Reformation process was completed with the publication in 1592 of Vulgata Clementina the official (Latin) Roman Catholic version of the Bible: this text was used until 1979 when it was replaced by Nova Vulgata, a new text commissioned by Pope Paul VI.
Theological disputes, which to some degree reflected the rivalry between the Jesuits and the other orders, continued throughout the pontificate of Pope Clement VIII and the same applies to the fight against the heretics. On February 17, 1600 in Campo de' Fiori Giordano Bruno, a member of the Dominican order, was burned at the stake for holding opinions contrary to the Catholic Faith. The sentence was issued after a trial which lasted seven years.
(left) S. Giovanni in Laterano: frescoes in the transept having the appearance of tapestries; (right) S. Maria sopra Minerva: Cappella Aldobrandini: ceiling by Cherubino Alberti
Pope Clement VIII was a pious man, but this does not mean that he did not indulge in a practice formally condemned by all the popes but too tempting to resist: he appointed three of his nephews cardinals and other members of the family were given important positions.
The stars and the stripes of the Aldobrandini coat of arms soon appeared on the walls of churches, palaces and villas built by the pope or other members of his family. Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini in particular built a very large villa in Frascati and bought another one on the Quirinale hill.
During the pontificate of Pope Clement VIII some features of what was later on called Baroque style, started to gradually appear in the Mannerist decoration of the transept of S. Giovanni in Laterano: the frescoes were framed by a painted tapestry rather than by a traditional cornice; in the Aldobrandini chapel in S. Maria sopra Minerva the ceiling was painted as if it were open and it showed the sky: these are both examples of illusionism (the use of perspective and other techniques to give an appearance of three-dimensionality), a technique which was greatly developed during the XVIIth century, especially in the decoration of ceilings.
Favourable Developments
Paris vaut bien une messe (Paris is worth a mass) according to the tradition is the rather cynical statement by which Henri of Navarre justified in July 1593 his decision to convert to Catholicism. This decision paved the way for him towards his acceptance by the Parisians as the legitimate king. He was anointed Henri IV in February 1594 and in the next year Pope Clement VIII revoked the ecclesiastical sanctions against him. In 1598 the pope favoured the Peace of Vervins between Philip II of Spain and Henri IV thus bringing the French war of religions to an end.
Pope Clement VIII supported the Habsburgs in containing an attempt by the Ottomans to conquer some border regions: he sent money and troops in 1595, 1598 and 1601; his nephew Gian Francesco Aldobrandini and Lello Frangipane died in these campaigns.
In the early XVIth century Pope Julius II vainly tried in two wars to acquire Ferrara; in 1598 Pope Clement VIII managed to reach this long standing objective of the papal policy peacefully, helped by the fact that at the death of the ruling duke (Alfonso d'Este), Henri IV of France did not support the claims of his nephew (Cesare d'Este), thus betraying an alliance with the Este which had lasted for nearly a century.
In 1598 Rome was hit by the most severe recorded flood which caused immense damage and ruined a bridge rebuilt a few years earlier. Notwithstanding this dramatic event Rome was at its best to meet the many pilgrims who came for the 1600 Jubilee Year.
(left) Side entrance of S. Giovanni in Laterano: monument to King Henri IV of France; (right) S. Maria Maggiore: relief celebrating an event which led to the annexation of Ferrara.
Relations between Pope Clement VIII and Henri IV of France became so cordial that the pope agreed to annul after 27 years Henri's marriage with Marguerite of Valois: the king soon married Maria de' Medici, niece of Ferdinando, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The former Huguenot who narrowly escaped being murdered at St. Bartholomew's Day, became a champion of the Church to the point that in 1606 (just after the death of the pope) a bronze statue by Nicolas Cordier portraying the king as an ancient emperor was placed in S. Giovanni in Laterano; the pope erected a small monument celebrating the Peace of Vervins outside S. Maria Maggiore and made reference to the king in many inscriptions, including the gigantic one which he placed on the façade of Palazzo Senatorio.
Pope Clement VIII did not start any major new buildings, but was busy completing those initiated by Pope Sixtus V. He went ahead with the decoration of S. Pietro where he built Cappella Clementina and he completed Palazzo Apostolico; in S. Giovanni in Laterano he renovated the transept and built a gigantic altar and a similarly gigantic organ. Directly or through his nephews the pope promoted the restoration of several churches: S. Nicolò in Carcere, S. Cesareo, S. Prassede, the church of Torre Nova; other cardinals took care of S. Maria della Vallicella, S. Andrea della Valle, S. Susanna and SS. Nereo and Achilleo (in this church Cardinal Cesare Baronio applied the iconographical plan which emphasized the role of the Roman Church in the early centuries of Christianity by portraying the martyrdom of the first saints).
The pope built also Collegio Clementino, Palazzo del Monte di Pietà and an altar in Spedale di S. Spirito in Sassia. During his pontificate the untouched body of S. Cecilia was re-discovered and it was portrayed in a famous statue by Stefano Maderno.
Pope Paolo V
Il conclave which followed the death of Pope Clement VIII showed the growing importance of France: King Henri IV with the help of the Aldobrandini cardinals was successful in supporting the election of Cardinal Alessandro de' Medici, who had been nuncio in Paris and was a (distant) relative of his second wife. He became Papa Leone XI (sua madre era figlia of Leo X's niece) but his pontificate was very short: only 26 days.
Sic floruit the inscription on his funerary monument is a reference indicating that he was in blossom for just a few days.
At the following conclave the cardinals, after eight days of heated debate, elected Cardinal Camillo Borghese who at the time was leading the Inquisition and was not regarded as belonging either to the pro-Spanish or to the pro-French party.
His rigid views on the superior authority of the pope soon led him into a confrontation with the Republic of Venice which clearly showed that the times when an excommunication was able to force an emperor to kiss the pope's slipper to ask forgiveness had gone.
The issue at stake was related to the jurisdiction over two priests (actually two noblemen having some ecclesiastical benefits) arrested and charged with several crimes. The pope claimed through his nuncio that they should be tried in Rome. The Venetian Senate refused and the pope excommunicated the entire government of Venice and placed an interdict on the city. To his great dismay the clergy (with the exception of the Jesuits and two other orders) sided with the Republic; the Senate expelled the rebellious orders: masses, weddings, funerals continued to be celebrated. Eventually in March 1607 Pope Paul V withdrew his censure without being able to force Venice to make concessions: the Jesuits remained banned from Venice for nearly sixty years.
S. Maria Maggiore - Cappella Paolina: (left) detail of a relief portraying Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese and Pope Paul V; (right) heraldic symbols of the Borghese family.
One of the first decisions of Pope Paul V was that of appointing cardinal his nephew Scipione Caffarelli, who added to his surname that of the Borghese and adopted his uncle's coat of arms. The eagles and dragons of the Borghese soon appeared on the many buildings erected or modified by the pope and his nephew. A relief in Cappella Paolina (a chapel in S. Maria Maggiore where the pope placed the funerary monument of Pope Clement VIII and his own) shows the pope with his nephew: the chapel was decorated with many references to the family's heraldic symbols. Pope Paul V erected in front of the church a high column and placed on its top a statue of the Virgin Mary; this inspired the erection of many similar monuments especially in Vienna.
Basilica di S. Sebastiano was in such poor condition that Pope Sixtus V replaced it in the traditional pilgrimage to the seven basilicas with S. Maria del Popolo. Cardinal Scipione Borghese entirely renovated the old building which was again "promoted" to its pristine importance. He also renovated (at a later time) S. Crisogono and S. Gregorio Magno.
Pope Paul V overcame the reluctance of some cardinals to pulling down the façade of old S. Pietro and went ahead with a project which changed the shape of the new basilica and resulted in a new façade (see the inscription celebrating the pope).
Another gigantic inscription celebrated the pope's restoration of an ancient Roman aqueduct (renamed by him Acqua Paola) which supplied water to Trastevere and Borgo where many fountains were built: among them those in Piazza di S. Maria in Trastevere, near Collegio Ecclesiastico, in Piazza S. Pietro and in the Vatican Gardens.
An Artistic Centre
In 1555 Emperor Charles V reached an agreement (Peace of Augsburg) with the German Lutheran leaders, based on the principle that the prevailing religion in each of the more than 200 states into which Germany was divided would be that chosen by their respective rulers (in some cases a bishop). This principle (cuius religio, eius religio) eventually led to a split among the Protestants when the lords of some important states (Palatinate, Nassau, Hesse and Brandeburg) converted to Calvinism, a faith not considered by the 1555 agreements. In 1608 the Calvinists formed an alliance to protect their rights; the Catholic lords joined a similar league. Matthias, the last of a series of Habsburg emperors who had a tolerant religious policy, in 1617 indicated that his successor would be his cousin Ferdinand who was known as a fervent Catholic (he was brought up by the Jesuits). For this reason in May 1618 the Calvinists of Prague refused to recognize Ferdinand's representatives and threw them out of the windows of the royal palace in Prague. This event started the Thirty Years' War a period of religious and national wars which lasted until 1648.
Pope Paul V financially supported Ferdinand who in 1619 at the death of Matthias became Emperor Ferdinand II. The Calvinists and the Lutherans revolted against the Habsburgs and Ferdinand sought the help of Spain: at the Battle of the White Mountain the Protestants were defeated and the imperial authority over Bohemia was restored; this meant the return of that country to Catholicism. The event was celebrated in Rome by dedicating to it S. Maria della Vittoria.
Another important event which occurred during the pontificate of Pope Paul V was the 1616 condemnation of the Copernican doctrine by the Inquisition. The heliocentric theories supported by Copernicus had been known for some seventy years without being considered a heretical proposition; they were regarded with interest by Pope Clement VII and an initial document explaining them was dedicated to Pope Paul III. The views of some theologians that the words of the Bible and in particular those of Joshua praying to God to stop the sun ought not to be taken literally were overridden by the members of the Inquisition panel of cardinals, who were worried that this approach could diminish the authority of the Bible.
(left) S. Maria in Trastevere ceiling by il Domenichino; (right) S. Maria in Vallicella altar by Pierre Paul Rubens.
Pope Paul V and his nephew Cardinal Scipione Borghese were great collectors of works of art: the family's city palace and suburban villa housed a large collection which was not limited to ancient statues but included works of art of contemporary painters. The means the Borghese used to enrich their galleries was sometimes unscrupulous; Pope Paul V confiscated 107 paintings collected by il Cavalier d'Arpino, then regarded as a very great painter, which included the earliest works of Caravaggio; he gave them to his nephew and they are now among the masterpieces of Galleria Borghese.
The many palaces and churches built in the second half of the XVIth century needed to be decorated and this attracted to Rome many painters in particular from Bologna: the Carracci brothers, Guido Reni, Guercino and Domenichino left in Rome some of their finest works.
Pope Paul V set the usual residence of the popes in Palazzo del Quirinale which he enlarged and embellished. Towards the end of the pontificate of Pope Paul V (who died in 1621) Cardinal Maffeo Barberini introduced a young sculptor to Cardinal Scipione Borghese: young Gian Lorenzo Bernini was given by the latter his first important commission: a statue portraying Aeneas with his father and his son. It was the beginning of a career which left a great mark on the artistic developments of the whole century.
Famous Trials
The trial of Giordano Bruno was not the only great trial of the period covered in this page.
During the pontificate of Pope Gregory XIII in the general disregard of the law Cardinal Montalto felt compelled to tolerate the assassination of his nephew Francesco Mignucci, killed by Paolo Giordano Orsini who was in love with Vittoria Accoramboni, Francesco's wife.
Once elected pope, Cardinal Montalto wanted to show he meant what he now preached as Pope Sixtus V about the force of the law. Adultery was officially regarded as a serious offence and was punished by death. In 1585 Roberto Altemps, son of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, was charged with raping a young girl: this crime was usually settled with marriage, but Roberto had just married an Orsini; he was therefore tried and sentenced to death: his father vainly called for mercy: the pope was unmoved and Roberto was beheaded.
In 1599 Francesco Cenci the head of a rich family (with a palace in Rome) disappeared from a castle he owned outside Rome; he had an extremely bad reputation and had been charged with several crimes; rumours spread about an involvement of his relatives in his disappearance; the papal police investigated and soon discovered that four members of the family were involved in Francesco's assassination (Lucrezia, Francesco's second wife; Giacomo and Beatrice son and daughter of Francesco's first marriage; Bernardo, a young boy, son of Francesco and Lucrezia).
Because of Francesco's reputation the people of Rome expected Pope Clement VIII to apply some mercy taking into account some mitigating circumstances. These expectations were not satisfied with the sole exception of Bernardo who had however to watch the execution of his relatives before returning to prison. The properties of the Cenci were confiscated. It is said that Caravaggio was in the crowd who watched the executions and that some of his later paintings were influenced by what he saw.
(left) Monumento a Roberto, figlio del Cardinal Altemps, in S. Maria in Trastevere; (right) assumed portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Guido Reni in Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini.
Cardinal Altemps dedicated a chapel in S. Maria in Trastevere to S. Maria della Clemenza in what was a sort of mute criticism of the severity shown by Pope Sixtus V. He buried his son outside the chapel: a lengthy inscription lists the positions held by Roberto in his short life: Immature extinctu (immaturely dead) is the only reference to the circumstances of his death: the inscription is signed by Roberto's wife, but the decision to portray him as an innocent child was most likely made by the cardinal.
The assumed portrait of Beatrice Cenci in prison by Guido Reni (together with the legend that on the anniversary of her death Beatrice left her grave in S. Pietro in Montorio to carry her severed head to Ponte S. Angelo where the executions took place) inspired many writers including Stendhal, Shelley, Alfred Nobel, Dumas and Hawthorne.
Iconografia
I seguenti link a pagine esterne al sito mostrano opere d'arte che ritraggono personaggi ed eventi menzionati in questa pagina:
Piazza S. Pietro in 1585 XVIth century engraving.
The relocation of the obelisk in Piazza S. Pietro XVIth century engraving.
Triumphal entry of Henri IV in Paris by Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) - Uffizi Gallery - Florence.
The arrival of Maria de' Medici in France by Peter Paul Rubens - Louvre - Paris.
Cardinal Scipione Borghese by Giuliano Finelli (1533) - Metropolitan Museum - New York.
The Defenestration of Prague XVIIth century engraving.
Giuditta di Caravaggio (1573 - 1610) - Galleria Barberini - Roma.
Il Sacrificio di Isaac di Caravaggio - Galleria degli Uffizi - Firenze.
Enea di Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1619) - Galleria Borghese - Roma.
