Commissioni artistiche e vicende storiche a confronto: Paolo IV Carafa e i cantieri in Vaticano attraverso lo studio delle fonti

Abstract

The examination of Camerale I 1298 led to significant findings on pope Paul IV Carafa’s patronage of the arts and architecture. This document refers to the following three elements: pope Paul IV Carafa’s apartments in the Apostolic Palace, previously home to pope Julius III Del Monte; the secret chapel; and the tabernacle, today located inside the Duomo in Milan. Moreover this research studied the leading role of the architect Pirro Ligorio at pope Paul IV Carafa’s construction site as well as their rapport of mutual respect and friendship. Chapter XXII of Antonio Caracciolo’s De Vita Pauli IV published in 1612, also including a lost work by the architect, represents a fundamental evidence of pope Paul IV’s liberalitas, still little-known. In fact pope Paul IV used to reserve his liberalitas to artists and artisans who better satisfied his expectations. The controversial relationship between Pirro Ligorio and Giorgio Vasari was researched as well. The painter Pietro Venale, under the supervision of Ligorio, decorated some of the apartments’ most important rooms and the new Pope’s private chapel. Also the history of the tabernacle was reconstructed: designed by Ligorio for pope Paul IV and first meant to be placed in the private chapel, the tabernacle was later molten and modified by pope Pius IV Medici in 1560, and relocated inside the Duomo’s high altar in Milan.