Palazzo Corsini (it’s not the Farnesina, but it’s across the street!)
Well our morning began at the Farnesina, the ‘little Farnese’ villa on the Trastevere side of the river, right next door to John Cabot University. Fortunately for our apartment, we were able to meet the rest of the group on site (rather than crossing the river back and forth in quick succession) which gave us an extra 15 minutes to sleep in – a much needed break, albeit brief, after such a crazy week. Honestly, it feels like all we have been doing is go go go for the past ten days, and with no sign of the pace letting up before we end in Venice- that would be after finals, if you’ve been following closely.
In any case, Kristin delivered an amazing presentation on Raphael’s Cupid & Psyche Loggia (1518-19) in the Farnesina before we headed back to the classroom to discuss Annibale Carracci’s ceiling (1597-1600) in the Palazzo Farnese (the big palace) across the river, abutting the Campo de Fiori. Unfortunately, the Palazzo Farnese is now the French Embassy and access is severely restricted. While past programs have been able to schedule appointments to view the gallery, the French government really hassled our program this time and we were unable to get in – talk about a major disappointment. Ah well, the ceiling is totally epic and while the quadratura does not reproduce especially well, the overall effect can still be understood from photographs.
That being said, we discussed the socio-political context of this highly controversial ceiling – modeled in part on both Michelangelo’s ceiling for the Sistine and Raphael’s loggia at the Farnesina, Annibale’s ceiling features scenes from the love-lives of antique gods and goddesses: Jupiter and Juno, Venus and Adonis, Bacchus and Ariadne, etc. The frescoes are beyond suggestive and honestly, border on pornographic – so how was this commission perceived in the context of a Cardinal’s Roman palace in the shadow of the Vatican? Quite strangely, one might imagine, especially considering it was a Farnese pope (Paul III) who convened the Council of Trent in the first place. So what gives? Well, as it turns out, this was during the papacy of Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini), a very conservative pope (think Theatine), whose family was trying to marry into the Farnese – and it was a bitter, violent negotiation, more like warfare than a marriage contract, with both sides lying to one another in turn. Rumor has it that the ceiling was actually meant to be in celebration of this marriage – and maybe just a bit of an ‘eff you’ to the Aldobrandini pope and a whole-hearted ‘Welcome to the family!’, don’t you think?
Still waiting for my presentation grade (cue panic attack) so that I can work on the follow-up paper due on Tuesday by midnight – yikes!
