Dipinti romani tra Giotto e Cavallini
Precious collection of roman panel and mural paintings datable from the end of the 13th century to the very early years of the 14th century.
The exhibition, promoted by the Sovrintendenza ai Beni Culturali del Comune di Roma, with curators Tommaso Strinati and Angelo Tartuferi, presents, together for the first time a precious collection of roman panel paintings datable from the end of the 13th century to the very early years of the 14th century.
Included are marian icons and painted crucifix that formed - and in some cases still form - the liturgical decoration of the mediaeval roman churches. Through these works, by anonymous artists, it is possible to feel the echo of a great artistic period in time, coinciding with the Giubileo of 1300 proclaimed by Bonifacio VIII, that witnessed the roman artist's workshops involved in the epochal passage from 'parlar greco' to 'parlar latino', with the creation of a naturalistic and modern pictorial language that, while remaining mindful of, progressively detached itself from its' Byzantine roots originating in Constantinople and Venice.
Starting with examples such as the Madonna from the Museo Civico of Viterbo or the icon of saints Cosma and Damiano, rigid in design but showing the first signs of a change in taste evident in the minute details, we come to such works as the sinopia of the face of Christ by Torriti - a work that would seem to belong to a 15th century master - or the Redentore of Camposanto Teutonico in Vaticano, that fully demonstrates the level of maturity reached in the roman studios.
These works of art are also extraordinary in view of their technical excellence: the brilliant colours in tempera are applied on wood panels prepared with a base of glue and gesso, with magnificent gold leaf backgrounds -punched or engraved - that serve to strengthen the devotional character of the sacred figures.
The exhibition includes a documentation of roman mural painting with a small section of fresco fragments from the basilica of S.Agnese fuori le Mura, very recently restored by the Musei Vaticani. These panels depict episodes from the life of S.Caterina and other saints. The murals demonstrate that various masters, each with his own style, worked alternately on the same sequence of frescoes; viewing the scenes from the Musei Vaticani it becomes clear that within the same workshop, the archaic artists (La Sepoltura dei Sapienti) and those artists who were up to date with the lessons of Cavallini and Giotto (S.Giuseppe e i pretendenti) worked together.
Also on exhibit: the mysterious anthropomorphous Trinità, recently restored by the Sovrintendenza del Comune di Roma. This fresco staccato is iconographically unique, executed most likely during the middle of the 14th century by a master working in the area of Rome and influenced by the Giottesque school: influence that developed much more during the 14th century.
