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The Cappella degli Angeli in the Gesù: Angels as Intercessors for Souls in Purgatory
Savage, Michelle
Savage, Michelle
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Abstract
In 1579, Federico Zuccari completed his work on the cupola celling fresco of Last Judgement Day in the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Fifteen years later, 1594 Zuccari was commissioned by the Jesuits (in the person of Cardinal Farnese) to decorate an entire chapel in the Gesù in Rome. This chapel may be found in the third niche on the right-hand side of the Gesù and it is called the Cappella degli Angeli [Chapel of the Angels]. The patrons of the chapel were Curzio and Defini Vettori. Zuccari’s bravura lay in his ability to create a personal monument for the family, yet at the same time, an easily understood iconographic progam which has stood the test of time for its beauty and extraordinary interpretation of the writings of the Jesuit missionaries and church founders. In particular, the theme of angels was developed, as a highly sophisticated appeal to a largely illiterate Roman public, schooled, howeer, in the lore of images. Angel iconography in Southern Italy has its origins or is first manifested in an ancient fresco of the Seven Archangels in the Cappella Maggiore in Palermo. Art historian Gauvin Alexander Bailey notes, “the devotion of the Seven Archangels had been brought to Rome first by the Sicilian prelate Antonio Lo Duca.” The Papal authorities became interested in the Cult of the Angels along with the Queen of the Martyrs and this iconography began to flourish in Catholic churches in Rome. The frescos Zuccari paints in the Cappella degli Angeli are a representation of Purgatory, Heaven, and Hell, themes which derive directly from the writings of the earliest members of the Society of Jesus including Ignatius of Loyola, Roberto Bellarmino and Luigi Gonzaga. The primary texts of the founding fathers of the Society of Jesus constitute the Meditation Exercises and Evangelicae Imageines. They document a cult of angels with ancient origins, which was adapted and given new interpretations by the later sixteenth century. The Cappella degli Angeli followed on the heels of the first church dedicated to this veneration —Santa Maria degli Angeli, built in the Baths of Diocletian and was designed by Lo Duca and Michelangelo. The cult of the angels was subsequently manifested in many other churches in Rome and this specific iconography became a reflection of the teachings of the Jesuit order.
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Master of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Spring 2022.
Date
2022
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Keywords
Santa Maria del Fiore (Cathedral : Florence, Italy), Federico Zuccari, 1540-1609, Italian mural painting and decoration
Citation
Savage, Michelle. "The Cappella degli Angeli in the Gesù: Angels as Intercessors for Souls in Purgatory". Master's Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2022.