PIETRO DA CORTONA

Pietro Berrettini (Cortona 1596 - Rome 1669), known as Pietro da Cortona, was born into a family of artisans, who sent the young man to Florence to learn the art from such a Commodus. Apparently he learned quickly because at 16 years was already in Rome in the  workshop of Baccio Ciarpi, a late Mannerist painter, best known for having in his workshop Pietro da Cortona.

According to the custom of the time in early years Pietro was an imitator and his ability to reproduce the frescoes by Raphael caught the attention of the Sacchetti brothers, Marcello pope’s treasurer at the time of Pope Urban VIII Barberini and Giulio Cardinal. Pietro returned portraying both the Sacchetti brothers. One of his masterpieces is the impressive portrait of the Marquis Marcello Sacchetti.

Thanks to the Sacchetti Pietro enjoyed the protection of the Barberini family.

It must be said that the rich and powerful then used very  well their money, wisely choosing the best artists and putting them in a position to give the best of themselves, and so did Peter, who went from success to success to become Prince and director of the most prestigious Academy, that of San Luca.

Pietro divided his time between architecture and painting and was able to be great in both arts.

As a painter created large frescoes and paintings on canvas.

About the frescoes was built a scholarly dispute about the number of people who had to appear, the dispute would affect Peter accusing him of excesses. But Peter pulled straight on his way opening the way to the great Baroque performance.

Among these great representations, we should remember Santa Maria in Vallicella, where he painted the apse, the spandrels of the dome, the dome and the vault of the nave.

The apse of Santa Maria in Vallicella - click to enlarge

Another memorable fresco, “The stories of Aeneas”, decorates the Palazzo Pamphili in Piazza Navona, today Brazilian embassy.

His paintings are exhibited in major museums around the world, the Uffizi, the Louvre, the Prado, the National Gallery in London. In the Roman Pinacoteca Capitolina we have the most important collection of paintings by Pietro, we suggest the “Portrait of Pope Urban VIII”, the “Portrait of Matteo Sacchetti” and the “Rape of the Sabine Women”.

Finally, if you are near  the National Gallery of Barberini Palace is worth entering the church of Santa Maria of the Conception, which is located a few steps from Piazza Barberini, where among various works (Lanfranco, Guido Reni, Caravaggio), is one of his masterpieces: “Ananias restores sight to St. Paul”.

In the church of San Salvatore In Lauro one can see his Nativity and in San Carlo ai Catinari the main altar piece.

At Barberini Place Pietro painted one of his most complex works, the great fresco (24 meters by 14), “Triumph of Divine Providence”, to which he worked for over six years, ending in 1639.
In this fresco Peter weaves a narrative, full of symbols and allegories, which derives from the complicated text by Francesco Bracciolini. The problem that Peter resolves is to maintain the unity of the composition while facing with a multiplicity of themes and subthemes. The end result is an extraordinary spectacularity.

In the National Gallery of Palazzo Barberini is exposed “The Guardian Angel”, which was painted in 1656 for Pope Alexander VII Chigi. This work, particularly striking,  represents the full maturity of Pietro.

back