A walk through Trastevere and a visit to the Palazzo Corsini

Dwight Peck's personal website

A month's sojourn in Italy,
Oct.-Nov. 2024

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

19 October 2024

We've just left the Villa Farnesina, very rewarding, and we're proceeding the 140 metres farther along the Via della Lungara, past one of the three nearby campuses of John Cabot University on the left, to amble through some of our favorite parts of central Trastevere.

We'll pause for a little sidewalk lunch just inside the arch, and then get on with things.

The Via Scala leads us directly down to the Piazza di Santa Maria, through the . . .

. . . Piazza della Scala, where Kristin will be checking in at . . .

. . . the Antica Farmacia S. Maria della Scala.

Perhaps inquiring about helpful items she used to get here but cannot get in the States.

Soon the Via della Scala enters into the . . .

. . . Piazza di S. Egidio (under the protection of our Esercito (i.e., army) friends).

The Piazza di S. Egidio leads directly to the back half of the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere ('pre-medieval church with a mosaic façade'), and . . .

. . . the via della Paglia leads us right into the . . .

. . . Piazza, with its very nice fountain, here at least since 1472, now under a Caput Mundi maintenance project (here's a jpg from 2010). One of the times we were staying here in Trastevere, we noticed that in the evenings, as dusk came on, the roaming street vendors came out again, and the square filled with people having fun, four different law enforcement vehicles rolled up to the corner just below that white building and carabineri, the esercito real army, the local police, and some other agency came out in pairs and settled down amicably, chatting with one another and with the passing crowds.

The famous Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome: built over a Christian 'house-church' from the early 200s, the present floor plan and walls date from the 340s, and much of the rest of it from about 1140. The façade mosaics were made by Pietro Cavallini in the late 13th century and restored in 1702 by Carlo Fontana, along with the fountain.

-- Where's Waldo?

We're not prepared to linger here today -- Corsini awaits us -- but it's an amazing sight even briefly.

The amazing mosaics date from the late 12th and 13th centuries, many of them by Pietro Cavallini presumably with his workshop. The relics housed here include the head of St Apollonia (presumably without her teeth) and a bit of the 'Holy Sponge', as well as a few popes.

It appears that we're commemorating someone in a traditional sort of way, but . . .

. . . there's no real downside to that.

Leaving the piazza, that's the road leading out to the Tiber bridges. When we were here, the African street vendors laid out their wares on blankets in the street, and from time to time a police car would appear and they'd all roll up their blankets and scoot off into the alleys. The police were casual, unhurried, and on their way again soon.

A tiny vicolo leading out of the Santa Maria piazza is the Via della Font d'Olio --

-- we spent about a week here in February 2010, and the alley looked just like this at the time.

That' s our former digs; now it appears to be somewhat expanded and perhaps upgraded.

Off the Piazza di San Egido, this is the Vicolo del Cedro ('cedars'), where we had a flat for a short time in 2006, but it's closed up tight, and there's a more elaborate new establishment just a few doors down (perhaps a descendant, who knows?).

In the Piazza Egidio, this bronze work, called 'Homeless Jesus' (in English) is by the same Canadian sculptor, Timothy Schmalz, who created the prisoner's-hands piece we saw ouside the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls a few days ago.

When opportunity knocks, Kristin answers.

Back the 150m to the Galleria Corsini, facing the Villa Farnesina on the Via della Lungara.

The Galleria Corsini is the other, and much older, half of the Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica with the Palazzo Barberini, and in some way is partnered with the Galleria Borghese as well.

The present palace was commissioned in 1736 by Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini, who was a nephew of Pope Clement XII Corsini, building upon a villa owned by the Riario family from the late 15th century. The Corsini family were prominent in Florence from the late 12th century, acquired high level church and noble titles and built palazzi in many places, and established a branch in Rome when Lorenzo Corsini was elected pope in 1730. The wide family evidently still thrives, but this huge palace, and the art works assembled around Neri Maria's considerable collections, were sold to the state in 1883 and apparently became the first national gallery of period art in 1895, joined by the Barberini in 1953.

'The ploughman with oxen', Roman, AD 3rd or 4th century

Presently the palazzo hosts some offices of the Accademia dei Lincei (the National Academy of Science) as well as the art gallery now on the first floor (the 'second floor' for Americans), and the gardens out the back as a botanical garden that is part of the University of Rome 'La Sapienza'.

The Borromeo Islands in Lago Maggiore, by Caspar Van Wittel (aka Gaspare Vanvitelli, ca. 1652-1736), a Dutch artist who worked in Italy, based in Rome, from the age of 22. 'He played a pivotal role in the development of the genre of topographical painting known as veduta' [Wikipedia].

There are at least thousands of paintings and other works here (though the prospectus says there are only 300 paintings, no way), but there is a serious difficulty in dealing with them. Most of the collection is maintained just as it was formed in the 18th century, and very few of the works have their own information labels. Instead, this is what we find on the walls of nearly every room . . .

. . . which requires an awful lot of running back and forth and in many cases an impossibility of identifying our favorites from photographs later (like now). Consequently, there are some very good things that we can't identify now, and a look at the list on Wikipedia of outstanding pieces is enough to make one become wracked by salty tears seeing what we missed entirely.

Anyway, here's some of what we were able to salvage from the wreckage. This is probably 'The Ransom' (aka 'The Redemption') by Christoffel Jacobsz Van der Laemen (d.ca.1651), a specialist in 'merry company scenes'. Obviously Flemish or Dutch, in any case.

The room layout, very elegant, neat floors. The two little chaps at the top are said to be the sons of Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor in the first half of the 16th century, by Tiberio di Tito (or Titi), an early 17th century Florentine portraitist.

Kristin working her way along the corridor

A nasty work of 'Prometheus' Torment', by Salvator Rosa, an eccentric master of many creative skills, active in Naples, Rome, and Florence in the 17th century.

Laocoön and sons, by an anonymous master in the 18th century

'The Denial of St Peter' (ca.1616), by Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), a Spaniard who worked in Spanish-governed Naples after the age of 25.

'Mary Magdalene' by Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746). In series 5 (2021) of Bendor Grosvenor's BBC show Britain's Lost Masterpieces, one episode is focused on a Mary Magdalene in the Brighton Museum, which Bendor's restorers were able to show was made by Trevisani, not this version, of course.

A classic Judith and Holofernes, and not a bad one at all, by Gerard Seghers (1591-1651), who worked in Rome and Naples in his 20s, influenced by Caravaggio's fans there, but returned to Antwerp by 1620 for the rest of his life.

Orazio Riminaldi (1591-1630) is credited with this not very interesting 'Martyrdom of Saints Nereo and Achilleo'.

This, too, is rather disappointing, but it's attributed to Simon Vouet so we can't pass it up: 'Herodias with the Head of St John the Baptist'. She was supposedly the wife of Herod Antipas and allegedly talked her daughter Salome into dancing before Herod to get him to have the Baptist beheaded.

(Usually isn't it Salome who presents the head to the king?)

This is the 'Ecstacy of St Catherine de' Ricci', by Agostino Masucci (ca.1691-1758). This St Catherine was a nun in the Third Order of St Dominic who used to bleed with the wounds of Christ and have mystic visions. She died of a long illness in the convent in 1590 at the age of about 68, leaving lots of relics behind, and was beatified by Pope Clement XII Corsini himself in 1732, then canonized by Benedict XIV in 1746.

This is said to be by Marco Benefial (1684-1764), 'The Vision of St Caterina Fieschi' (normally called Catherine of Genoa, of the noble Fieschi family, 1447-1510), beloved for her work serving the sick, especially during plague years. She was canonized by Pope Clement XII in 1737.

Giacomo Zoboli (1681-1767), 'St Vincent de Paul preaching'; the well known 17th century French priest and founder of the Vicentian or Lazarist 'Congregation of the Mission', mainly preaching to the rural poor.

Detail: Not everbody's listening to the sermon.

That's Pope Clement XII himself, looks a proper charmer. Attributed to Carlo Monaldi, whose marble piece on the pope for the Pantheon (presumably this one) was rejected and transported over here in 1735. He also worked on the Corsini Chapel in the Basilica of St John Lateran.

'The Fight of Two Cherubs', the 'Roman School', 17th century

A very interesting 'Sorrowful Virgin', by Guido Reni, and . . .

. . . 'St John the Baptist', by ditto. The grieving faces in the tondos look like they should have been part of a much larger scene.

'The Holy Family with St John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene' (who isn't paying attention), attributed to someone called After Parmigianino, 16th century. St Joseph's finally losing patience.

This is entitled 'The Concert', which may have some hidden meaning, by Theodor Rombouts (1597-1637), who worked in Rome 1616-1625, then went home to Antwerp where he's considered to have been 'the primary and most original representative of Flemish Caravaggism' (Wikipedia). His chief specialty was in 'merry companies, musicians, card players'.

Nice furnishings

A little Holy Family, with St Elizabeth and John the Baptist and what looks like an enormous iceberg in the background, by Benvenuto Tisi aka Garofalo of Ferrara (1481-1559), flanked by Diana and Adonis figures by Antonio Montauti (1685-1740), who after 1735 served as surveyor for the Vatican under Pope Clement III.

'Salome with the Head of John the Baptist', by Guido Reni, dated 1630-1635

King Philip II of Spain, by 'School of Titian' or a copy

'Il presepe', a nativity scene, by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647), active mostly in Rome and Naples

'The mystical marriage of St Catherine [of Alexandria]', by the Workshop of Veronese

'The Virgin and Child', by Orazio Gentileschi, ca.1600, one of his many on the same subject

'St Peter healing St Agatha', ca.1614, by Giovanni Lanfranco. We first saw this Lanfranco picture amongst a Carlo Bononi exhibition in the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara in 2017. Oddly, though, the Web Gallery of Art cites this picture as being in the Galleria Nazionale in the Pilotta in Parma, Lanfranco's birthplace; perhaps one or the other is a copy.

David Teniers the Younger, 'Tavern Scene'

'Allegory of Vanity', 1625-1630?, by Angelo Caroselli of Rome (1585-1652)

'St Apollonia', by Carlo Dolci of Florence (1616-1686). She's always shown holding her tooth in a pair of pliers, though no one's ever suggested that she pulled her own teeth out. She's known as the patron saint of dentistry (intended as a joke?), and in medieval times millions of her teeth were sold as a toothache cure. (We have a small collection of her pictures.)

This might be another 'Holy Family with St John the Baptist', by Jacopino del Conte (ca.1515-1598) [we've lost our reference to it]

'Christ among the Doctors', by Luca Giordano of Naples (1634-1705)

We've probably missed about 80% of what's here; you've only got time to pace along and pause for what catches your eye.

(It would have been preferable to have had individual labels on each of the pieces, but perhaps you're expected to return whenever you feel in the mood and eventually get to everything.)

We're off now. A dinner engagement.

The Ristorante il Cortile here is in the Monteverdi neighborhood on the Janiculum hill above Trastevere.

An elegant place with a very good reputation. We're here to meet up with Kristin's stepdaughter Ludovica and son Elier, though dad Javier is detained on a job in Valencia, which is confronting a flooding crisis.

Ludovica, brilliant (incipient Anglophone) Elier, and an amiable passerby

Next up: The Basilica di Sant'Andrea della Valle and Piazza Navona

Back to Italy,
Fall 2022

Rome

This may be
a long, slow
process.