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Ligorio, Palladio, and the Decorated Roman Capital from Le Mura di Santo Stefano

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2013

T. F. C. Blagg ,
A. T. Luttrell  and
M. B. Lyttelton
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Ligorio, palladio ed il capitello romano decorato proveniente dalle mura di s stefano

Un capitello romano decorato, attualmente in Vaticano, può essere identificato come proveniente dal sito di Mura di Santo Stefano, vicino al lago di Bracciano, fu disegnato dal Ligorio e dal Palladio e da un artista fiorentino. La decorazione di questo capitello di marmo non ha stretti paralleli; consiste di quattro foglie d'acanto sotto gli angoli dell'abaco, congiunte da cornicioni orizzontali: un ovolo, astragali, scanalature e cimae rectae. I cornicioni, in particolare, sono caratteristici del risveglio della decorazione augustea del primo secondo secolo visibile nella decorazione del Foro Traiano, ed alcuni degli elementi meno comuni richiamano quelli dei capitelli della Villa Adriana a Tivoli. E' indicata una data risalente ad Adriano. Si pensa che l'uso del capitello fosse probabile all'interno dell'edificio. Un recente esame dei disegni del sedicesimo secolo dimostrarono che il Palladio, come in altri suoi disegni del sito, fu copiato dal Ligorio con poche variazioni, mentre la versione del fiorentino risultò indipendente, probabilmente realizzata dopo che il capitello venne portato a Roma. Le circostanze dello spostamento ed i disegni sono discussi nel contesto della carriera del Ligorio e della contemporanea attività archeologica.

Type
Research Article
Information
Papers of the British School at Rome , Volume 47 , November 1979 , pp. 102 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © British School at Rome 1979

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References

1 Lyttelton, M. and Sear, F., ‘A Roman Villa near Anguillara Sabazia’, PBSR xlv (1977), 247Google Scholar. The article is cited hereafter as Lyttelton and Sear (1977). See also A. Luttrell, ‘Roman Anguillara’, and Reynolds, J. M., ‘Mura di S. Stefano, Anguillara: the Inscriptions’, in British Museum Occasional Papers xxiv, London, 1980, 45–49 and 83–89Google Scholar.

2 Amelung, W., Die Sculpturen des Vaticanischen Museums, 1.2, Berlin, 1903, 232Google Scholar, no. 89a; the ornament was described, but the capital was not illustrated. It was, however, cited and a photograph of it by Ronczewski, K. was published by von Mercklin, E., Antike Figuralkapitelle, Berlin, 1962, 296Google Scholar and pl. 170, fig. 1345.

3 Vatican inventory no. 5174. We are grateful to Dr. Georg Daltrop of the Vatican Museums for making it available for study, and to Dr. Susan Walker, Demetrios Michaelides and Dr. David Whitehouse for additional photographs and measurements and other assistance.

4 Lyttelton and Sear (1977), 244 ff.

5 Florence, Uffizi, Gabinetto dei Disegni, Arch. 1598 r.; published in Bartoli, A., I monumenti antichi di Roma nei Disegni degli Uffizi di Firenze, I, Rome, 1914Google Scholar, fig. 113.

6 Ronczewski, K., ‘Römische Kapitelle mit Pflanzlichen Voluten’, JDAI, xliv (1931)Google Scholar, AA, coll. 1–102.

7 The orthodox form of the abacus of Corinthian capitals consists of an ovolo, fillet and cavetto; see for example Strong, D. E., Ward-Perkins, J. B., ‘The Temple of Castor in the Forum Romanum’, PBSR, xxx (1962), 14Google Scholar, pls. X, XI, XII a & b, XIVa. The abacus of some early and unorthodox Corinthian capitals includes a cyma reversa, e.g. capital from the Temple of Apollo, Bassae, in Roux, G., L'Architecture de l'Argolide, Paris, 1961, 45Google Scholar; capital from the Temple of Zeus, Nemea, in Roux, op. cit., pl. 96, I; capital from the interior of the Temple of Concord, Rome, in E. von Mercklin, Antike Figuralkapitelle, no. 494.

8 Nash, E., Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome (revised edition), London, 1968, IGoogle Scholar, pl. 100.

9 Pensabene, P., Scavi di Ostia, VIIGoogle Scholar, I Capitelli, Rome, 1972Google Scholar, no. 65, p. 34 & pl. V; nos. 72–9, p. 35 & pls. VI–VII. Compare also two Tuscan capitals at Wroxeter: Anderson, J. C., The Roman City of Uriconium at Wroxeter, London, 1867, 48–9Google Scholar, pl. VII.

10 Strong, D. E., ‘Late Hadrianic Architectural Ornament in Rome’; PBSR, xxi (1953), 120–1Google Scholar, fig. 1, cyma reversa type C.

11 For the Augustan period see Strong and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962), 22–3Google Scholar; for the Trajanic and Hadrianic periods see Leon, C., Die Bauornamentik des Trajansforums, Vienna, 1971Google Scholar, pls. 17, 2; 22, 1; 24, 1, and Conti, G., Decorazione Architettonica della ‘Piazza d'Oro’ a Villa Adriana (Studia Archaeologica 13), Rome, 1970Google Scholar, pl. IX, 1 & 2.

12 Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962), 21–2Google Scholar; Strong, , PBSR, xxi (1953), 120Google Scholar.

13 Aurigemma, S., Villa Adriana, Rome, 1962Google Scholar, fig. 99. For the ovolo of Trajan's Forum see Leon, , Bauornamentik, pl. 15Google Scholar, 1 & 2.

14 Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962), 24Google Scholar.

15 For the Forum of Augustus see Leon, , Bauornamentik, pl. 107Google Scholar, 3; for the Forum of Trajan, Leon, , Bauornamentik, pls. 5, 2Google Scholar; 8, 2; 16, 1; for Hadrian's Villa, Aurigemma, Villa Adriana, fig. 99.

16 Strong, D. E., ‘Some Early Examples of the Composite Capital’, JRS, 1 (1960), 117–28Google Scholar. For examples of Augustan Composite capitals at Ostia, see now Pensabene, I Capitelli, nos. 385–7, pp. 106–7, pl. XXXIX.

17 Strong, , JRS, 1 (1960), 127Google Scholar, pl. XV, 5.

18 Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962), 20–1Google Scholar, pl. XIX a; for the Forum of Augustus see Leon, , Bauornamentik, pl. 82Google Scholar, 1–2; for the Forum of Trajan see Leon, , Bauornamentik, pl. 22, 1Google Scholar.

19 Strong, , JRS, 1 (1960), 127–8Google Scholar, pl. XV, 6 & 10.

20 A rare example is provided by the capitals of the North Porch of the Erechtheion; see Lawrence, A. W., Greek Architecture, Harmondsworth, 1962Google Scholar, pl. 75a.

21 For the Fora of Augustus and Trajan see Leon, , Bauornamentik, pls. 7, 2Google Scholar; 71, 1. For the column bases in the building with three exedrae see Aurigemma, Villa Adriana, fig. 53.

22 See Nash, , Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome, IIGoogle Scholar, Lacus Juturnae, pl. 687.

23 See for example the fragment of a Megarian bowl found in Alexandria, , in Annuaire du Musée Gréco-romain, 1935–1939, 115Google Scholar, fig. 52. For other examples see Exploration archéologique de Délos, XXXI: Laumonier, A., La céramique hellénistique à reliefs, Paris, 1977Google Scholar, pl. 129, nos. 3482 & 3190; pl. II, no. 4368.

24 For illustrations see Beyen, H., Die Pompejanische Wanddekoration, II, i, The Hague, 1960CrossRefGoogle Scholar, pls. 230, 231, and Ronczewski, K., ‘Variantes des chapiteaux romains’, Annales de l'Université de Latvie, viii (1923)Google Scholar, fig. 3.

25 See Lawrence, , Greek Architecture, pl. 91Google Scholar, and Roux, , L'Architecture de l'Argolide, pl. 97Google Scholar. For the influence of Athens in forming the ornamental tradition of Rome in the Augustan period see Strong, , PBSR, xxi (1953), 134Google Scholar.

26 For the Temple of Augustus and Rome see Pensabene, , I Capitelli, no. 216 p. 57Google Scholar, pls. XX & LXXX. For other Ostian capitals see also Pensabene, , I Capitelli, nos. 218 p. 57, 219Google Scholar, p. 58 & 224, p. 59, pls. XX & XXI. For the Temple of Mars Ultor see Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962)Google Scholar, pl. XI.

27 For the Basilica Aemilia see Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962)Google Scholar, pl. XIIb; for the Temple of Augustus and Rome, see Pensabene, , I Capitelli, no. 216 p. 57Google Scholar. For other capitals of the Augustan and Julio-Claudian periods with this characteristic see Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962)Google Scholar, pl. XIIa, and Strong, , JRS, 1 (1960)Google Scholar, pl. XV, 7 & 9.

28 See Strong, and Ward-Perkins, , PBSR, xxx (1962), 15–17Google Scholar, fig. 3.

29 See Strong, , JRS, 1 (1960), 127Google Scholar, pl. XV, 3, for the Atrium Vestae, and for the Ostia capitals see Pensabene, , I Capitelli, vii, nos. 222, 226, 228, p. 59–61Google Scholar, pls XXI, XXII.

30 We owe this information to Dr. S. Walker.

31 These leaves are also found on a type of Roman capital often called lotus-and-acanthus, e.g. referring to the capitals in the Severan Forum at Lepcis Magna, Boëthius, A. and Ward-Perkins, J. B., Etruscan and Roman Architecture, Harmondsworth, 1970, 478Google Scholar, pl. 216.

32 See Lyttelton, M., ‘The Mura di Santo Stefano near Anguillara: a Roman villa?’ British Museum Occasional Papers, xxiv, London, 1980, 53–71Google Scholar.

33 Ronczewski, , Annales de l'Université de Latvie, viii (1923), 116Google Scholar.

34 Lyttelton and Sear (1977), 248–9.

35 Ibid., 235, 238.

36 Vitruvius, IV, i, 6–8.

37 Lyttelton and Sear (1977), 236, fig. 4.

38 Oxford, Bodleian, Cod. Canonici Ital. 138, f.Google Scholar 112 r, 119 v; see further Lyttelton and Sear (1977), note 14. We are indebted to Dr. H. Burns for information about the term ‘portichetto’.

39 Bodleian, Cod. Canonici Ital. 138, f.Google Scholar 112 r. See further Lyttelton, op. cit. in note 32.

40 Bodleian, Cod. Canonici Ital. 138, f.Google Scholar 112 r.

41 Hultsch, F., Griechische und Römische Metrologie, Graz, 1971, 74 ff.Google Scholar and 700, taf. VI.

42 Palladio's placing of the outline profile above the elevation misled Zorzi into thinking that he had drawn two different capitals: Zorzi, G., I disegni delle antichità di Andrea Palladio, Venice, 1959, 100Google Scholar.

43 A few millimetres of discrepancy between sets of measurements of architectural ornament are not unusual, as a result of variations in its original execution from one point of the ornament to another, the subjective choice of slightly different points from which to measure, and weathering or damage.

44 For the latter question, see Lyttelton and Sear (1977), 245–6.

45 For the symbols, divisions and metric equivalents, see Huelsen, Ch., Il libro di Giuliano da Sangallo, Leipzig, 1910, xlv–xlviGoogle Scholar.

46 Following, for the Roman foot, Hultsch, , Griechische und Römische Metrologie, 74 ff.Google Scholar and 700, taf. VI: Foot, 295·7 mm.; Digit, 18·48 mm.; Minute, 4·62 mm.; for the braccio fiorentino, Huelsen, , Il libro di Giuliano da Sangallo, xlv–xlviGoogle Scholar: Braccio, 583·6 mm.; Soldo, 29·2 mm.; Danaro, 2·4 mm.

47 There are also variations in the carving of the ornament on different sides of the capital; as noted above (p. 105), the fluting of the cavetto on one side has tongues between the flutes which do not appear on the adjacent sides.

48 Whitehouse, D., ‘Le Mura di S. Stefano, prima relazione provvisoria’, Archeologia Medievale, vi (1979), 263–8Google Scholar.

49 Lyttelton and Sear (1977), plates XXXV–XXXVIII et passim.

50 Mandowsky, E. and Mitchell, C., Pirro Ligorio's Roman Antiquities, London, 1963, 2–3Google Scholar.

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52 Virginio died before 22 June 1550: ibid., 235.

53 Bodleian, Cod. Canonici Ital. 138, f.Google Scholar 113 and 119; cf. Briquet, C., Les Filigranes, II, 2nd ed: Leipzig, 1923Google Scholar, no. 5299 (information kindly supplied by Dr. Albinia de la Mare).

54 Mandowsky, and Mitchell, , Pirro Ligorio, 2Google Scholar.

55 Ashby, T., ‘The Bodleian Ms. of Pirro Ligorio’, JRS, ix (1919), 171–3Google Scholar, states, but without adducing precise evidence, that the Ms. belongs to the first recension of a work begun in 1550. In fact it consists of miscellaneous loose materials bound together; the folios concerning Le Mura are scattered in disorderly fashion through the Ms. and could well have been written before 1550.

56 Bodleian, Cod. Canonici Ital. 138, f.Google Scholar 112.

57 Mandowski, and Mitchell, , Pirro Ligorio, 42Google Scholar et passim. The excavations have shown Ligorio's plan of the out-buildings at Le Mura, of which he could see only traces, to be partially unreliable.

58 Bartoli, , I monumenti, IGoogle Scholar, fig. 113, and Lyttelton and Sear (1977), 247, attribute the drawing to Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, but he was dead by 1534. Professor Christoph Frommel of the Kunsthistorisches Institut at Bonn University kindly hazarded an estimate of the date based on a general stylistic assessment of the whole folio and of the folios associated with it.

59 Cf. supra, p. 113.

60 Lyttelton and Sear (1977), 245–7, and supra, p. 112. Zorzi, , I disegni delle antichità di Andrea Palladio, 29, 100Google Scholar, wrongly suggests that Palladio went to Le Mura and that he drew two different capitals.

61 The stylistic arguments from the calligraphy are inconclusive and difficult to apply in the case of a copy. Zorzi, , I disegni, 29Google Scholar, considers that the calligraphy suggests a date after 1550, most probably 1554. Burns, H., ‘I Disegni’, in Mostra del Palladio—Vicenza, Basilica Palladiana, revised ed: Vicenza, , 1974, 153Google Scholar, also accepts 1554, though Palladio's ‘epsilon’ might suggest a date in 1545/7. Burns, H., ‘I Disegni del Palladio’, Bollettino del Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, xv (1973), 169–70Google Scholar, shows that the ‘epsilon’, and also the use of the visentino rather than the antique foot, come after 1547/51; these points would suggest an earlier date.

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63 Hübner, P., Le statue di Roma, I, Leipzig, 1912Google Scholar, plate VIIa.

64 Mandowsky, and Mitchell, , Pirro Ligorio, 3Google Scholar; cf. Smith, G., The Casino of Pius IV, Princeton, 1977Google Scholar. Extracts from the accounts show Ligorio purchasing many pieces of sculpture for the Casino between 1560 and 1565: Lanciani, , Storia degli Scavi, III, 217–28Google Scholar. See also Coffin, D., The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome, Princeton, 1979, 267–78Google Scholar et passim.

65 Ackerman, J., The Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican, 1954, 87–100Google Scholar.

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68 Ackerman, , The Cortile del Belvedere, 95–6Google Scholar; Smith, , The Casino of Pius IV, 15–17Google Scholar.

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