Cybo-Soderini Chapel (Santa Maria del Popolo)

View of the chapel

The Cybo-Soderini Chapel (Italian: Cappella Cybo-Soderini) or the Chapel of the Crucifixion (Italian: Cappella del Crocifisso) is a side chapel of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. Its most important works of art are the frescos of a Flemish artist, Pieter van Lint from 1636-40.

History

The chapel was founded by Teodorina Cybo (c. 1455-1508), Cardinal Giovanni Battista Cybo's daughter. She was married to a Genovese gentleman, Gherardo Usodimare. The concession to the chapel was renewed in 1530 to Teodorina's son, Giovanni Battista Usodimare, the Bishop of Mariana and his heirs. The chapel contained the sepulchral monuments of Teodorina, her husband and their son, together with ancient relics. The altar was consecrated in 1595.

The chapel was returned to the House of Cybo in 1636 and fully restored in Baroque style in the following years by Innocenzo Cybo (†1640). Teodorina's heirs renounced the patronage of the chapel in 1747. It was bought by a new owner, Lorenzo Soderini in 1821 and restored in 1825 when a dedicatory slab was set in the pavement. At the time the Cybo tombs were removed.

Description

Invention of the True Cross by Pieter van Lint
Exaltation of the Cross by Pieter van Lint

There is a 15th-century wooden crucifix above the main altar in a Corinthian aedicule. The side walls are articulated by painted Corinthian pilasters and the splays of the windows are decorated with monochrome trophies. The archivolt of the entrance arch is decorated with coffers and rosettes. The painted architecture, which is among the finest from the period in Rome, was executed by Pietro Paolo Drei. Two big frescos by a Flemish artist, Pieter van Lint depict scenes from the legend of the True Cross: on the left side the Invention of the True Cross, on the right the Exaltation of the Cross. The gate of Jerusalem on the latter closely resembles the original Porta del Popolo outside of the basilica. The first painting shows the moment when the True Cross was identified: three crosses were found on the site of the Calvary by Saint Helena and the body of a dead man was brought to the place. The True Cross restored the dead to life. The second painting shows Emperor Heraclius when he brought back the cross to Jerusalem in 629. He tried to enter the city carrying the cross but he was stopped until he took off his imperial robes and doned a penitential garb.

The richly decorated stucco frames of the paintings are crowned with the Soderini coat-of-arms.

The frescos on the vault depict the Angels with the Symbols of the Passion and God the Father. There are four Prophets in the lunettes, Daniel, King David, Hosea and Jonah while the central lunette is filled with clouds and two putti. A small coat-of-arms of the Cybo family survived on the vault as part of the decoration. Two enigmatic portraits on both sides of the altar represent Innocenzo Cybo and probably his wife (the male head is heavily damaged). The entrance of the chapel is barred by a solid Renaissance marble parapet which is decorated with vases and cornucopias.

The paintings were erroneously attributed to Luigi Primo and other artists in the past but an iscription on the vault clearly states: «PETRUS/VAN LINT/(AN)T(VE)RP(ENSIS)/COLOR(IBU)S/P()R()T()S FEC(IT)/PETR(US) PAUL(US) DREUS/ROM(ANUS) ORNA/MENTA ARCH/ITE(C)T(URAE) DELIN(EAVIT)/AN(NO) SALUT(I)S/[...]». Some beautiful preparation drawings of the frescos of the vault survived in Paris and Rotterdam.

The chapel is an underappreciated masterwork of the little-known Flemish artist who "proved to be a highly educated painter from a visual standpoint, deeply absorbing models of Italian painting, especially that of the Emilian school". The soft cromatic passages and the peaceful landscapes show the influence of Domenichino and Guido Reni.[1]

The tomb slab of Lorenzo Soderini is set in the middle of the floor. The Latin inscription states that Count Soderini, a Roman patrician restored the derelict chapel of the Crucifix in 1825. The circular slab with the Soderini coats-of-arms is surrounded by six winged skulls in typical Baroque fashion.

Indulgence

Outside the chapel a slab with an inscription on the left pillar informs us about an indulgence granted by Pope Gregory XIII to the chapel in 1576. Mass celebrated at the altar for the dead will free their souls from the Purgatory. The black marble slab is set in a white stone frame decorated with volutes and a winged angel. It is crowned with an arched broken pediment and the coat-of-the-arms of the pope.

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ Ilaria Miarelli Mariani: La pittura, p. 121

Bibliography

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