Coriolano convinto dalla sua famiglia a risparmiare Roma (c.1509)

Signorelli, Luca (c.1445-1523)

Coriolano convinto dalla sua famiglia a risparmiare Roma (Coriolanus persuaded by his Family to spare Rome)
c.1509
Fresco, detached and mounted on canvas, 125.7 x 125.7 cm
National GalleryLondon

This picture, painted in fresco, was part of a series of eight paintings which decorated the walls of the palace belonging to the ruling Sienese nobleman, Pandolfo Petrucci. He commissioned the frescoes, three of which survive in our collection, to celebrate the marriage of his son to Pope Pius III’s niece.

The figure in blue and gold armour is Coriolanus. Once a high-ranking Roman general, he was banished from the city in 491 BC, taking refuge with the neighbouring Volsci. This picture shows him back in Rome after leading the Volscian army to victory against the city; his soldiers have pitched their camp on the banks of the river Tiber in the distance. Hearing of his role in the battle, his mother Volumnia and his wife Vergilia – shown here holding their baby, who tucks his hand into her dress – led a deputation of women to beg for his mercy and to spare the city. Plutarch, one of several Roman authors to write about this event, describes how Volumnia made a speech that convinced Coriolanus to withdraw the Volscian troops. In honour of their bravery, the Romans built a new temple dedicated to Women’s Fortune.

Coriolanus was faced with choosing between his family and his new allegiance to the Volsci, and Signorelli has made his emotion at the sight of his family clear. His arms are open, ready to embrace his elder child, the exuberant little boy who hurtles towards him while casting an anxious glance back towards his grandmother. This touching detail invites the viewer to identify with Coriolanus’ dilemma.

Signorelli has made great efforts to make the figures look like ancient Romans. The elaborate draperies and the gilded armour are imaginative impressions of classical-style dress; the laurel wreath Coriolanus wears around his head is a reference to the wreath of victory worn by conquering heroes. Even his children, with their playful gestures and poses, recall the carvings found on ancient Roman sarcophagi (stone coffins).

The patron, Pandolfo Petrucci, may have identified with such a scene: he was banished from Siena briefly in the 1490s and went into self-imposed exile in 1503, only one year before he acquired the buildings that he would transform into his palace. (NG)

The ceiling, composed of detached frescoes of mythological subjects set into casts of the original stuccowork, was painted by Pinturicchio and his workshop as part of the decoration of a room in the Palazzo del Magnifico in Siena. The palace was constructed for the ruler of Siena, Pandolfo Petrucci, (1451–1512) called “Il Magnifico,” whose coat-of-arms decorates the center of the ceiling. According to an eighteenth century description, the walls were frescoed with eight allegorical and mythological scenes by Signorelli, Girolamo Genga, and Pinturicchio. Six of these were detached in 1842/44 and are now in the National GalleryLondon and the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena. There was also a wooden framework carved by Antonio Barili, parts of which are preserved in Siena, and a majolica tile floor, sections of which also survive. Some of the tiles are dated 1509, the year Pandolfo Petrucci’s son, Borghese, married Vittoria Piccolomini, and the room must have been painted about this time. Pinturicchio was one of the first artists to explore Nero’s Golden House in Rome, and the decoration of the present ceiling is based on a vault in the Golden House. The frescoes from the ceiling, badly damaged, were detached in 1912. One of twenty-two panels (14.114.1–.22) forming the ceiling from the Palace of Pandolfo Petrucci. The general distribution and partition of the ceiling appears to derive from that of a vaulted and painted ceiling in Nero’s Golden House in Rome. Many of the individual figures also seem to derive from antique works of art– especially sarcophagi. (MET)

Frescoes from Palazzo del Magnifico, Siena:

Pinturicchio (c.1454-1513)
Putto con ghirlande
c.1509
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

 

 

Pinturicchio (c.1454-1513)
Ritorno di Ulisse
c.1509
National GalleryLondon

 

 

Signorelli, Luca (c.1445-1523)
Trionfo della Castità e Amore sconfitto
c.1509
National GalleryLondon

 

 

These paintings in fresco (painted directly on to wet plaster) once decorated the walls of a room in the Petrucci family palace in Siena. Each wall was painted with two frescoes, positioned on either side of a doorway or window. The ceiling, which can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York, contained 20 frescoes of mythological scenes, divided by carved, painted and gilded stucco (plaster), produced by Pintoricchio and his workshop. At the centre was the Petrucci coat of arms, surrounded by flying putti (cherubs).

The frescoes were commissioned by Pandolfo Petrucci to celebrate the marriage of his son to the niece of Pope Pius III. The occasion provided an opportunity to show off his fashionable interest in classical history – through scenes from ancient Greek and Roman literature and history, the frescoes illustrate family values and the virtues important to marriage. (NG)