Contenido de los planes de acción en función de la integración

The significance of Michelangelo’s frescoes is intimately tied to the architectural context and functions of the Pauline Chapel. Pope Paul III rebuilt the ceremonial core of the Apostolic Palace around the grand reception hall, the Sala Regia (figs. 3.24-3.25). Apparently Nicholas III (1277-1280) built the original Sala Regia, perhaps as a formal reception space of appropriate scale for ceremonies that would accompany his hard-won position as ruler of the Papal States.108 During the late 1530s Paul entrusted Antonio Sangallo the Younger with a major renovation of the space that included the construction of higher walls and replacement of the old wooden ceiling with an impressive barrel vault. Perino del Vaga and Daniele da Volterra executed an

107

Carol M. Richardson, Reclaiming Rome: Cardinals in the Fifteenth Century, Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History v. 173 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2009), 321.

108

Partridge and Starn, “Triumphalism and the Sala Regia,” 27. Julius II (1503-1513) renovated the space in 1507.

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elaborate design of stuccoes on the ceiling and the walls of the chamber.109 A central lozenge on the ceiling is decorated with the stemma and motto of Paul III; these elements are repeated throughout the elaborate design. The wall stuccoes depict angels and classical victories holding lilies and additional stemme of the patron. Figures that recline on pediments and door frames in the Sala demonstrate Michelangelo’s stylistic influence on the artists working in the Sala Regia, or perhaps even his role as a consultant for some of the designs of stucchi (fig. 3.26).110

Frescoes in the Sala, executed under the patronage of Pius IV (1559-65), Pius V (1566-72), and Gregory XIII (1572-85), show historical rulers who defended the Church and others who benefitted the Church through tributes or military victories.111

The Sala Regia was used to receive “Christian emperors and kings [who] publicly render obedience to the Roman Pontiff, the pope, the visible leader of the Holy Church and Christ’s Vicar on earth.”112 Every surface of the imposingly large hall is richly decorated with deeply carved, ornate stucchi and oversized frescoes. The space has no liturgical function. But, just as monarchs and emperors had throne rooms, the popes needed a place to receive distinguished, and devoted, visitors. Grand doorways connect the space to: the Sistine Chapel and the Scala Regia

109

Davidson cites drawings at the Uffizi (UA1234 r. and v. and UA 714) as evidence that Sangallo came up with the designs for the stucchi. Davidson, “Decoration of the Sala Regia,” 399.

110

Ibid., 414.

111

This characterization of scenes is based on Vasari’s description of the room, as suggested by Davidson (Ibid., 419). On the political significance of the fresco decoration of the Sala Regia, see Jan L. de Jong, “Intended Effects and Undesirable Responses: Political

Propaganda in Sixteenth-Century Monumental Painting in Italy,” in Selling and Rejecting

Politics in Early Modern Europe, ed. Martin Gosman and Joop W. Koopmans (Leuven: Peeters,

2007), 48-57.

112

The anonymous, undated manuscript (BAV Vat. Lat. 7031 f.280) is quoted by Davidson, “Decoration of the Sala Regia,” 418.

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on the west wall; the passage to the Benediction Loggia, Scala Maresciallo and Sala Ducale on the east wall; and the Pauline Chapel on the south wall (see fig. 3.6). On the north wall of the Sala Regia, below an oversized Serlian window, a papal throne dominates attention as the focal point of the space.113 The throne, raised on several steps, is situated on the long axis of the Sala, directly across from the entrance to the Pauline Chapel. An engraving by Étienne Dupérac (fig. 3.27) shows a ceremony in which Pope Pius V conferred the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany on Cosimo I de’ Medici (1519-1574). The image shows how a large audience assembles in the chamber and the pope is seated on an elevated throne to receive obeisance from Christian rulers.114 The ceremony with Pius V and Duke Cosimo is an example of the type of non- liturgical stagecraft for which the Sala was designed. In the Sala Regia, the pope is enthroned not simply as a spiritual leader but as the ruler of the Church and the Papal States.115 While the Sala Regia is a grandiose setting for papal audiences and processions that celebrate and reinforce the temporal power of the papacy, the adjacent Pauline Chapel is a sacred space in which papal authority manifests itself in relation to the apostles, Christ, and God.

Construction of the Pauline Chapel was completed in a remarkably brief span; work

113

The windows now have clear, glass but payment records demonstrate that they were originally fitted with both clear and yellow glass. ASR, Camerale 1, Fabbriche 1510, fol. 75v. Cited by Davidson, “Decoration of the Sala Regia,” 407 n.62. Above the cornice on the north wall an additional, large lunette-shaped window contributes to the illumination of the room.

114

The engraving probably dates to the early 1570s. Three of the largest wall frescoes, and some of the smaller ones, remained unfinished at that time. The large Medici coat of arms represented on the left wall, and the inscription framed on the right wall, are clearly Dupérac’s inventions.

115

The Papal States were taken up as part of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1870, essentially removing the popes from temporal power (except within Vatican City and a few properties over which the popes retain political control).

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began in March 1538 and the dedication ceremony took place on 25 January 1540. A mass for the Feast of All Souls was celebrated in the chapel on 2 November 1538. The reason why Mass was celebrated in the unfinished chapel is unclear, but it does indicate that the structure was nearing completion at that time.116 Conclave plans, which record the precise locations of the

celle in which individual cardinals resided, as well as locations of the cardinals’ activities, give

some indication of how the Pauline Chapel functioned during conclaves.117 The conclave plan of 1549-50 does not indicate any activities occurring in the Pauline Chapel, although the space is labeled (fig. 3.28). The cardinals’ celle were in the Sistine Chapel, and no other space is marked for the scrutino (counting of votes). The Parva Chapel, where conclave activities were

previously held in 1534 for Pope Paul III, is not drawn on the plan. So the Pauline may well have been used for important administrative and religious functions during the conclave of 1549- 50. On the conclave plan of 1555, the Pauline Chapel is specifically labeled as the location for the scrutino (fig. 3.29).118 Forty-two cardinals attended the conclave in 1549-50; the number climbed to sixty-seven by 1670. In 1669 and 1689, with the dramatic increase in the number of Cardinals, the scrutino was held in the Sistine Chapel, as it has been ever since. The Pauline Chapel was furnished with nine altars. The expansion of the College of Cardinals after the

Cinquecento may have been a factor in the decision to use the Sistine Chapel for the scrutino and

116

BAV Vat. Lat. 12308, 602r cited by Christoph Luitpold Frommel, “Antonio da Sangallos Cappella Paolina: ein Beitrag zur Baugeschichte des Vatikanischen Palastes,”

Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 27, no. 1 (1964):7, nn.23-35. On the construction history of the

Pauline, see Kuntz, “Designed for Ceremony,” 243-46, and Frommel, as above.

117

Franz Ehrle and Hermann Egger, Dei Conclavepläne: Beiträge zu ihrer

Entwicklungsgeschichte (Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1933). 118

See Ibid., tav. 1.

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the Pauline for altars.119