| The Chapel
The purpose of this space, for long with a false ceiling
in order to hide the damage to the vault from the bombardment
in the last war, had been forgotten, for which reason it was
generally indicated as a “room”. The architectural
characteristics of the room, including the vault, which rises
from a high decorative band and is much higher than the gallery
next door, and the religiousness of the surviving decoration,
are clear indications of its sacred use. This is confirmed
by the document already mentioned in the State Archive of
Genoa, in which the constructors undertake to “make
a covered loggia” at the end of the gallery and “to
the east of this loggia, a room, with a Chapel”, all
within July 1595. It can only be this room. It is known, furthermore,
that Giovanni Andrea built a chapel in the west wing of the
palace, as well as the one constructed in the east part on
the ground floor, frescoed by Lazzaro Calvi.
The arrangement of the Gallery-Chapel is very near that indicated
by Serlio, in the seventh book of his Treatise published posthumously
in 1575, for a “habitation outside the city” (as
was Palazzo del Principe, which was built outside the city
walls). In the book there is mention of the construction of
“a place for walking, which in France is called a gallery,
at the head of which is a chapel”.
The moulded decoration of the chapel seems consistent with
that of the gallery, and therefore is probably to be attributed
to the same artist, Marcello Sparzo. In the band below the
vault there is a series of sixteen ovals, painted in a black-bluish
hue which imitates slate (in one of the ovals, perhaps a blocked
up aperture, has been inserted a slab of slate). These are
surrounded by rich garlands of fruits, on part of which rest
small crosses of various shapes. The decoration of the vault
is characterized by the usual division into lunettes and corbels
embellished with figures; the motif or “raised panel”
at the centre has been completely lost.
In the lunettes which are still distinguishable female figures
in flowing robes all’antica, who hold in their
hands closed books or scrolls: they are to be identified as
Sibyls. These beings of pagan antiquity were attributed with
the Christological prophecies contained in the Libri Sibillini,
a corpus of writings in Greek assembled in II-III centuries
AD, in Judaeo-Christian circles, but considered to date back
to before the birth of Christ. By way of the Divinae Institutiones
of Lattanzio, the Sibyls enjoyed considerable iconographic
fortune in the west; they were generally portrayed in roles
similar to that of the Prophets of the Old Testament, being
represented in many sacred places, amongst which the most
famous is certainly the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. More
closely connected to the chapel of Palazzo del Principe is
the earlier moulded decoration of the arches under the tiburium
of the family church of the Dorias in Genoa, San Matteo, in
which in the 1540s Giovannangelo Montorsoli, an important
stylistic reference point for Sparzo, had represented the
same theme.
On the north side of the chapel six grills in plaster set
in frames of slate, blocked, interrupt the series of the lunettes.
The four standing figures at the centre of each side of the
room are almost completely lost. Only that on the north side
can be identified; although it has lost its head, the attributes
of the book - alluding to the Gospel and the Apocalypse -
and particularly of the chalice from which emerges a small
dragon
identify it as a representation of St John the Evangelist.
The present organization of the chapel includes a prie-dieu
in wood, sculpted and gilded by the Genoese studio of Filippo
Parodi (1630-1702), on which is portrayed a putto who holds
a cushion with both hands, and an altar furnishing created
for the Pamphilj family, which includes a candlestick bearing
the lily of the arms of the Roman family.
The presence in Palazzo del Principe of this and other fittings
commissioned by the Pamphilj was the result of the heraldic
fusing of the Doria and Pamphilj families, as was the removal
to Rome of many Genoese pieces gradually brought back to their
original setting over the last few years,. This occurred in
1763 as result of the extinction of the main line of the Roman
family, of which the Doria were recognized as heirs on account
of the marriage in 1671 between Giovanni Andrea III Doria
Landi and Anna Pamphilj. Linked to the Roman branch of the
family is also the important picture at present displayed
over the altar of the chapel.
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