Currently not on view
Design for the chapel of Saint Ferma,
ca. 1752
Carlo Marchionni, Italian, 1702–1786
2008-42
Primarily active in Rome and the Papal States, Marchionni was one of the outstanding architects of his age as well as an accomplished and prolific draftsman. His inscription on this drawing mentions that it represents one wall of the chapel of Saint Ferma, “as it should be adorned at present,” clarifying that this design was intended for a specific project, which might not have been executed. The high degree of finish, the inclusion of human figures for scale, and the illusionistic scroll all suggest that the drawing was made for presentation to a patron. Ferma is the patron saint of Civitavecchia, a port city near Rome, where Marchionni became the supervising architect in 1752. Among the miracles attributed to Ferma is the calming of a violent storm at sea, which is most likely the scene depicted in the oval surmounting the door.
Information
Title
Design for the chapel of Saint Ferma
Dates
ca. 1752
Maker
Medium
Pen and brown ink with brush and gray wash, over graphite, on beige laid paper
Dimensions
49 x 37 cm (19 5/16 x 14 9/16 in.)
frame: 77.2 x 61.9 x 2.9 cm (30 3/8 x 24 3/8 x 1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund and Felton Gibbons Fund
Object Number
2008-42
Signatures
Signed in brown ink, lower right: Carlo Marchionni Archo Romano
Inscription
Inscribed in brown ink, recto, lower center: Fianco della Cappella di
S. Ferma come deve Ornarsi al presente ~ / Scala di
palmi Quaranta Romani /. . . . . 5 . . . . 10 20 30 40
Culture
Materials
Subject
Galerie Bruno Meissner, Zurich; sale, Sotheby’s, New York, January 23, 2008, lot 224. (See reference Bib. 5435);
- Old master drawings, (New York: Sotheby's, 2008).
- "Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2008," Record of the Princeton University Art Museum 68 (2009): p. 69-119., p. 114
- Laura Giles, Lia Markey, Claire Van Cleave, et. al., Italian Master Drawings from the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2014)., p. 138, cat. no. 56 (illus.); p. 228, app. no. 9 (illus.)
