Palazzo Barberini enriches its collection with two new wonderful works:
The Death of Cleopatra by Giovanni Lanfranco and the Portrait of Cardinal Antonio Barberini by Simone Cantarini.
The Death of Cleopatra
It was commissioned to Giovanni Lanfranco by Marco Mazzoli, a musician and composer in the service of Cardinal Antonio Barberini.
Mazzoli, while working for the Barberini, became the music teacher of Lanfranco’s daughter, a painter of Parmese origin.
In exchange for his lessons, he commissioned the artist three works: Venus Playing the Harp – which belonged to the same Barberini family, Arrival of Erminia among the Shepherds – now at the Capitoline Museums in Rome – and The Death of Cleopatra.
The latter, a work with a rather troubled history, was presumably created in 1630 and today returns to Palazzo Barberini, reuniting with Venus, already displayed in the museum’s halls.
Mazzoli, as we learn from his will dated January 7, 1662, left the work as an inheritance to the Barberini family in gratitude for the kindness and hospitality they showed him during his lifetime.
Subsequently, it first came into the possession of the Colonna Sciarra family, moving to their palace, before passing through various private collections.
Today, with the purchase by the State from Brun Fine Art in Milano, it finally returns home.
The Work
Here Lanfranco plays primarily on the ambiguity of Cleopatra’s figure, a characteristic very common in other portraits of the Queen of Egypt painted during the Seventeenth Century.
In the painting, Cleopatra is suffering but simultaneously maintains a sensual figure, echoing the stereotype of legendary beauty for which her character was famous even at the time and has since passed into history.
At the center of the work is only she, represented by Lanfranco with a sculptural body almost as if it were a bust, set against a virtually absent background, recognizable only by a few hinted elements and by the contrast with the red drapery in which she is wrapped, a prelude to her imminent death: the scene indeed represents the climactic moment of the tragedy, that of Cleopatra’s suicide.
The Portrait of Cardinal Antonio Barberini
The second work enriching the halls of Palazzo Barberini is the portrait of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, created in 1631 by Simone Cantarini, a painter from Pesaro belonging to the Bolognese school.
The painting is displayed in the hall of Divine Wisdom next to the portraits by Gian Lorenzo Bernini of Urban VII and his nephews Giuliano Finelli, Carlo Maratti, Lorenzo Ottoni.
Antonio Barberini (1607-1671), a member of the eponymous family, was the son of Carlo Barberini and Costanza Magalotti, as well as the nephew, on his father’s side, of Pope Urban VIII.
In life, Cardinal Barberini was a significant historical figure, a representative of one of the most powerful and influential families both in Rome and within the walls of the Vatican, driven by a strong and resolute personality.
The Work
The portrait, a preparatory study on paper from which the two canvas versions were later made – one of which is preserved at the Galleria Corsini – depicts him in his youth while serving as papal delegate in Pesaro during the transition of the Duchy of Urbino to the Church.
The work perfectly conveys the spirit of the man with a calm face, aware of his role and influence.
Cantarini, in what is considered one of his most emblematic works, depicts the face of the Cardinal almost in an impressionistic manner, achieving a result that is, so to speak, “alive,” as revealed by the attention to the smallest details, particularly the hint of slight strabismus.
A culturally significant operation
The two works, reacquired by the Italian State, have been returned to the museum as part of what has been defined as a culturally significant operation.
An event like this is proof of how support for cultural institutions is generally essential for masterpieces like these to be enjoyed by the public once again.
Often, it is the public that can make a difference by actively participating in the fundraising campaigns promoted by Italian museums.
As the story of Antonio and Cleopatra teaches us, the goal is to offer an increasingly shared and rich cultural offering.
Do you want to support cultural institutions?
On Artsupp you will find the city's full calendar with opening hours and tickets.
Explore Rome
