Painter preferred the classical style with an uncrowded canvas
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| The French engraver Guillaume Vallet's portrait of Andrea Sacchi |
Sacchi became the chief exponent of the style of art referred to as High Baroque Classicism, having been inspired by the work of Raphael when he was growing up.
His masterpiece is considered to be a fresco in Palazzo Barberini in Rome, Allegory of Divine Wisdom, which was an homage to Pope Urban VIII, who compared himself to King Solomon, who was assisted by divine wisdom.
The work was also inspired by Raphael’s Parnassus, a painting that is now in the Vatican.
Sacchi’s father, Benedetto, was also a painter, but he found another master for his son, Andrea, when he realised that he was very talented. According to Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Sacchi’s friend and biographer, when Benedetto realised his son was becoming a better painter than himself, he ‘wisely found him a master who could provide him with better education.’
Benedetto enrolled his son with Giuseppe Cesari, also known as Il Giuseppino, who after being made a Knight of the Supreme Order of Christ by his patron, Pope Clement VIII, was subsequently referred to as Cavaliere d’Arpino.
One of Cesari’s earlier pupils had been Caravaggio, who had spent time painting flowers and fruit in the Cavaliere’s workshop.
Later, Sacchi entered the workshop of Francesco Albani, a Baroque painter who was born and worked in Bologna. Sacchi is now considered to be one of Albani’s most famous pupils and it was the influence of Albani that inspired Sacchi’s interest in Classicism and his taste for colour.
Sacchi’s early career in Rome was helped by the patronage of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, who commissioned work from him for his own church, Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, and for Palazzo Barberini.
Between 1627 and 1629, Sacchi painted frescoes at Villa Sacchetti near Ostia Antica under the direction of the Baroque artist and architect, Pietro da Cortona.
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| Sacchi's masterpiece, the fresco Allegory of the Divine Wisdom, can be seen in Palazzo Barberini |
In 1636, the two artists became involved in a series of debates at the Academy, during which Sacchi criticised Cortona’s exuberant style of painting.
Sacchi put forward the theory that paintings should include only a few figures because if a picture is too crowded the figures are deprived of individuality and cloud the meaning of the piece.
Cortona, on the other hand, argued the case that large paintings with many figures were like an epic, and could develop multiple sub themes.
Among Sacchi’s supporters in the argument were his friends, the High Baroque sculptor Alessandro Algardi, and the Classical Baroque French painter, Nicolas Poussin.
There was a big following for Sacchi’s style of painting by artists who came after him, and the style remained pre-eminent in Roman circles for many decades to follow.
Two of Sacchi’s major works, St Gregory and the Corporal, and Vision of St Romuald, are in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Rome.
Other paintings by Sacchi can be seen in San Carlo ai Catinari, Palazzo Quirinale, and Palazzo Barberini in Rome. There are also paintings by the artist in Perugia, Foligno, and Camerino, in Italy, and in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Sadly, Sacchi outlived his illegitimate son, Giuseppe, who had shown early promise as a painter, but died young. Sacchi himself died at the age of 61 in Rome in 1661.
Some accounts of his life say he was both born and died in Nettuno, a coastal town about 60km (37 miles) south of the capital. The British historian Ann Sutherland Harris has established that, according to the artist’s will, which is kept in the State Archives, Sacchi died in Rome.
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| The Villa Sacchetti, later Castello Chigi, has frescoes by Sacchi |
The Villa Sacchetti, where Andrea Sacchi worked on frescoes under the direction of Pietro da Cortona, is a 17th century villa at Castel Fusano near Ostia Antica in Lazio. It was built between 1624 and 1629 for the Sacchetti family, who were close associates of Pope Urban VIII, and it was the first architectural work by Pietro da Cortona. The villa has a fortified appearance and a belvedere terrace at the top because there were occasional raids by pirates along that coast at the time. On the third floor, there is a gallery spanning the length of the building with frescoes by both Pietro da Cortona and Andrea Sacchi. The villa is now known as Castello Chigi because it was bought by the Chigi family in the 18th century.
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_(5969782827).jpg "The Palazzo Barberini in Rome, for which Sacchi painted his Allegory of Divine Wisdom") |
| The Palazzo Barberini in Rome, for which Sacchi painted his Allegory of Divine Wisdom |
Palazzo Barberini, which houses the work considered to be Andrea Sacchi’s masterpiece, Allegory of Divine Wisdom, is just off Piazza Barberini in the centre of Rome. The palazzo was completed in 1633 as a home for Cardinal Francesco Barberini and was the work of three great architects, Carlo Maderno, Francesco Borromini, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The palazzo now houses part of the collection of Italy’s National Gallery of Ancient Art, with works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Tintoretto, Hans Holbein, Guido Reni, Bronzino, and Bernini. The palace, which stands in Via delle Quattro Fontane, facing Piazza Barberini, was designed by Maderno with most of the construction supervised by Bernini. Borromini made a number of notable contributions, notably the famous helical staircase. Pietro da Cortona’s Trionfo della Divina Provvidenza (Triumph of Divine Providence), which covers the ceiling of the palace’s grand salon, is one of the most celebrated Baroque frescoes in Rome.
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More reading:
Domenichino, the Baroque master whose talents rivalled Raphael
How Francesco Solimena became one of the Europe’s wealthiest painters
Francesco Barberini, the cardinal who built the Palazzo Barberini
Also on this day:
1466: The birth of military commander Andrea Doria
1831: The birth of writer and patriot Ippolito Nievo
1954: The birth of actress Simonetta Stefanelli
1957: The death of tenor Beniamino Gigli