ENGLISH VERSION Hieronymus Tetius, Aedes Barberinae ad Quirinalem descriptae; Edizioni della Normale, 2005

Translation by Francesco Mazzaferro

CLICK HERE FOR ITALIAN VERSION

Hieronymus Tetius [Girolamo Tezi]

Aedes Barberinae ad Quirinalem descriptae [The Barberini Palace at the Quirinale]

Descrizione di Palazzo Barberini al Quirinale. Il palazzo, gli affreschi, le collezioni, la corte 

Edizioni della Normale, 2005

Rome, Faςade of Palazzo Barberini alle Quattro Fontane

[1] Text of the flip cover:

"This work by Gerolamo Terzi is a testimony of particular importance for the study of Palazzo Barberini alle Quattro Fontane and its frescoes, painted by Cortona, Sacchi and Camassei; furthermore, it is a valuable source of knowledge on the library, the art collections and antiquities and the court life of the Barberini. Edited by Lucia Faedo and Thomas Frangenberg, the volume includes: (i) the text of the edition of 1642 with its iconographic apparatus, (ii) the Italian translation and (iii) commentary notes, which benefit from unpublished documents and are complemented by plans and illustrations. The two introductory essays reconstruct the author's biography and the history of the volume’s origin; define the genre context in which the work fits with remarkable originality; and focus on the relationship between text and images. They also present an unpublished 'archive testimony, which permits to identify the identity of the designers and engravers of those plates which had not been signed."

[2] The two introductory essays by Lucia Faedo and Thomas Frangenberg are titled respectively Girolamo Tezi and his building of words (pp. 3-117) and The Birth of a book (pp. 119-157).

Pietro da Cortona, Triumph of Divine Providence, Palazzo Barberini

[3] The work by Girolamo Tezi was published in Rome in 1642, "for the types of Mascardi." For a reconstruction of the genesis of the book, mainly through the examination of three manuscripts documenting the various stages of its processing, see the pages 133-138. The author began working on a second edition as from the following year, but his death overtook him in 1645, with the project not yet accomplished. The new edition was published only in 1647, thanks to Filippo de Rossi. Since then, the Description of Palazzo Barberini, although appreciated for the beauty of the incisions and the valuable information it contains, has never been reprinted.

Andrea Sacchi, Allegory of Divine Wisdom, Palazzo Barberini

[4] The Description is written in Latin and in epistolary form (six letters, all addressed to illustrious fellow citizens of the author, in Perugia). No doubt, the model was Pliny the Younger (see on it the Letter to Ianus Rascha by Paolo Giovio, commented by Sonia Maffei)."One-fifth of the volume is dedicated to the visit of the residence, its outbuildings and gardens... ; as to the remainder, Tezi devotes all his attention to the observation and interpretation of some of the frescoes: the exceptional vault by Pietro da Cortona, which immediately offers itself to the visitor's gaze in the Hall Palafrenieri on the main floor; the ceilings painted by Sacchi and Camassei (The Divine Wisdom and Creation of the Angels) in two adjacent rooms in the north-western wing on the same floor; and the vault of the music room of the Cardinal, on the ground floor ... also painted by Camassei with the Parnassus"(p. 19). The choice of the epistolary genre is unusual: in fact, it "appears obsolete among the descriptions of Pope residences, for which the poetic form was largely predominant... To Tezi, however, the choice of prose did not mean renouncing to the use of a heightened form of expression, as shown by the numerous poetic quotations embedded across the page. He unfolds in his work a completely new and unique commitment to an extensive and careful description of the frescoes... The description of the paintings in the picture gallery shows, however, that - when expressing judgment on the works - Tezi does not personally master the necessary critical tools. His insufficiently articulated opinions fail to reflect the autonomous evaluation capacity, which would be expected by a "intendente dell’arte" [a true art expert]; instead, they simply reflect the basic understanding of a man of good education... In fact, the judicious use of quotations, explicit and unspoken, that... inlay the description, and the excursuses in the pages of Aedes Barberinae reveal that - even in this work - the literary dimension retains a leading role in the perception of representations "(pp. 108-109).

Palazzo Barberini, Helicoidal staircase by Francesco Borromini

[5] It is worth taking note of the rich array of indexes: of names, places, remarkable things, works of art mentioned, the rooms of Palazzo Barberini, explicit and implicit quotations, as well as inscriptions.