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Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
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The Protection of Rome from Plague and Famine
From the ten-piece set, plus borders, of the Life of Pope Urban VIII
Design by Ciro Ferri and Giacinto Camassei, cartoon by Camassei, 1673
Woven in the Barberini workshop under the direction of Maria Maddalena della Riviera, Rome, May 1673–July 1675
Wool and silk; 13 ft. x 16 ft. 3 in. (404 x 503 cm)
Vatican Museums, Vatican City (43827)
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This is the seventh of ten monumental narratives and additional related border sections that Cardinal Francesco Barberini commissioned to immortalize the deeds of his uncle, Pope Urban VIII, and, by so doing, to bolster the reputation of the Barberini family. The series was woven at the cardinal's private workshop between 1663 and 1679. Pietro da Cortona, and, after his death in 1669, Ciro Ferri (ca. 1634–1689) oversaw the designs, delegating the production of individual cartoons to students and followers such as Giacinto Camassei, who painted the cartoon for this scene in 1673.
The scene provides an allegory of the turbulent years of the early 1630s. In the center foreground, a messenger delivers the news to Pope Urban VIII that northern Italy has been invaded by German troops, who brought plague with them over the Alps. The epidemic rapidly spread down the Italian peninsula to the northern reaches of the Papal States. (The city of Bologna, for example, lost an estimated quarter of its population.) Urban VIII devised a two-pronged strategy to protect Rome: on the administrative side, he instituted quarantines, travel bans, and sanitation standards; on the spiritual side, he led the people in prayers of penitence. The armored officer and priests standing behind him in this scene represent these two approaches. Urban seems to be the only figure who sees the saintly figures above, Peter and Paul, the traditional patrons and protectors of Rome, and Sebastian and Michael, traditionally invoked against plague. In the middle ground to the left, the allegorical figure of Abundance thrashes Famine—a reference to steps that Urban took to ensure that the citizens of Rome were well supplied with grain. A fictive carved frame, decorated with gilded ivy and heraldic Barberini bees, surrounds the tapestry. Originally, the tapestry had four detachable borders that included an inscription explaining the subject matter and the central role that Urban played in saving Rome.
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