It is not often that a painting brings to light the memory of a lost masterpiece. However, this is the case of the Crucifix by Prospero Mallerini (Carcare, 1761 - Rome, 1836), a painter linked to the powerful Barberini family, which has just entered the collections of the Vatican Museums. The institution has in fact purchased it from the Caiati Old Masters gallery, which confirmed the transaction through its social channels: “We are thrilled,” they say from the gallery, "to announce the sale of Prospero Mallerini’s Crucifix to the Vatican Museums. This extraordinary trompe l’œil is believed to depict the ivory sculpture, now lost, commissioned by Filippo Colonna from François Duquesnoy as a gift to Pope Urban VIII Barberini. It is deeply gratifying to see this work become part of one of the world’s most revered collections, the museum of all museums."
The work, an oil on canvas (76.2x52.5 cm) datable to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, depicts in trompe-l’œil an ivory crucifix: according to scholars, it would be the only visual evidence of the famous Duquesnoy-Barberini Crucifix, carved by the Flemish François Duquesnoy (Brussels, 1597 - Livorno, 1643) and now lost. The ivory crucifix had been commissioned by Prospero Colonna from Duquesnoy, better known in Rome as “Flemish François,” among the leading figures of the Roman Baroque.
The episode is also recounted in the biography of Duquesnoy included in the Lives of Giovan Battista Passeri, written in 1673 and published in Rome in 1772: “Francesco was proposed to the Contestabile Filippo Colonna, who was the honor of that great House, for his admirable qualities, for the restoration of some statues that served as ornaments to his Palace. In practicing D. Filippo this man of so much merit and valor, he took affection for him that was not ordinary, and held him in that esteem that was due to his virtue. He ordered him an ivory crucifix close in height to three palms, which by Francis was reduced to such perfection, and so task, that having admired it that great Prince, as a demonstration of how much he esteemed it, he made a gift of it to the Pontiff Urban VIII his relative. It was the cause of this beautiful gift that the Pope took cognizance of Francis and conceived some benevolence for him. This fact jealoused not a little other Professors already in possession of Urban’s grace, and they spoke of the Flemish with scanty, cold, and of little moment praise, asserting that he was only skilled at petty models of some putto, or of other things of little consequence.”
The sculpture is now lost, perhaps alienated in later centuries, but Mallerini’s painting, made for the Barberini family, preserves its memory: Christ in ivory appears placed in a niche lined with red velvet, at his feet a foreshortened book and a pitcher lamp. This is a typical composition by Mallerini, who in the Barberini residences elaborated similar settings several times, transforming objects into striking domestic relics.
With this entry, the Vatican collections add a valuable piece to the history of Roman Baroque and Barberini collecting, restoring visibility to a vanished masterpiece.
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| Vatican Museums acquire a painting depicting a lost ancient crucifix |
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