Documents on eighteenth-century art in the Chigi Archive - Part II
The article continues the studies on the archival documents relating to the patronage of the Chigi family in the eighteenth century. After the study of the patronage of the princes Augusto, Agostino II and Sigismondo Chigi (published in Bollettino d’Arte, 1998, nos. 105-106), the present contribution examines the documents relating to Cardinal Flavio Chigi junior (171?-1771).
After recalling the Cardinal’s public career and his diplomatic engagements (he was official escort of Maria Amalia of Saxony to her spouse, Charles III King of Naples), the author examines the decorations he promoted in the apartments of the family palace in the Piazza Colonna, including the so-called Sale delle Marine painted by Adrien Manglard in 1748, and the palace chapel, which no longer exists; its decoration was superintended by the sculptor Pietro Bracci. Of the various furnishings of the chapel mentioned in the documents, some paintings have been traced (Stefano Pozzi, Pompeo Batoni).
The last part of the paper is devoted to the major artistic enterprise of Cardinal Flavio junior, the Villa Chigi on the Via Salaria. Unfortunately its furnishings were completely lost on the sale of the villa in 1969. But a series of old photographs published here give some idea of the villa’s interiors with their painted panels and period furniture, among the most splendid of the Roman settecento.
