Descrizione
GIUSTINIANI, VINCENZO (1564 – 1637) – Galleria Giustiniana del marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani S.n.t., Rome, c. 1631.
(The portrait of Vincenzo Giustiniani on the pl. 2 of the vol. I is dated 1631).
Atlantic folio (500×335 mm.), two volumes bound in 19th cent. half brown calf, with titles and fillets in gold on spines, boards covered with marbled paper, a stunning, very fresh set, with wide margins, printed on laid paper. Vol. I: Engraved frontispiece, with Giustiniani family coat-of-arms, engr. portrait of Vincenzo Giustiniani (both included in numbering), altogether 153 engraved plates, mainly depicting sculptures. Vol. II: Engr. frontispiece and portraits (incl. in numbering as before, altogether 169 numb. +8 nn. engraved plates (some folding).
First and sole edition of this extraordinary catalogue of works of art.
The Giustiniani Family
By the conquest of the island of Chios, in 1349 the Genoese government assigned to a group of noble families the administration and exploitation of the island, very rich in mastic and alum. These, in 1362, decided to renounce their names and to associate themselves in a sort of consortium, choosing Giustiniani as a common name, from the name of the Genoese palace where they used to meet. Between varying fortunes, such ‘family’ maintained the control of the island and the monopoly of its trade for over two centuries until 1566, when the island was attacked and conquered by the Turks. Following the defeat, many returned to Genoa while others moved to Rome. Among the latter there was Giuseppe Giustiniani (Chios 1525 – Rome 1600) who, being able to count on illustrious support, such as his brother-in-law Vincenzo (Chios 1519 – Rome 1582, general of the Dominicans of the convent of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and Cardinal), and on his links with Genoese finance, soon became one of the most important bankers in the capital.
Giuseppe Giustiniani worked intensively to increase the prestige of the family, acquiring in 1585 for the firstborn Benedetto (Chios 1554 – Rome 1621, who started the ecclesiastical career) the chair of treasurer of the Apostolic Chamber, and also in 1595 the Castle and the Feud of Sutri (now Bassano Romano) for his son Vincenzo (Chios 1564 – Rome 1637), destined instead to follow in his father’s footsteps. The activity of bankers together with that of merchants, earned the family huge wealth as well as allowing its members to reach positions of authority and power. At the death of Joseph in 1600, the patrimony of the Giustiniani amounted to half a million scudi.
Thanks to his sons Benedetto, appointed Cardinal in 1586 by Pope Sixtus V, and above all Vincenzo, who succeeded his father in the management of the business and family capital and who was appointed Marquis of Bassano di Sutri in 1605 by Pope Paul V, In addition to receiving numerous benefits and tax exemptions, the position of the family, already at the highest levels of Roman finance, was consolidated by acquiring a new prestige. The rank of Marquis, the cardinal dignity of his uncle Vincenzo and his brother Benedetto, the link with the noblest families of the time, such as the Bandini and the Spinola, forced him to adopt an adequate lifestyle that Vincenzo was able to embrace with great smartness, thanks to the deep culture and the great sensitivity towards every art form. The meetings organized by him at the residence of Bassano, were distinguished by the refinement of musical entertainment and erudition of conversations attended by the best eminences of the time. However, the artistic heritage he collected was the true distinctive feature of his personality and his whole existence.
Vincenzo Giustiniani: collector and connoisseur
Vincenzo Giustiniani was not only one of the greatest collectors of his time, but he was also a patron and above all a great connoisseur with a deep antiquarian passion. Eager to update his taste and expand his knowledge, in 1606 he undertook a sort of Grand Tour, visiting the most important artistic places in Europe. The ‘Diario di viaggio di Vincenzo Giustiniani’, written by his secretary Bernardo Bizoni, provides a detailed account of the places visited and of the impressions of a five months’ journey that from central Italy reached Venice and Innsbruck, then Germany and Flanders, England and France before going back to Italy. It was a training trip in grand style, after which, as Francis Haskell notes, Vincenzo Giustiniani obtained ‘a wider and deeper artistic culture than anyone else in Rome and also in Europe, with the sole exception of Rubens’ [Francis Haskell, Mecenati e Pittori, Firenze 1985; pp. 62 ff.]. Moreover, Giustiniani was also a prolific writer, among his writings stand out a series of ‘Discorsi’ on Art that are not only the proof of his extreme competence, but also the evidence of his awareness of the cultural context of the time. These writings, expressed in the form of letters addressed to the Dutch lawyer Theodor Amayden, include the “Discorso sopra la pittura”, the “Discorso sopra la scultura” and the “Discorso sopra l’Architettura” (or “Istruzione necessaria per fabbricare”) [published in Florence in 1981 by Anna Banti with the title of “Discorsi sulle Arti e i Mestieri”]. Even if in the treatise on painting Giustiniani showed a particular attention to contemporary artists (both Vincenzo and his brother Benedetto were among the first patrons of Caravaggio, along with Cavalier Del Monte), in the essay on sculpture emerges the particular predilection towards classical statuary, which he considers more natural and graceful than the artworks, however exceptional, of the greatest sculptors contemporary to him.
This predilection is evident in his extraordinary collection that was established as the greatest compendium of ancient art of the seventeenth century, including more than 1800 pieces acquired in a few decades.
The collection
Upon the death of Giuseppe Giustiniani, his son Benedetto, the Cardinal, inherited both the sumptuous Palazzo next to the church of San Luigi dei Francesi (now headquarter of the Presidency of the Senate of the Italian Republic), bought by his father in 1590, and his collection of works of art, mainly by sixteenth century Italian painters. Around this original nucleus, the collection was enriched with acquisitions both of Benedetto himself, who preferred subjects with a religious theme, and of Vincenzo with whom he divided the rooms of the great Palace. In the Gallery, in particular, took place the most important pieces that included: the Nativity by Titian, the Madonna with Child and Lamb by Ludovico Carracci, the dead Christ with two angels by Paolo Veronese, a series of portraits by Scipione Pulzone, then works by Barocci, Cigoli, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Ribera, and finally Caravaggio, who was present with fifteen paintings, including the Magdalene and the Saint Jerome in meditation, the Christ in the garden, the Incredulity of Saint Thomas and the portrait of Benedetto. Was also present the Fall of Lucifer by Giovanni Baglione (known in two versions), and many other masterpieces.
Cardinal Benedetto died in 1621 and Vincenzo inherited most of his works of art, together with the Palace. The Marquis commissioned artworks according a more ‘secular’ taste than his brother and sometimes in contrast to the style of the time and he exercised a real patronage discovering and protecting new talents (i.e. like the very successful collaboration with Caravaggio). However, as it has been said, the unicity of his collection was based in the impressive compendium of ancient art that included statues, busts, reliefs, hermes, vases, memorial stones, columns and inscriptions distributed mainly in the Palace of Via della Dogana Vecchia, but also in the other properties of the Marquis, such as the Villa outside Porta del Popolo, the estate near S. Giovani in Laterano and in the Palazzo di Bassano di Sutri. Above all, the Palazzo Gallery appeared to the visitor as a sort of antiquarium: the more than two hundred antique pieces were placed in four rows along the two long walls, according to a picturesque exhibition criterion rather than a philological one, and reflecting the peculiar taste of the owner who was more interested at the impact of the ensemble rather than the enhancement of individual objects.
The “Galleria Giustiniana” del Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani
The monumental work commissioned by Vincenzo Giustiniani, designed to contain the most important pieces of his collection of antiquities, made use of the collaboration of many artists, both Italian and foreign, some very well known in the Rome of the time, others almost unknown. In total, 16 draughtsmen and 23 engravers were involved and from 1631 they began to work on the project. Among the most illustrious names were: François Du Quesnoy, François Perrier, Cornelis Bloemaert, Theodore Matham, Michel Natalis, Giovanni Lanfranco, Pietro Testa and others.
A leading role was played by Claude Mellan and especially by the painter Joachim Sandrart, who lived six years at Palazzo Giustiniani as curator of the Collection and who was in charge of the works.
The Galleria Giustiniana consists of two volumes of engravings for a total of 330 plates, ordered by subjects. The first volume contains statues of gods, heroes and viri illustres, the second busts, hermes of philosophers or deities, reliefs, sarcophagi and altarpieces. The frontispiece of the work was made by François Du Quesnoy; two engravings reproduce the portrait of Vincenzo Giustiniani by Claude Mellan; sixteen engravings represent views of the property of the Marquis, and five are dedicated to portraits of other illustrious members of the family. Finally, eight etchings are related to paintings of sacred subjects in the collection, which may imply the intention to extend the project to modern paintings too, but never happened because of Giustiniani’s death occurred in 1638.
Because of the articulated nature of the work and the long time required for its realization, the dating of the Galleria Giustiniana is a complex problem, although it is likely to date the first publication of the work to 1636.
As well pointed out in the essay by Christina Strunk in the catalogue of the exhibition ‘I Giustiniani e L’Antico’, curated by Giulia Fusconi (Palazzo Fontana di Trevi, Rome, 27 October 2001 – 27 January 2002, Ed. L’Erma di Bretscheneider), the title ‘Galleria Giustiniana should be understood in the meaning of musèe imaginaire, because the book brought together objects that were spread across all the properties of the Giustiniani and only part of the collection was actually in the Gallery. It is therefore an autonomous work, with an independent purpose and plan.
This is highlighted by another aspect, namely that the way in which the sculptures are presented graphically does not correspond at all to the way in which they were exposed in reality. According to the inventory drawn up in 1638, after the death of Vincenzo Giustiniani, the pieces were never grouped by type or hierarchically ordered, but just displayed according to a freer order and a narrative criterion pervaded with irony and humour. While, instead, a more playful and ‘courtly’ spirit reigned in the real Galleria, the printed version was presented as a useful iconographic repertoire drawn up according to the most traditional and cultured criteria of classification. This difference basically reflected the gap between the private use of the collection, which could indulge in some licentiousness, compared to the public, which for reasons of decorum had to be presented in a more composed and solemn manner. Just think that the statue of Minerva, praised by almost all the guides of Rome at the time as one of the greatest attractions of the Collection and that in fact appears in the first plate of the graphic work, actually in the Gallery did not enjoy such a prominent position; as well as the statue of a goat, documented in the center of a group of sculptures on the main wall of the Gallery, is completely missing in the publication. Apart from these differences, the “Galleria Giustiniana” represented a masterpiece out of the ordinary and a document of countless value. Even if still in the mid-eighteenth century Palazzo Giustiniani was among the favourite destinations of the Grand Tour travellers, during the nineteenth century the collection was dispersed and most of the ancient works immortalized by the catalog of engravings strongly wanted by the Marquis Vincenzo, became property of the Torlonia family.
