LIGORIO, Pirro

The Oratorio di San Giovanni Decollato in Rome houses the most important fresco cycle executed in the difficult decades after he Sack of Rome. It was commissioned by the Florentine confraternity of the Misericordia, founded in 1488, whose members had set themselves the task of helping those sentenced to death by providing them with spiritual support. Shortly after its founding the confraternity began the construction of the church and oratory next door. The completion of the church was delayed until 1553. By around 1536, on the other hand, the oratory had been completed to the extent that the painted decoration of the room could begin.

The subject chosen for the fresco cycle, which covers the upper half of all four walls, was the story of the patron saint of the brotherhood, John the Baptist. For the execution of the cycle they selected Florentine (or Tuscan) artists working in Rome at the time. The most renowned Florentine painter active in Rome was Perino del Vaga, and several preparatory drawings for the frescoes by him have been preserved. Perino’s designs were executed by younger Florentine artists, Jacopino del Conte and Cecchino (Francesco) del Salviati.

Pirro Ligorio also contributed to the decoration, he painted on the left wall the Feast of Herod with the Dance of Salome.

In May 1560, Ligorio received a commission of great significance: the continuation of Paul IV’s plans for the papal casino. Located in the woods behind the Belvedere court, Pius IV revamped plans for the space included a second story, large fountain, and oval courtyard with arched entryways. The decorations matched Ligorio’s preferred Raphaelesqu style. It was named the Casina Pius IV in honour of the pope who supported its construction. Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt called it “the most beautiful afternoon retreat that modern architecture has created.”

The photo shows the entrance of the building.

The photo shows the colossal semicircular exedra erected by Bramante c. 1505 at the end of the uppermost terrace in the Cortile del Belvedere. In 1562-65, Pirro Ligorio added a third story, enclosing the central space with a vast half-dome to form the largest niche that had been erected since antiquity - the nicchione (“great niche”). He completed his structure with an uppermost loggia that repeated the hemicycle of the niche. This part of the courtyard is called the Cortile della Pigna after the Pigna, a large bronze pinecone, mounted in the nicchione.

Upon arriving to Tivoli, Ippolito II d’Este decided to turn an old monastery into his own luxury villa. Building would be stalled for the majority of the decade due to changes in Ippolito’s duties, but fully resumed in 1560. Giovanni Alberto Galvani served as the main architect, but Pirro Ligorio took charge of the villa’s extensive and intricate gardens. These gardens included many waterworks and fountains (utilizing Ligorio’s knowledge of aqueduct engineering), as well as a collection of ancient sculpture. Ligorio designed both a larger public garden and a smaller private garden. The latter can be accessed directly from the palace, and utilizes shaded walls to maintain a private retreat.

Ligorio employed three major themes in these gardens. First and foremost was a focus on the relationship between nature and art: many of Ligorio’s waterworks and sculptures incorporated flora and fauna, marrying the natural aspects of the garden with the man-made artistic elements. The second theme was geographic; Ligorio designed the fountains to represent the three rivers flowing into the Fountain of Rome in an ode to the cardinal’s appreciation of the arts. Finally, Ligorio’s use of mythological iconography, specifically the influence of the Garden of the Hesperides, was executed with special attentiveness.

The original designer of the Villa d’Este was Pirro Ligorio, who returned in 1567 to lead a group of fountain engineers for finishing the project in 1569.

In May 1560, Ligorio received a commission of great significance: the continuation of Paul IV’s plans for the papal casino. Located in the woods behind the Belvedere court, Pius IV revamped plans for the space included a second story, large fountain, and oval courtyard with arched entryways. The decorations matched Ligorio’s preferred Raphaelesqu style. It was named the Casina Pius IV in honour of the pope who supported its construction. Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt called it “the most beautiful afternoon retreat that modern architecture has created.”

The centre of the Casina Pio IV’s complex is the oval courtyard, which formally connects the four buildings that make up the villa. Its centrepiece is a marble fountain with two cherubs riding dolphins, sculpted by Jacopo da Casignola and Giovanni da Sant’Agata (1560-64). Overlooking the courtyard is a loggia called “Museum”, or home of the Muses, where Ligorio reinterprets the iconography of the Muses with Apollo and Bacchus portrayed on ancient sarcophagi.

View the ground plan of the Casina Pio IV, Rome.