Name of Monument:

Galleria del Legato

Also known as:

Sala del Dentone

Location:

Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Date:

First half of the 18th century

Artists:

Girolamo Curti known as “Il Dentone” (1575–1632) and Angelo Michele Colonna (1604–1687)

Denomination / Type of monument:

Public and palatial architecture

Patron(s):

Cardinal Legates of Bologna: Maffeo Barberini (?) and Antonio Santacroce

History:

The north wing of the Palace dates to the 15th century. It was completed during the next century by various architects including: J. Barozzi da Vignola and G. Alessi. Ancient guide books attribute the decoration of this room to Girolamo Curti known as “Il Dentone” (1575–1632) whereas other sources mention Angelo Michele Colonna together with Agostino Mitelli. It seems plausible that Colonna and Mitelli contributed to this work after Curti's death (1632), following his preparatory designs. The decorations on the walls probably date to after the vault itself. The “Sala Urbana”, located on the second floor, was created in 1630 by Colonna with the help of “Il Dentone” himself. It was commissioned by Cardinal Bernardino Spada in honour of Pope Urban VIII.
Forty years later the aged Colonna collaborated with the young Gioacchino Pizzoli to create the Galleria del Senato.

Description:

The decorations of the vault are comprised of painted, illusionistic columns and pillars that stand on false parapets or balustrades. These decorations give the impression of resting on a genuine plaster cornice. They support a coffered ceiling with vaults, arches and false windows over a high pediment. On the walls large painted frames, designed to hold paintings, are interposed by monochrome niches with false statues, representing allegorical female figures. Above the doors are large oculi with decorated frames, flanked by monochrome putti. Ancient style busts are depicted inside. Some stylistic discordances suggest that this was the work of more than one artist as can also be deduced from the archival sources.

The room is located on the ground floor of the Palace, in the wing which was formerly the summer residence of the Papal Legates. Although not very well-known to the public it is a fundamental example of Bolognese prospective “quadratura”. According to stylistic analysis and archival sources the attribution to Girolamo Curti known as “Il Dentone” (1575-1632) and to Angelo Michele Colonna (1604-1687) seems the most plausible.

How Monument was dated:

The architectural perspective of the ceiling recalls the style of Dentone, although Angelo Michele Colonna, in his self-written list of works, records working in a gallery for the Cardinal Santacroce on the ground floor of the Public Palace. Stylistic differences in the decorations lead us to hypothesize that several separate artists worked on the room over a long period of time. For example, a partially erased fresco depicting the bees of the Barberini could refer to the time when Cardinal Maffeo Barberini was Legate of Bologna (1611–1614).

Selected bibliography:

Feinblatt, E., “Contributions to Girolamo Curti”, The Burlington Magazine, CXVII, 1975, pp. 342-353.
Sjostrom, J., Quadratura. Studies in italian ceiling painting, Stockholm, 1978, p. 53.

Additional Copyright Information:

Copyright images: Comune di Bologna, Musei Civici d'Arte Antica.

Citation of this web page:

Carla  Bernardini, Giusy  Raggi "Galleria del Legato" in "Discover Baroque Art", Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://baroqueart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;BAR;it;Mon12;4;en

Prepared by: Carla BernardiniCarla Bernardini

SURNAME: Bernardini
NAME: Carla

AFFILIATION: Musei Civici d'Arte Antica, Bologna

TITLE: Curator of the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte

CV

Graduated in Modern Literature, specialized in History of Art at the University of Bologna.
She is a specialist in Bolognese and Emilian art of the 16th and 17th centuries. Some of her essays are dedicated to museology and collecting, decorative and applied arts, revival in the Visual arts between the 19th and the 20th centuries. Since 1985 she works at Musei Civici d’Arte Antica of Bologna, as curator of the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte.
, Giusy Raggi
Translation by: Alexandra Ekstein Kon
Translation copyedited by: Lisa Kelman

MWNF Working Number: IT2 04