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The Sala Bologna in the Vatican Palace
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Urban, Emily. The Sala Bologna in the Vatican Palace. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3DB80DP

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TitleThe Sala Bologna in the Vatican Palace
NameUrban, Emily (author); Marder, Tod (chair); Puglisi, Catherine (internal member); Blake McHam, Sarah (internal member); Aksamija, Nadja (outside member); Rutgers University; Graduate School - New Brunswick
Date Created2013
Other Date2013-05 (degree)
SubjectArt History, Sala Bologna (Vatican Palace, Vatican City), Mural painting and decoration, Italian--Vatican City--16th century--Themes, motives, Mural painting and decoration, Renaissance--Vatican City--Themes, motives, Gregory--XIII,--Pope,--1502-1585--Art patronage, Bologna (Italy)--Maps, Bologna (Italy)--In art
Extentxxvii, 526 p. : ill.
DescriptionThis dissertation examines the ceiling fresco of the Sala Bologna in the Vatican Palace commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII in 1575. Portrayed on the vault is an uninterrupted view of the entire celestial sphere with each constellation represented in allegorical form and accurately placed with relation to one another. Each aspect of the ceiling’s iconography is explored in detail, including the frieze of mythical gods and ancient astronomers painted in the curves of the vault below. I also consider the relationship between this celestial fresco and the terrestrial maps of Bologna painted on the lower walls of the room. Through an interpretation of the room as a single decorative program, I establish that the imagery of the Sala Bologna visually demonstrates Gregory XIII’s use of empiricism to further his Post-Tridentine goals of Catholic reform. Moreover, it is my belief that this ceiling asserts the temporal and spiritual claims of the Church in a language that anticipates the increasingly important role of empirical science for the seventeenth-century papacy. The second goal of this dissertation is to contextualize the astronomical ceiling of the Sala Bologna within the tradition of celestial iconography. Although individual astrological frescoes have been explored in previous scholarship, there has been no explanation for the popularity of this imagery in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. By discussing over thirty celestial murals, I highlight several major themes and provide insight into the motivation behind the commission of this type of decoration.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Noteby Emily Ann Urban
Genretheses, ETD doctoral
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T3DB80DP
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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