Monumento Sepolcrale di Antonio Albertoni nella Chiesa dell'Ara Coeli

Dublin Core

Title

Monumento Sepolcrale di Antonio Albertoni nella Chiesa dell'Ara Coeli

Subject

TABLE XCI
ISOLATED ALTAR
In the Church of Saint Gregoria at Monte Celio
SEPULCHRAL TOMB OF ANTONIO ALBERTONI
In the Church of Aracoeli

Description

TABLE XCI
A church that is dedicated to the loving memory of the Blessed Pope Gregorio the Great, holds the observed monuments that have been reproduced in this table. The first of these monuments was created to remember the miracles St. Gregorio performed through divine grace throughout his life. It is an antependium which is miraculously in the same chapel where he celebrated the bloodless sacrifice of the Holy Pontiff, who is remembered in a beautiful oil painting created by Anibale Caraccio, which is on top of the altar that we are describing. The first and third panels show the holy act celebrating the souls in purgatory leaving the expiatory flames and flying to heaven because of man’s Most High God. The middle panel shows him celebrating the bloodless sacrifice, and, oh marvel! The monument is visibly dedicated to Christ the Redeemer, whose gauntlet has a splash of living blood. This entire work of art is very gracefully done, both through the beauty of the decorations and the excellence of the bas-reliefs.
The other monument is a kind of chamber in each side, and it is faintly adorned with a variety of embellishments. It was built to hold the body of Antonio Albertonio’, who’s portrait is located at the center of the monument. One of his hands holds a book, and the other props up his drowsy head. This is depicted so naturally that it seems like he is asleep; this coincides well with Christian doctrines, which teach us that the tomb is a place of rest, from which the deceased will rise out of after a period of sleep to appear at the final judgment. And, like the words of faith that early Christians of the catacombs continuously hinted at, this was manifested in many works of statuary in the 15th and 16th centuries. In fact, his pose seems to correspond with what was previously stated: that in the tomb, one sleeps to await the resurrection, and therefore during this period of not having to think, he will adopt the good manner of our Father, and we create these monuments to perpetuate the resurrection. We will conclude by saying that Albertoni died a Roman patrician of ancient lineage and a loveable man full of Christian virtues, and he left this mortal world too soon. And because he had a special devotion to St. Antonio Abate, the artist wanted to portray three principal moments of his life in this holy frieze, putting it in the entrance of the cave where he used to sleep, all the while preaching about the afterlife and lying on top of two lion’s coats.

Creator

Drawn by Francesco M. Tosi

Publisher

Presso l'Editore Proprietario

Date

15th and 16th Sculpture

Contributor

Unknown Donor

Rights

Geneseo Foundation

Relation

Volumes 1, 2, 3, and 5

Format

20 x 16

Language

Italian

Type

Print

Identifier

Italian Monuments in Rome created during the 15th and 16th Century

Coverage

Prints were made circa 1835 to 1860

Files

IMG_6017_edited.jpg

Citation

Drawn by Francesco M. Tosi , “Monumento Sepolcrale di Antonio Albertoni nella Chiesa dell'Ara Coeli,” LLB Galleries, accessed March 28, 2024, https://artgalleries.milne-library.org/items/show/323.