Andrea Sacchi and Cadinal del Monte: The Rediscovered Frescoes in the Palazzo Di Ripetta in Rome

A fascinating and beautifully illustrated study of a cycle of frescoes that generations of scholars previously thought to be lost.

This book presents, for the first time, the rediscovered frescoes painted by Andrea Sacchi (1599-1661) for the loggia of Cardinal del Monte’s Roman palace near via di Ripetta, Rome. Largely unpublished and rarely mentioned in recent literature, the frescoes underwent a revelatory restoration in 2010-11. For the past three years, Giovan Battista Fidanza was granted exclusive access to study them thoroughly, resulting in this monograph.

Accompanied by beautiful and full photographic documentation, this study compares the painted images with the detailed description given by the biographer Giovan Pietro Bellori. The volume sheds light on the iconography and style and integrates this key commission within Sacchi’s early career. The research presented on this cycle of frescoes has made it possible to discover new archival evidence regarding Sacchi’s date and place of birth, and the exploration allows us to resolve some particularly complex problems of interpretation, above all those relating to alchemy.

Giovan Battista Fidanza is professor of early modern art history at Tor Vergata University of Rome.