Ceiling of the Chapel of the Magi
- Places, Architecture:
- Ceiling
- Author, circle:
- Attributed to: design, Michelozzo (1396-1472); execution, Pagno di Lapo (1408-1470)
- Commissioner, collector:
-
Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici (1389-1464)
- Epoch, date:
- before 1459
- Location:
- Florence, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Chapel of the Magi.
- Technical details:
- Lime wood (?) inlaid, carved, gilded and painted
- Description, subject:
-
The wall structure comprises an elaborate cornice adorned with relief frames featuring a variety of decorative motifs, such as palmettes, fusaroles and rings. This cornice also serves as support for the carved, gilded and painted wooden ceiling. This consists of two parts, corresponding to the two main rooms of the chapel, the aula and the scarsella.
In the aula the wooden ceiling has a central area made of square coffers, each with a three-dimensional flower in the centre set within a frame of rectangular bands with rosettes at the intersections. The whole is then enclosed by a perimeter frame again featuring square motifs alternated with rosettes, double on the three sides corresponding to the walls of the chapel.
In the scarsella, the ceiling has a blue ground, set in the gilded centre of which is a monogram of Christ in the middle of a sunburst within a circular frame. The elegant frame consists of a repetition, in opposing pairs, of the motif of the three feathers - respectively red, white and green - joined together and enclosed within pairs of rings. In the triangular spaces between the circular frame and the external square cornice are four diamond-tipped rings with an entwined scroll bearing the motto semper, in gold and silver. Three-colour feathers, diamond-tipped rings and the motto semper are among the most famous of the Medici devices, extensively present in the decoration of the chapel.
- Historical information:
-
In the spring of 1459, when Gian Galeazzo Sforza was received in the chapel by Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici, it was embellished by the ceiling which - like the pavement - had already been completed.
At the end of the seventeenth century, when the palazzo already belonged to the Riccardi, the construction of Foggini’s staircase entailed a major modification to the wall structure at the south-west corner of the chapel, which was shifted to project inwards into the room; this alteration clearly also resulted in the loss of a portion of the wooden ceiling.
For greater details on the historic events concerning the ceiling see the general record on the Chapel of the Magi.
- Technical details:
-
The investigations carried out at the time of the most recent restoration (1988-1992) have yielded a range of information.
The surveys performed have shown that the ceiling was made of lime wood.
The ceiling of the aula, or main room, was anchored, using staves, nails and wedges, to four beams running parallel to the walls, which were in turn anchored to the wooden structure above. The ceiling of the scarsella was instead anchored to the nailed beams that form the external cornice on the walls, and to the architrave above the doorway between the two rooms.
The colours of the ceiling were carmine red, ultramarine blue, white and the gold of the gildings. The gilding is still the original layer, executed using the guazzo or water-gilding technique, applying thick strips of gold leaf over a glue layer made of water and bole, applied in turn over a plaster base. The gilding was then burnished using an agate stone.
For the restoration see Acidini Luchinat 1992 and Marchetti, Consorzio Pegasus, 1992 (see: Bibliography).
- Destiny and criticism:
-
As sustained by Cristina Acidini (1993 and previously), in view of the style and decorative modules, the design of the ceiling can be attributed to Michelozzo. The execution is instead probably to be attributed to Pagno di Lapo and the craftsmen who worked under him.
There are very few other exemplars that can bear comparison with the elegance of the design and the sophistication of the workmanship of the ceiling of the Chapel of the Magi, and that of other ceilings in the Medici palazzo. One such, suggested by Acidini, is the ceiling of the studiolo of Federico da Montefeltro in the ducal palace of Gubbio, which the critic has attributed to Florentine craftsmen (New York, Metropolitan Museum).
informazioni generali - apparati e documentazione
