Study for a Chapel in Vienna
Andrea Pozzo
Description
March 28 2009
As a lay member of the Jesuit Order, Andrea Pozzo was profoundly influenced by the order’s view that visual images and theater were effective tools for teaching Catholic beliefs to the masses and offering religious epiphany. This study for a chapel in Vienna reveals how Pozzo could orchestrate architecture, sculpture, and painting into a decorative program that would transform an interior space into a dramatic religious spectacle. The rectangular chapel is depicted in the painting with the sidewalls bent outward at an angle in order to provide a clearer view of the decoration. The chapel design centers upon a sarcophagus placed beneath a painted altarpiece of the Virgin and Child, which are both set within a semicircular architectural projection. Pozzo continues to blur the boundary between the artwork and the viewer’s space in the decoration on the sidewalls. With angels reaching vigorously outward, their wings overlapping the pilasters, or a female half-figure leaning out from the oval niche above the sarcophagus, Pozzo seeks to break down the distance between the viewers’ experience and the object of their devotional practice.
Subject Matter:
This study for a chapel in Vienna reveals how Pozzo could orchestrate architecture, sculpture, and painting into a seamless decorative program that could transform an interior space into a dramatic religious spectacle. The compelling power of the visual spectacle derives from his ability to blur the boundary between the artwork and the viewer’s space.
Physical Description:
This study depicts a rectangular chapel with the side walls bent outward at an angle in order to provide a clearer view of the decoration. The chapel design centers upon a sarcophagus placed beneath a painted altarpiece of the Virgin and Child, which are both set within a semicircular architectural projection that extends dynamically from the wall. On the left the pair of angels that support a large oval-shaped painting reach vigorously outward, their wings overlapping the pilasters. On the right appears another sarcophagus surmounted by a pair of putti. Leaning out from the oval niche above the sarcophagus is a female half-figure—probably a portrait of the deceased—making a gesture of devotion toward the altar.
Usage Rights:
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