Sacchi, Andrea

(c. 1599-1661)

   Andrea Sacchi was the pupil of Francesco Albani who encouraged him to study the Farnese ceiling (c. 1597-1600; Rome, Palazzo Farnese) and other works by Annibale Carracci, meaning that the artist received a classicist art education. In c. 1618, Sacchi went to Bologna with his master to examine the works of other members of the Bolognese School, returning to his native Rome in c. 1621. Sacchi's earliest patron was Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who had also patronized Caravaggio early on in his career, followed by the Barberini. His works are few as he painted slowly and meticulously. This method resulted in idealized renderings, mainly in soft pastels, with elegant gestures, poses, and draperies. His St. Gregory and the Miracle of the Corporal (1625-1626; Vatican, Pinacoteca) is a commission he received from del Monte to be placed in the Chapter House of St. Peter's. It depicts a miracle where the cloth St. Gregory had used to wipe the chalice bled when he pierced it with a dagger. A man who had doubted its miraculous qualities is shown in the fore-ground sinking to his knees in response to the event. Sacchi's Divine Wisdom (1629-1633; Rome, Palazzo Barberini) he created for the Barberini. This large ceiling fresco utilizes a modified di sotto in sù technique and shows Divine Wisdom seated on her throne and surrounded by 11 of her Virtues—a scene based on the Wisdom of Solomon in the Apocrypha. Meant to denote the ability of Pope Urban VIII, a Barberini, to rule with great wisdom, the work also references the constellations and planets. In fact, in the fresco, Leo, the sun, and Jupiter are aligned, as they were on the day of the pope's election. The placement of the sun in the center of the composition denotes the Barberini's interest in current astronomical debates. Then, the accepted notion was that the Earth occupied the center of the universe and Galileo Galilei at the time was expounding his heliocentric views, which Sacchi's fresco embraces. In the Accademia di San Luca, Sacchi debated with Pietro da Cortona on the proper rendering of history paintings, advocating the Aristotelian approach to the genre of tragedy with a minimal number of actors and emphasis on grandeur and clarity. Sacchi's works reveal that he truly practiced what he preached. Along with Alessandro Algardi, Nicolas Poussin, and François Duquesnoy, he championed an art that provided only the essential components to tell the story and that refrained from excessive dramatization—an alternative to the compositional complexities and emotive appeal found in the works of Cortona and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

   See also Cortona / Sacchi controversy.