Recovered Memory : The Exhibition of the Remains of Old St. Peter's in the Vatican Grottos

• Between 1616 and 1618, during the pontificate of Paul V, a number of sarcophagi, holy images, fragments of sculpture and mosaics, relics, epitaphs and architectural elements originating from the demolition of the old St. Peter's were exhibited on public display in the Vatican Grottos. Quite exceptionally, the fragments were labelled with stone epigraphs commemorating their history and original locations. As a complement to the exhibition, Giovan Battista Ricci painted detailed fresco representations of the exterior and the interior of the old basilica on the walls of the Grottos, giving the visitors an evocative image of its past appearance. This essay analyses the character of the installation in the Vatican Grottos and its formation, also looking at it as a result of the increased interest in antiquarian studies related to Christian antiquity and as an expression of the seventeenth-century taste for displaying antique fragments in palace ornamentation.

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HUMANIORA  -- Konst (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Arts (hsv//eng)

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