Hi Kevan
This has indeed been an interesting hunt. To my surprise, the
tradition of illuminating St. Peter's goes back to 1650.
ILLUMINATING ST. PETER'S (LUMINARIA)
************************************
In 1650 the Dome of St.Peter's was illuminated for the first time as
part of the Jubilee (Giubileo) while Innocent the Tenth was Pope.
These Jubilees are years of pilgrimage and celebration, happening
every twenty-five years. On this occasion the festivities were
attended by Princess Marie of Savoy and a 'Principe' from Nuremberg.
('Principe' should mean prince but I'm not sure who this was).
In 1725 Pope Benedict the Thirteenth wanted the Jubilee to have a more
serious tone without illuminations or spectacles. But by 1750 the
tradition of lighting the basilica was well enough established to lead
Vanvitelli, the architect, to create some kind of theatrical model of
the "Luminaria di San Pietro". (More on this later.)
As you know, Goethe wrote about the Illuminations in 1787. The only
other writer of the period I've found who mentioned them is Robert
Southey, who described them as far superior to the candles and
lanterns lit in London for the Peace of Amiens in 1802:
"Illuminations are better managed at Rome. Imagine the vast dome of
St. Peter’s covered with large lamps so arranged as to display its
fine form; those lamps all kindled at the same minute, and the whole
dome emerging, as it were, from total darkness, in one blaze of light.
After this exhibition has lasted an hour, the dome as rapidly assumes
the shape of a huge tiara, a change produced by pots of fire so much
more powerful than the former light as at once to annihilate it. This,
and the fireworks from St. Angelo, which, from their grandeur, admit
of no adequate description, as you may well conceive, effectually
prevent those persons who have beheld them from enjoying the twinkling
light of half-penny candles scattered in the windows of London, or the
crowns and regal chypers which here and there manifest the seal, the
interest, or emulation of individuals."
From the Italian information I found, I gather that on the eve of the
feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the basilica was covered with torches
and lanterns, placed so as to emphasize the beauty of its
architecture. Once a signal was given, the sanpietrini or sampietrini
(St. Peter's men?) would scramble about from one torch to another,
lighting them, although this doesn't fit perfectly with Southey's
description, since he claims they were lit all at once.
The men and/or boys had to arrange lights on the ribs (costoloni
michelangioleschi) of the Dome and are described as being as agile as
cats. The cupola or cupolone (great Dome) and the cross were lit in a
diffuse and unusual way. (Sorry if this sounds stilted - I'm keeping
fairly close to the Italian.) This 'evocative' style of illumination
was in contrast to the brilliance of the fireworks at the castle. Some
of the light was produced by using 'padelle' - pans or cups of oil
with wicks in. There's more detail about how the lanterns may have
been constructed in the Castel Sant'Angelo section below.
Sources for the above information
---------------------------------
This first source also discusses feast day traditions: rhymes about
opening the door of St. Peter's, groups of people from different parts
of the city, food and customs which are beyond my ability to
translate:
Feste, ricorrenze, e tradizioni romane
http://www.morelli.it/foglio/giulia/ricorrenze.htm
Storia dei Giubilei (History of the Jubilees)
http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/Perrone/roma/giubileo_storia.htm
Catholic Encyclopedia: Jubilees
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08531c.htm
'Illuminations on the Proclamation of Peace' (of Amiens)
from Robert Southey’s “Letters from England”
FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1802
http://www.printsgeorge.com/Jane_Austen-events.htm
padelle/padella definition from Webster's
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=padelle
Museo di Roma in Trastevere: Feste e Divertimenti (Festivals and
Diversions)
http://www.comune.roma.it/cultura/italiano/musei_spazi_espositivi/musei/museo_roma_trastevere/feste_divertimenti.htm
VANVITELLI 1700-1773
********************
Luigi Vanvitelli was in Rome in the first half of the eighteenth
century where his father, Gaspard or Caspar van Wittel, painted many
views of the city and of Saint Peter's. From 1726 Luigi worked as an
architect there. Then in 1750 he produced a piece of art that is
described as a:
"spectacular 'theatre' of painted scenery that Luigi Vanvitelli
produced for the St. Peter Illuminations in 1750"
and:
"Vanvitelli's mockup of the torchlight illuminations of St. Peter's".
Knowing your interest here is architectural lighting design, I was
intrigued to discover such a close connection between an architect and
the Illuminations, particularly when the architect in question
actually worked at St. Peter's.
Vanvitelli's work was included in a 1999 exhibition "I Triumfi del
Barocco" but apart from other very brief references to his model or
'scene', there's nothing more on the net. The curator of the
exhibition, Professor Henry Millon, has been kind enough to send me
this information:
" An entry for the Vanvitelli model, which includes a bibliography,
can be found on p.528 of the catalogue of the exhibition, Henry A.
Millon, ed., The Triumph of the Baroque. Architecture in Europe
1600-1750, Milan (Bompiani/R.C.S. Libri S. p. A.) 1999. The best
color photographs are in the L'Arte degli Anni Santi volume. As far
as I know the model is not on view anywhere at the moment, but
reclines in storage at the Vatican, most probably to be searched for
within the office of the architect of St. Peter's, Sandro Benedetti."
Another expert I contacted, Professor Joseph Connors, who reviewed the
exhibition, suggests the catalogue will be available in a "good
library".
Here's the Library of Congress listing for it:
Title: The triumph of the Baroque : architecture in
Europe, 1600-1750 / edited by Henry A. Millon.
Published: New York : Rizzoli, 1999.
Description: 621 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) ; 31
cm.
LC Call No.: NA590.T75 1999
Dewey No.: 724/.16/0744512 21
ISBN: 0847822192 (hc)
Notes: Published to accompany an exhibition held at
Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi, July 1999.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 602-614)
and indexes.
Subjects: Architecture, Baroque -- Exhibitions.
Other authors: Millon, Henry A.
Other authors: Reale Palazzina di caccia di Stupinigi.
Control No.: 4520630
It's available from Amazon for $60:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0847822192/qid=1037814783/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-0242217-6899958?v=glance&s=books
Here's a biographical snippet on Vanvitelli:
"Born on 2 May 1700 in Naples, of Gaspar Van Wittel of Utrecht and
Anna Laurenzini, a Roman. His father, an excellent landscapist, wanted
to make him a painter but the precocious young artist showed with the
passing of the years a special inclination towards architecture,
particularly for the new Baroque expressions: the art of Baromini was
more alive than ever and surely influenced the development of the
young Giovanni Luigi con Pietro da Cortona and GianLorenzo Bernini.
Already at the age of twenty six years he was an architect at St
Peter's where he was used also as a painter. His architectural talent
was revealed in the tender for the frontage of San Giovanni in
Laterano. "
http://www.ambientece.arti.beniculturali.it/Xenglish/storia/Left/1213le.htm
Further sources for this section
--------------------------------
"il grande e spettacolare "teatro" di scene dipinte per la Luminaria
di San Pietro del 1750, di Luigi Vanvitelli"
"the spectacular "theatre" of painted scenery that Luigi Vanvitelli
produced for the St. Peter Illuminations in 1750"
http://www.palazzograssi.it/ita/mostre/barocco/mostra/percorso.htm
Review by Professor Connors mentioning "Vanvitelli's mockup of the
torchlight illuminations of St. Peter's"
http://www.columbia.edu/~jc65/reviews/barmodel.rev.htm
Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/z3950/gateway.html#lc
CASTEL SANT'ANGELO
******************
Here too, lanterns were placed with care as a prelude to the
fireworks:
"Now for all the said festivals, only this one has remained in Rome in
Castel Sant' Angelo when popes are elected or crowned or at other
great celebrations. But instead of constructing this edifice they make
use of the whole castle, which is indeed a very pleasing shape. They
ornament it by placing in each embrasure and on top of each merlon
[parapet] two small lanterns made of a sheet of white paper over a
mound of clay in which a tallow candle is put. When they are lit at
night it is a very beautiful thing to see that shining and transparent
whiteness in many rows as far as the eye can reach.........." The
author goes on to describe the fireworks in more detail:
from 'The Impact of Humanism' ed. L. Kekewich (New Haven: Yale
University Press), pp. 23-49.
http://130.238.50.3/ilmh/Ren/impact2.htm
Fireworks were used in Rome from before 1500:
"Le luminarie
Fin dalla metà del Cinquecento i fuochi d’artificio, entrati nella
tradizione festiva popolare italiana dal XIV secolo, assumono il
carattere di evento finale di cerimonie ufficiali quali tornei,
cavalcate per illustri ospiti, vittorie militari, incoronazioni del
principe, canonizzazioni."
Museum of Rome
http://www.comune.roma.it/museodiroma.trastevere/aerni_scheda.htm
Festivals in Rome
http://www.esh.ed.ac.uk/urban_history/text/SyrjamaaS13.doc
more on fireworks
http://www.romacaputlucis.it/manifestazione.html
PICTURES
********
I am not sure of the provenance of this picture of the Dome of Saint
Peter's glowing gently while the fireworks sparkle. The comment seems
to say it has been executed by boys, using an old press, or possibly
an old plate or print:
http://www.romacivica.net/omeroplatone/festetrad/girandol.htm
It comes from the website of this 'Scuola Media':
http://www.romacivica.net/omeroplatone/
There's a 1779 painting of the Girandola fireworks in the Hermitage:
http://www.humanitiesweb.org/cgi-bin/human.cgi?s=g&p=c&a=p&ID=639
Another fireworks picture from the late 1870s by Franz Theodor Aerni:
http://www.comune.roma.it/museodiroma.trastevere/aerni_scheda.htm
The Piranesi painting found by dhalgren (see comment):
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/fireworks/69.510.L.htm
And, if it's of any interest, here are lots of pictures of St. Peter's
lit up for the 2000 Jubilee:
http://213.199.8.43/spietro/italiano/home.html
Since you are interested in architectural lighting I wonder if this
article which I came across would interest you?
"Illuminations of S. Maria Maggiore in the Early Settecento," (with
Steven F. Ostrow) Burlington Magazine 123 (1990): 528-34.
article by Christopher Johns
http://www.virginia.edu/~finearts/homepage/faculty/cj-cv.html
(Settecento in Italian means the 1700s, i.e. the 18th. century.)
Thank-you very much for giving me an interesting research question. I
do hope this is helpful, despite the scarcity of paintings of the
Luminaria. Please feel free to ask for clarification if you need any
further help.
Regards - Leli
search terms used:
illuminations "St. Peter's" basilica lighting "eighteenth century"
fireworks Rome
luminaria "san Pietro" settecento fuoco Roma festa Vanvitelli "van
Wittel" "Castel Sant'Angelo" giubileo |
