The glorious Carracci ceiling in Rome’s Palazzo Farnese to be restored

Annibale Carracci’s frescoed ceiling in Rome’s Palazzo Farnese – home of the French Embassy – is to be restored, it has been announced. Considered by some to be one of the most influential Renaissance commissions in the country, the project is expected to cost €1m (£0.87m).

It is being funded by the World Monuments Fund, the French Embassy in Italy and the Fondation de l’Orangerie pour la Philan­thropie Individuelle, and work is set to begin later this year.

In 1597 Carracci was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the palace using the theme, the love of the Gods. Cardinal Edoardo Farnese chose the subject of love to mark the wedding of the Duke of Parma to the grand-niece of Pope Clement VIII, Margherita Aldobrandini.

The work, which includes a series of mythological scenes and the Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, took 11 years to complete.

via BBC News

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.