Fake dome by Andrea Pozzo
The fake dome was painted by Andrea Pozzo for the Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla from 1701 to 1702, commissioned by the prior Vincenzo de'Chiasserini of Monterchi. Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuit father who was born in Trento in 1642 and died in 1709,was an esteemed architect, painter, scenographer, and decorator in perspective in the late Italian Baroque. The series of fake domes created by Pozzo, include 8 paintings, some painted entirely by him, others carried out in collaboration with other artists or according to his project. The first work completed with this subject was that of Sant'Ignazio in Rome in 1685,which followed those of Frascati, Montepulciano, Arezzo,Vienna, Lubiana and Modena. These large paintings, on canvas or board, through the use of perspective, imitate the concavities and convexities of real domes, which, for different reasons, hadn’t been possible to build.
The fake dome of Arezzo reminds us of the one represented by the same artist for the church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome, even if it is smaller. In fact the Aretine's canvas has a maximum diameter of 8,20 metres, while the Roman one has a diameter of about 18 metres. Initially it was carried out by the artist in the 'eternal city' and in 1702 sent to the church of Badia in Arezzo, where it was inaugurated in July of the same year for the festivity of Sante Flora e Lucilla. When the canvas reached Arezzo from Rome, it was found to be too small for the installation and so it was necessary to add a painted part, which was probably the work of two assistants of the artist, perhaps Antonio Colli or Paolo Greco. They were working with the teacher in Montepulciano and Lucignano between 1702 and 1703. The painting, situated fifteen metres from the ground, is found in the circular opening of the vault at the intersection of the central nave with the transept, above the high altar. The work, representing the intrados of a dome, is characterized by a wide use of curved lines, to create a realistic three-dimensional-perspective effect. To appreciate the perspective illusion at its best, you should stand on the metal mark, placed specifically on the floor in front of the altar.
The painted surface of almost 52sq.m, is supported by a frame with its circumference in poplar and pine wood and it supports a system of shelves in wood and masonry, placed on a line which refines the opening of the vault.
The painting in tempera, presents a thin glue preparation. The preparatory drawing, that showed only the perspective lines and the principal architectural forms was carried out in scratch technique and brush work. The representation of the dome is very complex: in the foreground alternating windows and columns are visible, leaning on double shelves, which jut out rather like long ribs, that, at intervals in the spaces of the vault creating eight sails in the intrados of the dome, reach up to the bright extremely high lantern. The band of fake marble intarsia on the inferior edge is attributed to the intervention of the collaborators.
The main element of the work is the optical effect of depth created by the artist which makes a painting on flat canvas almost real , giving the impression that it is an actual real dome.The illusionism prospective is, in fact, one of the specific production traits of Andrea Pozzo, a result of great practical and theoretical experience, as evidence by his two volumes ‘de Perspectiva pictorum et architectorum’ published in 1693 and 1700.
The illusionistic game that the painting represents has some theological implications, like a specific viewpoint makes us perceive the right perspective of the dome, in the same way only faith makes us see the truth.
The internal illumination of the work, that lights up the fake architecture from the left, is extremely effective; in fact, the light, real or painted, develops a fundamental role for the perspective illusionism.
The artist pays great attention to the effects of the colour of the painted architecture, also in comparison with the real one of the church, so that it is probable that he visited the Badia before carrying out the work.
Few are the colours used to define the painted architecture, white, black, ochre and touches of pink and blue of the marbling. Noticeable is the use of the lead white to enhance the incidence of the light.
The painting has been restored more than once, one of the most important, terminated in 1702, by Alberto Salvi a carpenter from Arezzo. The last time was from 1988 to 1992, when ash and soot accumulated over time from the smoke of candles was removed.
This gave back to the work its original realism.
Even after three centuries, the "fake dome" by Andrea Pozzo is still one of the major attractions of the splendid benedictine church.