Un "Parnaso musicale" per una casa di artista a Firenze

Abstract

An unrecorded fresco representing the Parnassus decorates the ceiling of a small room on the second floor of the house of Federico Zuccari in Florence. The decoration, executed between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, is typical of the figurative tradition which flourished in Rome and Florence at that time. The decoration of ceilings in the Early Renaissance belonged to a minor genre of figurative production; however, mythological themes gave prestige to the genre, opening its repertoire to the inclusion of subject matter according to the ancient theory of decorum. The ceiling decoration is the second in a series of new discoveries in the house of Federico Zuccari. The decoration of the room as a whole can be attributed to Bernardino Pocetti and his workshop. The representation of the Parnassus, located at the centre of the ceiling, is flanked by four scenes representing the story of Perseus, according to the version by Ovid in Book IV of the Metamorphoses. Other figures, symbolizing the four elements, lead the viewer to read the frescoes as a vision of cosmic harmony. The authors argue that the decoration of the small room of Casa Zuccari was intended to represent just such a conception of music, though one more specifically practical than theoretical. A reference to theatrical interludes connects the figurative and musical representation, which includes various musical instruments and scores. This subject matter suggests a precise function for the saletta as a private space used not only for meditation, but also for the performance of concerts, according to the musical vocation of its owner, Giovan Battista Poggi.