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34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Open University
Instauratio and Pietas: the della Valle collections of ancient sculpture
This article presents new archival research as well as an analytical study of the Della Valle collections of antique sculpture formed in fifteenth and sixteenth century Rome. The Della Valle formed one of the first major collections of antique sculpture in early Modern Europe. Now their classical sculptures number among the most famous treasures of the Uffizi galleries, yet this article clarifies a history of their initial discovery and display which was previously obscure. It considers how the family’s experimental approach to collecting suited their public identity as successful classicists, curialists, and merchants.The Della Valle collections are among the most well-known and influential in Early Modern Europe, and this article considers factors shaping its origins in light of the family’s dramatic self-transformation from cow-herders to humanists. The collection grew after Andrea Della Valle's elevation to the Cardinalate in the early sixteenth century and his construction of an elaborate 'hanging garden' of antique sculpture. The article argues that this sculpture museum responded in particular to the devastating Sack of Rome in 1527: more than earlier collection, Della Valle's stressed its piety as a place where artistic treasures would be safeguarded from the devastating effects of war.
Christian was the first researcher to gain access to the Della Valle palace and found that traces of Andrea Della Valle’s hanging garden (fragments of the dedicatory inscriptions and stucco decor, as well as antique columns originally used in its design) are still extant there. This article discusses these remains, asking what they can tell us about the original appearance of the hanging garden. It also draws upon a painstaking and lengthy period of research in the Della Valle archives in the Vatican. Throughout, the article reflects a detailed investigation of a wide range of visual and historical sources.