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Domenichino Apse

The painting of the dome of St. Andrea della Valle was commissioned to Domenichino, when he was decorating the basin of the apse and the arch of the presbytery, but at the last moment the work was entrusted to Giovanni Lanfranco.
For Domenichino was a tremendous disappointment.
Lanfranco worked at the dome from 1625 to 1628.
Immediately after Domenichino concluded his work at St. Andrea painting the marvellous four Evangelists in the spandrels of the dome.

The contrast between the baroque fantasy of Lanfranco and Domenichino's poetics is fascinating. Domenichino seems to want to protect from the impending Baroque the classicism that he himself feels to be on the verge of being overwhelmed. This gives rise to the veil of melancholy that envelops the Evangelists.

The frescoes in the apse and the arch of the presbytery, made by Domenichino between 1624 and 1627, represent scenes from the life of St. Andrea.

These frescoes are one of the greatest examples of what might be called monumental painting of the seventeenth century.

In the arch there is a fresco representing St. John the Baptist, who points Andrew and John the figure of Jesus Christ; while at the center of the apse we see Jesus calling Peter and Andrew. Domenichino in these paintings seems to rethink and regret the works of the great masters, through its sensitivity come back to life Correggio, Raphael and Michelangelo. The work of Domenichino discovers the connection between landscape, realistic figures and notes that recall the stories of Santa Cecilia.

Finally, between the windows of the apse Domenichino painted the six virtues: Faith, Charity, Religion, Hope, Fortitude and Prayer.

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