UNDER RESTORATION

X. Chapel of Santa Barbara

In this chapel belonging to the “Sedici Riformatori”, then to the Senate of Bologna it is possible to admire the great altarpiece depicting the glorification of St. Barbara as well as the punishment of the father who was murderer, by Alessandro Tiarini (about 1606).

The work, which has undergone a later addition of a deprecable arch centering process, is quite unique for both the particular type of iconography and the composition crushed in the foreground as well as the subtle rawness on the composition chromatic accents. More precisely, the work was not appreciated for the latter two features.

In 1723 the chapel was dedicated to Santa Rosalia and on that occasion, on the altar in front of the painting, the most elegant marble statue was placed, carved by Gabriele Brunelli fifty years ago for the Monti house and transformed for the occasion in an icon of a palermitan saint with the addition of the lily and aureus (the statue was then moved in 1959 to a niche specially opened on the right side of the chapel).

In 1723, the railing and the vault prospective decorations date back to the work of the septuagenarian Gioacchino Pizzoli who, in order to conform himself to the artistic movement of his times, introduced some neo-gothic elements.

The subpanel represents Jesus Sacred Heart and was painted by Ubaldo Bonvicini, a pupil of Gandolfi, at the end of the 18th century. Noteworthy is its elegant coeval frame, with a precious and light design, typical of the late Baroque Bolognese carvers.

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