Giuseppe Marchesi, known as Il Sansone (Bologna, 1699 - 1771)
Pope Clement VIII Returns the Keys to the City to the Elders , 1740
oil on canvas; inv. P 15
Cesare Giuseppe Mazzoni, attr. (Bologna, 1678 -1763)
The Gonfalonier of Bologna and the Elders Congratulate the Emperor
Charles V After His Coronation, 1740
oil on canvas; inv. P 17
provenance: palazzo Comunale (city hall), Elders Quarter
These paintings were commissioned in about 1740 by the City Magistracy
of the Elders for the Appartamento degli Anziani (Apartment of the
Elders), located on the first floor of the Public Palace.
They celebrate the City Magistracy of the Elders, a governing body, in
two important moments of its history.
The first painting represents Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini, visiting
Bologna in 1598. Symbolically returning the keys of the City to the
Elders, he expresses his trust in local leadership.
The second picture shows the Elders, wearing ruffs and gowns bordered
with lynx fur, approaching the newly crowned emperor Charles V to pay
him homage (1530). Both paintings are described by a guidebook of
Bologna published in 1776 and attributed respectively to Giuseppe
Marchesi, known as Il Sansone, and Ercole Graziani.
In the next edition of the same guidebook (1782), however, the authors
names are inverted. This led to a false attribution, which also appears
on the inscription on the lower part of the two frames, made more
recently. Modern studies have definitely linked the first episode,
representing Pope Clement VIII, to Giuseppe Marchesi, due to its lively
style and its warm and sumptuous hues.
The scene depicting Charles V, more descriptive in a sort of
Neo-Venitian style, has been thus attributed to Ercole Graziani,
although this attribution has recently been doubted. It has been
suggested that this painting is more likely to be the work of Cesare
Giuseppe Mazzoni, an artist of a lesser stature, who produced several
historical paintings for the Municipal Palace.
