Perino del Vaga for Michelangelo

In 1542 Pope Paolo III Farnese, with the approval of Michelangelo, commissioned to Perino del Vaga (1501–1547) a tapestry basement for the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel (Vatican).The Spalliera was never completed, but its model, painted on canvas, was later acquired by cardinal Bernardino Spada to be placed in his roman palace (now Galleria Spada), where it was used in radically different fashion as a frieze, completed with parts by other artists.The book is the first in-depth study of this work and of its significance in Perino’s artistic career, marked by an intense dialogue with Michelangelo’s art. It also explores the importance attributed by Michelangelo to decoration, apparently antithetical to the heroic dimension for which he is celebratedThe reception of the Spalliera by different artists is studied through a group of drawings deriving from it and lasting until the baroque age, as attested by Rubens.

Barbara Agosti is professor of Art History at the University of Rome II "Tor Vergata". She has written  books on Paolo Giovio and Giorgio Vasari and on Michelangelo and Daniele da Volterra. With Silvia Ginzburg she curated the recent exhibiton Raphael and his Friends in Urbino (2019) and co-edited its catalogue. Silvia Ginzburg is professor of Art History at the University of Rome III. She is the author of two books on the Carracci and has written extensively on Raphael and the birth of the Maniera moderna in Rome. With Barbara Agosti and Antonio Paolucci she co-edited the recent Raphael in Rome: Style, Technique, Conservation (2018).