The Oratory of Saints Cecilia and Valeriano is a religious site in central
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
, found on Via Zamboni, contiguous to the portico of the church of
San Giacomo Maggiore
The Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore is an historic Roman Catholic church in Bologna, region of Emilia Romagna, Italy, serving a monastery of Augustinian friars. It was built starting in 1267 and houses, among the rest, the Bentivoglio Chapel, f ...
.
The oratory was built at the site of a Romanesque church commissioned by the then ruler of Bologna
Giovanni II Bentivoglio
Giovanni II Bentivoglio (12 February 144315 February 1508) was an Italian nobleman who ruled as tyrant of Bologna from 1463 until 1506. He had no formal position, but held power as the city's "first citizen." The Bentivoglio family ruled over Bo ...
. It was frescoed starting in 1505 by series of Renaissance painters associated with the Bentivoglio court, including
Francesco Francia
__NOTOC__
Francesco Francia, whose real name was Francesco Raibolini (1447 – 5 January 1517) was an Italian painter, goldsmith, and medallist from Bologna, who was also director of the city mint.Levinson:492
He may have trained with Marco Zop ...
,
Lorenzo Costa
Lorenzo Costa (1460 – 5 March 1535) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
Biography
He was born at Ferrara, but moved to Bologna by his early twenties, and was probably influenced by the Bolognese School. However, many artists worked in ...
and
Amico Aspertini
Amico Aspertini, also called Amerigo Aspertini, was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor whose complex, eccentric, and eclectic style anticipates Mannerism. He is considered one of the leading exponents of the Bolognese School of paintin ...
. The frescoes cover the walls flanking the oratory entrance. In ten panels, divided by pilaster strips in decorated grotteschi, scenes from the life of
Saint Cecilia and her husband Valerian are described.
The individual attribution of all the panels is not entirely clear; they depict:
#Marriage of
Cecilia
Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music.
The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...
and
Valerian
#Valerian converted by Pope Saint Urban
#Valerian baptized by the Pope Urban
#Saints Cecilia and Valerian crowned by an angel
#Martyrdom of Saints Valerian and Tiburtius (attributed to Aspertini)
#Burial of the Martyrs (attributed to Aspertini)
#Trial of Saint Cecilia
#Martyrdom of Saint Cecilia
#St Cecilia donates all her goods to the poor
#Burial of Saint Cecilia
Other artist involved in these or later works include
Francesco Cavazzoni
Francesco Cavazzone (1559–1612) was an Italian painter of the early- Baroque period.
He trained with Ludovico Carracci and Bartolomeo Passarotti
Bartolomeo Passarotti or Passerotti (1529–1592) was an Italian painter of the mannerist period, ...
,
Tiburzio Passarotti
Tiburzio Passarotti or Passerotti (1553, Bologna - 22 November 1612, Bologna) was an Italian painter; primarily of religious subjects.
Biography
He was the eldest son of the painter, Bartolomeo Passarotti. At the age of eighteen, he joined the ...
(Son of
Bartolomeo),
Cesare Baglioni
Cesare Baglioni (c. 1525–1590, born in Bologna) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. He trained under his father, then became renowned as a painter of quadratura. He painted in Parma and Rome
, established_title = Foun ...
,
Cesare Tamaroccio
Cesare Tamarocci or Tamarozzo or Tamaroccio was an Italian painter of the School of Bologna, active during the early 16th century, the pupil of Francesco Francia.
In 1504–1506, the Chapel of Santa Cecilia in Bologna was frescoed with ten panel ...
,
Giovanni Maria Chiodarolo
Giovanni Maria Chiodarolo was an Italian painter from Bologna who lived in the 15th century. Little further is known of him than that the fresco of ''Angel crowning St. Valerian and St. Cecilia'', executed about 1504–1509, in the oratory of St. ...
,
Bartolomeo Bagnacavallo, and
Biagio Pupini
Biagio Pupini was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in his native city of Bologna. He was known to be active mainly during 1530–1540. He was a disciple of Francesco Francia
__NOTOC__
Francesco Francia, whose real n ...
. The main altarpiece was a ''Crucifixion'' by
Giacomo Francia
Giacomo Raibolini (1484 – 3 January 1557), also called Giacomo Francia or Jacopo Francia, was an Italian painter and engraver of the Renaissance period.
Francia was born in Bologna as elder son of Francesco Raibolini (Francesco Francia), an ...
, now held in the
Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna
The National Art Gallery of Bologna (''Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna'') is a museum in Bologna, Italy. It is located in the former Saint Ignatius Jesuit novitiate of the city's University district, and inside the same building that houses the ...
, as well as a 14th-century fresco once outside the chapel by
Giovanni di Ottonello.
Entry on Oratory.
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Gallery
Francesco Francia - Legend of Sts Cecilia and Valerian, Scene 1 - WGA08179.jpg, The Marriage of Cecilia and Valerian
Lorenzo Costa - Legend of Sts Cecilia and Valerian, Scene 2 - WGA05425.jpg, Conversion of Valerian by pope Urban by Costa
Amico Aspertini, Oratorio di Santa Cecilia, Martyrdom of Valerian and his brother Tiburtius.jpg, Martyrdom of Valerian and Tiburtius by Aspertini
Amico Aspertini, Oratorio di Santa Cecilia, Burial of Valerian and Tiburtius.jpg, Burial of Valerian and Tiburtius, by Aspertini
Lorenzo Costa - Legend of Sts Cecilia and Valerian, Scene 9 - WGA05426.jpg, Charity of St Cecilia by Costa
File:Francesco Francia - Legend of Sts Cecilia and Valerian, Scene 10 - WGA08184.jpg, Burial of St Cecilia, by Francia
References
External links
Roman Catholic churches in Bologna
{{Italy-church-stub