Currently Ahmanson Research Fellow and Curator in the study of Art and Religion at the National Gallery, London. My research focuses on Paolo Veronese's altarpiece of The Consecration of Saint Nicholas and involves an ambitious digital project using VR/AR technology to reunite the altarpiece with the chapel for which it was originally commissioned in the church of San Benedetto al Po. My other area of research is the architecture of Galeazzo Alessi and his contribution to the development of ecclesiastical architecture in the Counter Reformation period. My PhD thesis (2012) explores different concepts of piety in pre-Counter-Reformation Italy as expressed in the architecture of three churches designed by Galeazzo Alessi, with a particular emphasis on how these buildings may respond to, or anticipate, the reforms drawn up during the Council of Trent with regard to church design, layout and function.
The abbey church of San Benedetto al Po was once part of one of the most important Benedictine m... more The abbey church of San Benedetto al Po was once part of one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in Europe, yet the church remains largely unknown today – a situation prompted in part by its remote location in the flat lands of the Po valley. Yet this was a monastic complex that in the sixteenth century was a locus for artistic activity and scholarship. In 1539 Giulio Romano was contracted to enlarge the church, marking the start of a major redevelopment project that sparked a flurry of artistic commissions involving not only Giulio Romano and his workshop, but also celebrated artists such as Antonio Allegri da Correggio and Paolo Veronese.
This paper focuses on Veronese’s altarpiece of ‘The Consecration of Saint Nicholas’, commissioned for San Benedetto al Po in 1561, and views the painting in terms of its original setting in the chapel of Saint Nicholas and in relation to the religious politics of the time. Particular attention will be paid to the painting’s original arrangement within the framework of Giulio Romano’s architecture, including its frame. Veronese’s painting will also be considered in relation to the earlier frescoes that decorate the walls of the chapel, exploring the chapel’s iconography and the ways in which the pictorial decoration reflects the Benedictine’s concept of faith and good works. Furthermore, the paper will question whether the changing fortunes of the Benedictine order in the Tridentine period influenced the chapel’s decoration and Veronese’s altarpiece in particular.
In conclusion the paper will discuss how these aspects can be explored through Virtual Veronese, the National Gallery’s latest digital project that reconstructs the chapel of Saint Nicholas at San Benedetto al Po and into which Veronese’s altarpiece has been reinstalled.
This paper takes as its focus the church of Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, Genoa, designed in... more This paper takes as its focus the church of Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, Genoa, designed in 1549 by Galeazzo Alessi for the Sauli family. The paper discusses how in many ways this church can be characterised in terms of its function as a traditional Genoese Chiesa Gentilizia, built to serve one family and to be a symbol of their status within the city. However, as can be clearly seen from the architecture, rather than choosing to have their Chiesa Gentiizia built in the traditional style, the Sauli choose to bring in an outside architect, whose style was firmly rooted in central Italy. The paper will explore to what extent this choice of style reflects the political ambitions of the Sauli family, which had started to extend beyond Genoa, and examines what happens when Genoese traditions mix with central Italian architecture.
This paper assesses for the first time the influence of members of the Sauli family over Galeazzo... more This paper assesses for the first time the influence of members of the Sauli family over Galeazzo Alessi in his design of their church, Santa Maria Assunta in Carignano, Genoa. The numerous links between members of the Sauli and individuals associated with early Church reform are considered. In particular, the Sauli’s close relationship with Gian Matteo Giberti, the reforming bishop, who was himself Genovese and whose father had worked for the Sauli, is examined. The influence of the figure of Filippo Sauli, who as Bishop of Brugnato sought to reform his own diocese, and in so doing influenced the young Giberti, is also assessed. The paper goes on to consider how through these men Alessi was exposed to ideas associated with Church reform which filtered through into his design of the Carignano church and can be particularly seen in his choice of plan and the location of the tabernacle.
In 1561 Galeazzo Alessi was commissioned to redevelop the church of San Barnaba on the site of th... more In 1561 Galeazzo Alessi was commissioned to redevelop the church of San Barnaba on the site of the monastery of the Barnabite Order in Milan. This was the Barnabite’s motherhouse and was at that time their only seat in the city in which they had been founded as the Regular Clerics of St Paul in 1533. At the time of Alessi’s involvement with the Order, the Barnabites were going through a very turbulent period in their history which saw them in conflict with the institution of the Church and which lead to the condemnation of the Order and their beliefs by the pope. This paper will first present a brief history of the Barnabite Order and a summary of the problems that the Order was facing before moving on to consider how these concerns can be seen to be reflected in Alessi’s design of their church.
This paper seeks to examine the work of Galeazzo Alessi at the church of Santa Maria presso San C... more This paper seeks to examine the work of Galeazzo Alessi at the church of Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan, in relation to changes in church design that were occurring in the mid-sixteenth century as a consequence of the Catholic Reform.
The paper will consider the façade, interior-façade, organ, choir and tabernacle that Alessi designed for the church in the 1560s in relation to Counter Reformation ideas regarding cultus externus, magnificence and decorum, and the importance of the high altar and Eucharistic tabernacle as the visual and spiritual fulcrum of church interiors. The chronological relationship between the work being done under the guidance of Carlo Borromeo in the Duomo of Milan and that being done by Alessi, both in Milan and Genoa, will also be considered, raising the question of whether Alessi may have anticipated some of the forms that were being designed by Tibaldi for the archbishop, or indeed developed his own response to Counter Reformation ideals that were different from those being conceived of at the Duomo.
Conception and construction: the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi
This paper proposes... more Conception and construction: the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi
This paper proposes to examine the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi (1512-1572), prepared for his ecclesiastical projects of Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan; Santa Maria di Carignano, Genoa; and the Sacro Monte in Varallo. The nature of Alessi’s career is such that he was frequently working on several different projects in various parts of Italy simultaneously, which meant that he was often absent from his construction sites. As a consequence Alessi designed his own system of drawings, conceived in order to explain to patrons and builders how to execute his buildings in his absence. These sets of drawings include over 120 folios executed in Alessi’s hand for Santa Maria presso San Celso, held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and over two-hundred drawings published together as the Libro dei Misteri for the Sacro Monte. An examination of these drawings will show that although some of these drawings were used by Alessi to offer alternative versions of architectural elements, the true function of these drawings was that of an instruction manual, giving builders precise measurements in order to execute the building, and furnishing the patrons with an exact idea of the appearance of their project. In addition, Alessi also provided illustrated letters that explained particular problems that occurred in his absence.
The study of these drawings will also be viewed against the context of the growing status of the architect, and the increasing distinction that was being made in Renaissance Italy between the architect as the mind behind a project and the builder as the hands behind a project. In this sense Alessi’s drawings can be understood to have defined him as an architect, whose ideas could be transmitted by ink and which therefore negated the need to be constantly present on site, and which separated him from the other construction workers.
This article examines drawings associated with the sixteenth-century Italian architect, Galeazzo ... more This article examines drawings associated with the sixteenth-century Italian architect, Galeazzo Alessi, focusing primarily on two important collections: the 112 folios held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan for the Milanese church of S. Maria presso S. Celso and the so-called Libro dei Misteri in Varallo's Biblioteca Civica, which contains 318 drawings for the pilgrimage site of the Sacro Monte there. By comparing Alessi's handwriting and drawing style across a variety of different letters and drawings present in archives in Genoa, Milan and Varallo, it is argued that all the drawings held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana folder and in the Libro dei Misteri must be the work of Alessi himself. The article then moves on to a discussion of Alessi's use of drawings in his practice and the developing role of the architect in the sixteenth century , which, it is argued, was increasingly defined by the ability of the architect to invent and to draw rather than to build.
The abbey church of San Benedetto al Po was once part of one of the most important Benedictine m... more The abbey church of San Benedetto al Po was once part of one of the most important Benedictine monasteries in Europe, yet the church remains largely unknown today – a situation prompted in part by its remote location in the flat lands of the Po valley. Yet this was a monastic complex that in the sixteenth century was a locus for artistic activity and scholarship. In 1539 Giulio Romano was contracted to enlarge the church, marking the start of a major redevelopment project that sparked a flurry of artistic commissions involving not only Giulio Romano and his workshop, but also celebrated artists such as Antonio Allegri da Correggio and Paolo Veronese.
This paper focuses on Veronese’s altarpiece of ‘The Consecration of Saint Nicholas’, commissioned for San Benedetto al Po in 1561, and views the painting in terms of its original setting in the chapel of Saint Nicholas and in relation to the religious politics of the time. Particular attention will be paid to the painting’s original arrangement within the framework of Giulio Romano’s architecture, including its frame. Veronese’s painting will also be considered in relation to the earlier frescoes that decorate the walls of the chapel, exploring the chapel’s iconography and the ways in which the pictorial decoration reflects the Benedictine’s concept of faith and good works. Furthermore, the paper will question whether the changing fortunes of the Benedictine order in the Tridentine period influenced the chapel’s decoration and Veronese’s altarpiece in particular.
In conclusion the paper will discuss how these aspects can be explored through Virtual Veronese, the National Gallery’s latest digital project that reconstructs the chapel of Saint Nicholas at San Benedetto al Po and into which Veronese’s altarpiece has been reinstalled.
This paper takes as its focus the church of Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, Genoa, designed in... more This paper takes as its focus the church of Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, Genoa, designed in 1549 by Galeazzo Alessi for the Sauli family. The paper discusses how in many ways this church can be characterised in terms of its function as a traditional Genoese Chiesa Gentilizia, built to serve one family and to be a symbol of their status within the city. However, as can be clearly seen from the architecture, rather than choosing to have their Chiesa Gentiizia built in the traditional style, the Sauli choose to bring in an outside architect, whose style was firmly rooted in central Italy. The paper will explore to what extent this choice of style reflects the political ambitions of the Sauli family, which had started to extend beyond Genoa, and examines what happens when Genoese traditions mix with central Italian architecture.
This paper assesses for the first time the influence of members of the Sauli family over Galeazzo... more This paper assesses for the first time the influence of members of the Sauli family over Galeazzo Alessi in his design of their church, Santa Maria Assunta in Carignano, Genoa. The numerous links between members of the Sauli and individuals associated with early Church reform are considered. In particular, the Sauli’s close relationship with Gian Matteo Giberti, the reforming bishop, who was himself Genovese and whose father had worked for the Sauli, is examined. The influence of the figure of Filippo Sauli, who as Bishop of Brugnato sought to reform his own diocese, and in so doing influenced the young Giberti, is also assessed. The paper goes on to consider how through these men Alessi was exposed to ideas associated with Church reform which filtered through into his design of the Carignano church and can be particularly seen in his choice of plan and the location of the tabernacle.
In 1561 Galeazzo Alessi was commissioned to redevelop the church of San Barnaba on the site of th... more In 1561 Galeazzo Alessi was commissioned to redevelop the church of San Barnaba on the site of the monastery of the Barnabite Order in Milan. This was the Barnabite’s motherhouse and was at that time their only seat in the city in which they had been founded as the Regular Clerics of St Paul in 1533. At the time of Alessi’s involvement with the Order, the Barnabites were going through a very turbulent period in their history which saw them in conflict with the institution of the Church and which lead to the condemnation of the Order and their beliefs by the pope. This paper will first present a brief history of the Barnabite Order and a summary of the problems that the Order was facing before moving on to consider how these concerns can be seen to be reflected in Alessi’s design of their church.
This paper seeks to examine the work of Galeazzo Alessi at the church of Santa Maria presso San C... more This paper seeks to examine the work of Galeazzo Alessi at the church of Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan, in relation to changes in church design that were occurring in the mid-sixteenth century as a consequence of the Catholic Reform.
The paper will consider the façade, interior-façade, organ, choir and tabernacle that Alessi designed for the church in the 1560s in relation to Counter Reformation ideas regarding cultus externus, magnificence and decorum, and the importance of the high altar and Eucharistic tabernacle as the visual and spiritual fulcrum of church interiors. The chronological relationship between the work being done under the guidance of Carlo Borromeo in the Duomo of Milan and that being done by Alessi, both in Milan and Genoa, will also be considered, raising the question of whether Alessi may have anticipated some of the forms that were being designed by Tibaldi for the archbishop, or indeed developed his own response to Counter Reformation ideals that were different from those being conceived of at the Duomo.
Conception and construction: the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi
This paper proposes... more Conception and construction: the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi
This paper proposes to examine the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi (1512-1572), prepared for his ecclesiastical projects of Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan; Santa Maria di Carignano, Genoa; and the Sacro Monte in Varallo. The nature of Alessi’s career is such that he was frequently working on several different projects in various parts of Italy simultaneously, which meant that he was often absent from his construction sites. As a consequence Alessi designed his own system of drawings, conceived in order to explain to patrons and builders how to execute his buildings in his absence. These sets of drawings include over 120 folios executed in Alessi’s hand for Santa Maria presso San Celso, held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and over two-hundred drawings published together as the Libro dei Misteri for the Sacro Monte. An examination of these drawings will show that although some of these drawings were used by Alessi to offer alternative versions of architectural elements, the true function of these drawings was that of an instruction manual, giving builders precise measurements in order to execute the building, and furnishing the patrons with an exact idea of the appearance of their project. In addition, Alessi also provided illustrated letters that explained particular problems that occurred in his absence.
The study of these drawings will also be viewed against the context of the growing status of the architect, and the increasing distinction that was being made in Renaissance Italy between the architect as the mind behind a project and the builder as the hands behind a project. In this sense Alessi’s drawings can be understood to have defined him as an architect, whose ideas could be transmitted by ink and which therefore negated the need to be constantly present on site, and which separated him from the other construction workers.
This article examines drawings associated with the sixteenth-century Italian architect, Galeazzo ... more This article examines drawings associated with the sixteenth-century Italian architect, Galeazzo Alessi, focusing primarily on two important collections: the 112 folios held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan for the Milanese church of S. Maria presso S. Celso and the so-called Libro dei Misteri in Varallo's Biblioteca Civica, which contains 318 drawings for the pilgrimage site of the Sacro Monte there. By comparing Alessi's handwriting and drawing style across a variety of different letters and drawings present in archives in Genoa, Milan and Varallo, it is argued that all the drawings held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana folder and in the Libro dei Misteri must be the work of Alessi himself. The article then moves on to a discussion of Alessi's use of drawings in his practice and the developing role of the architect in the sixteenth century , which, it is argued, was increasingly defined by the ability of the architect to invent and to draw rather than to build.
Uploads
Conference Presentations by Rebecca Gill
This paper focuses on Veronese’s altarpiece of ‘The Consecration of Saint Nicholas’, commissioned for San Benedetto al Po in 1561, and views the painting in terms of its original setting in the chapel of Saint Nicholas and in relation to the religious politics of the time. Particular attention will be paid to the painting’s original arrangement within the framework of Giulio Romano’s architecture, including its frame. Veronese’s painting will also be considered in relation to the earlier frescoes that decorate the walls of the chapel, exploring the chapel’s iconography and the ways in which the pictorial decoration reflects the Benedictine’s concept of faith and good works. Furthermore, the paper will question whether the changing fortunes of the Benedictine order in the Tridentine period influenced the chapel’s decoration and Veronese’s altarpiece in particular.
In conclusion the paper will discuss how these aspects can be explored through Virtual Veronese, the National Gallery’s latest digital project that reconstructs the chapel of Saint Nicholas at San Benedetto al Po and into which Veronese’s altarpiece has been reinstalled.
The paper will consider the façade, interior-façade, organ, choir and tabernacle that Alessi designed for the church in the 1560s in relation to Counter Reformation ideas regarding cultus externus, magnificence and decorum, and the importance of the high altar and Eucharistic tabernacle as the visual and spiritual fulcrum of church interiors. The chronological relationship between the work being done under the guidance of Carlo Borromeo in the Duomo of Milan and that being done by Alessi, both in Milan and Genoa, will also be considered, raising the question of whether Alessi may have anticipated some of the forms that were being designed by Tibaldi for the archbishop, or indeed developed his own response to Counter Reformation ideals that were different from those being conceived of at the Duomo.
This paper proposes to examine the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi (1512-1572), prepared for his ecclesiastical projects of Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan; Santa Maria di Carignano, Genoa; and the Sacro Monte in Varallo. The nature of Alessi’s career is such that he was frequently working on several different projects in various parts of Italy simultaneously, which meant that he was often absent from his construction sites. As a consequence Alessi designed his own system of drawings, conceived in order to explain to patrons and builders how to execute his buildings in his absence. These sets of drawings include over 120 folios executed in Alessi’s hand for Santa Maria presso San Celso, held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and over two-hundred drawings published together as the Libro dei Misteri for the Sacro Monte. An examination of these drawings will show that although some of these drawings were used by Alessi to offer alternative versions of architectural elements, the true function of these drawings was that of an instruction manual, giving builders precise measurements in order to execute the building, and furnishing the patrons with an exact idea of the appearance of their project. In addition, Alessi also provided illustrated letters that explained particular problems that occurred in his absence.
The study of these drawings will also be viewed against the context of the growing status of the architect, and the increasing distinction that was being made in Renaissance Italy between the architect as the mind behind a project and the builder as the hands behind a project. In this sense Alessi’s drawings can be understood to have defined him as an architect, whose ideas could be transmitted by ink and which therefore negated the need to be constantly present on site, and which separated him from the other construction workers.
Papers by Rebecca Gill
This paper focuses on Veronese’s altarpiece of ‘The Consecration of Saint Nicholas’, commissioned for San Benedetto al Po in 1561, and views the painting in terms of its original setting in the chapel of Saint Nicholas and in relation to the religious politics of the time. Particular attention will be paid to the painting’s original arrangement within the framework of Giulio Romano’s architecture, including its frame. Veronese’s painting will also be considered in relation to the earlier frescoes that decorate the walls of the chapel, exploring the chapel’s iconography and the ways in which the pictorial decoration reflects the Benedictine’s concept of faith and good works. Furthermore, the paper will question whether the changing fortunes of the Benedictine order in the Tridentine period influenced the chapel’s decoration and Veronese’s altarpiece in particular.
In conclusion the paper will discuss how these aspects can be explored through Virtual Veronese, the National Gallery’s latest digital project that reconstructs the chapel of Saint Nicholas at San Benedetto al Po and into which Veronese’s altarpiece has been reinstalled.
The paper will consider the façade, interior-façade, organ, choir and tabernacle that Alessi designed for the church in the 1560s in relation to Counter Reformation ideas regarding cultus externus, magnificence and decorum, and the importance of the high altar and Eucharistic tabernacle as the visual and spiritual fulcrum of church interiors. The chronological relationship between the work being done under the guidance of Carlo Borromeo in the Duomo of Milan and that being done by Alessi, both in Milan and Genoa, will also be considered, raising the question of whether Alessi may have anticipated some of the forms that were being designed by Tibaldi for the archbishop, or indeed developed his own response to Counter Reformation ideals that were different from those being conceived of at the Duomo.
This paper proposes to examine the architectural drawings of Galeazzo Alessi (1512-1572), prepared for his ecclesiastical projects of Santa Maria presso San Celso, Milan; Santa Maria di Carignano, Genoa; and the Sacro Monte in Varallo. The nature of Alessi’s career is such that he was frequently working on several different projects in various parts of Italy simultaneously, which meant that he was often absent from his construction sites. As a consequence Alessi designed his own system of drawings, conceived in order to explain to patrons and builders how to execute his buildings in his absence. These sets of drawings include over 120 folios executed in Alessi’s hand for Santa Maria presso San Celso, held in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, and over two-hundred drawings published together as the Libro dei Misteri for the Sacro Monte. An examination of these drawings will show that although some of these drawings were used by Alessi to offer alternative versions of architectural elements, the true function of these drawings was that of an instruction manual, giving builders precise measurements in order to execute the building, and furnishing the patrons with an exact idea of the appearance of their project. In addition, Alessi also provided illustrated letters that explained particular problems that occurred in his absence.
The study of these drawings will also be viewed against the context of the growing status of the architect, and the increasing distinction that was being made in Renaissance Italy between the architect as the mind behind a project and the builder as the hands behind a project. In this sense Alessi’s drawings can be understood to have defined him as an architect, whose ideas could be transmitted by ink and which therefore negated the need to be constantly present on site, and which separated him from the other construction workers.