Gli affreschi di Giovan Battista Ricci in San Marcello al Corso: committenza, cronologia e iconografia

The paper studies the paintings made by Giovan Battista Ricci, a painter from Novara, in the Roman church of San Marcello al Corso between 1594 and 1613. Through the information collected in the sources and the observation of the monumental complex it’s possible to detail the phases of decoration. In particular, the year 1613 is questioned as the year of execution of the Crucifixion on the counter-façade, anticipating the composition by ten years. Each decorated space – the ceiling, the apse, the nave, the Grifoni chapel and the baptistery – is stylistically and chronologically located in Ricci’s production. Furthermore, thanks to the new chronological division, the role of the Servite friars as authors of the iconographic program is highlighted, proposing the figure of Pietro Martire Felini as the main theorist of the Crucifixion and the others nave’s frescoes.