The purpose of this study is to re-order the various
information available on the matter obtained from
many texts: we will try to do it by the light of
further documents recently collected, some of which still
unpublished.
The completion of the Assunta Hall is set at the beginning
of the century XVIII, during the pontificate of Clemens
XI, Gian Francesco Albani, who was pope from November 23rd
1700 to March 19th 1721.
THE SOURCES
Find here below the
texts of the documents we are referring to for our
analysis (all the texts are quoted in their original
Italian language as reference sources):
| A) |
The 1699 apostolic
visit |
|
Accanto al Chiostro del
Convento e a mano sinistra, entrando dal Portone
del medesimo è situato l'Ospedale, che non
è compreso nella clausura [...]; consiste
questo di una grande sala a piano terra,
però sollevata, e ben asciutta fatta a
volta, con alcune pitture adornata; ha tre porte
[...]. La terza porta è nel chiostro e di
rimpetto a questa v'è eretto nel medesimo
Ospedale un Altare ben adornato, dove si celebra
ogni giorno [...] la santa messa [...] |
| B) |
Francesco Valesio:
"Diario di Roma" [Rome diary] 1700-1742 |
| B1 |
February 1702
Martedì 28. Alle 22 hore S. Santità,
servito in carrozza dalli cardinali, si
portò all'ospedale de' padri Benfratelli,
dove servì a quelli ammalati, havendo udite
le confessioni d'alcuno e lasciati diversi buoni
ordini per quell'ospedale e distribuì a
ciascheduno di quelli una medaglia d'argento con
la benedizione in articulo mortis. |
| B2 |
February 1705
Martedì 24. Festa dell'apostolo Mattia. S.
Santità questa mattina, servito in carrozza
dalli cardinali Rubini e Ottoboni, si portò
alla basilica di S. Maria Maggiore, dove si venera
il corpo di quel santo apostolo e di lì
passò all'ospedale de' padri
Fatebenefratelli, dove con grande
esemplarità servì gli ammalati di
quell'ospedale". |
| B3 |
August 1705
Venerdì 14. Havendo gli padri de' Fate ben
fratelli a S. Bartolomeo all'Isola intenzione
d'accrescere d'altrettanta fabbrica il loro
ospedale per farvi l'aggiunta d'altri cinquanta
letti per servizio de gl'infermi, havendoli donato
S. Beatitudine il sito, hanno posto fuori
notificazione per invitare gli fedeli a concorrere
con elemosine ad opera così pia". |
| C) |
Bro. Tommaso
Mongai (Prior of the FBF hospital in Florence):
"note di cronaca dal 1692" [Chronicle notes from
1692] - Historic municipal archive of Florence |
| C1 |
February 28th 1702
Successe al defunto Innocenzo Clemente XI d'Urbino
della famiglia Albani, e l'ultimo giorno del
Carnevale dell'anno 1702 andò al Nostro
Spedale con tutta la Sua Corte a ore 22 a servire
gl'Infermi e dispensare la cena a' medesimi, e
concesse al nostro Spedale la Piazzetta che resta
dietro lo Spedale, acciò potesse la
Religione stendere la fabbrica del medesimo. |
| C2 |
February 24th 1705
Del 1705 pure dell'ultimo giorno di Carnevale
andò e mandò il pranzo per
gl'Infermi, gli servì, diede a tutti una
medaglia di argento con la Benedizione, fece
alcune grazie, discorrendo familiarmente col
nostro Padre Rev.mo Generale Bonelli suddetto
sempre che vi stette, finalmente ammettendo tutti
i Religiosi al bacio del piede, si partì. |
| D) |
Raffaele Meyer
"Cenni biografici dei Superiori Generali
dell'Ordine Ospedaliero di S. Giovanni di Dio
(Fatebenefratelli)", Vatican Typ., Rome - 1925 |
|
page 66
Clemente XI [...] si degnò visitare in
persona l'ospedale del Calibita. I Religiosi, a
memoria di un tal'onore e favore, ne fecero fare,
da un religioso francese, Fr. Gaspare de Palver,
un quadro rappresentante al naturale una sì
memoranda Visita (2). Questo quadro si trova
ancora nel Refettorio dei Religiosi in Roma.
Dietro codesto quadro si può leggere quanto
segue: "Fra Gaspar de Palver a Gratianopoli,
Religiosus S. Ioannis Dei professus pingebat, in
occasione quod Clemens XI, Pontifex Maximus, ex
nimia caritate motus pauperibus inservienti, ad
praefata religionis xenodochium se contulit, die
I martii 1702, Ad perpetuam rei memoriam
posuere"....
(nota 2): si consulti il Diario di Roma di quel
giorno |
| E) |
Egilberto Martire
"L'isola della salute - dal tempio romano di
Esculapio all'ospedale di S.Giovanni di Dio" -
Rassegna Romana - Rome - 1934-XII |
| E1 |
page 53
Un avvenimento ricordato anche da opere d'arte che
si conservano nelle case di Roma e di Milano
rendeva più illustre l'ospedale tiberino:
ad inaugurare un nuovo locale di esso, la Sala
Assunta, Clemente XI onorava di sua presenza la
sede romana della Ospitalità, il 1 marzo
1702. |
| E2 |
page 54
Here is printed the picture of the painting
described in the next point G2 with the
following caption:
Il Papa Clemente XI visita l'Ospedale dell'Isola
il 1° marzo 1702
(da un quadro che si
conserva nel Convento Ospedale di Milano) |
| F) |
Luigi Huetter and
Renzo Uberto Montini "S. Giovanni Calibita" -
Collana Le Chiese di Roma illustrate -
Marietti, Rome - 1962 |
|
page 76
"... ma l'esecuzione dell'opera scenografica
[...] va ristretta al primo biennio del
pontificato clementino, perché figurava
già in essere una tela di anonimo -
conservata presso i Fatebenefratelli di Milano e
quivi distrutta per bombardamento aereo nel 1943
(vedine la riproduzione in Russotto, op. cit.,
pag.55) - che rappresentava la visita compiuta
da Clemente XI all'ospedale tiberino il 1°
marzo 1702. [...] ... per due rampe
semicircolari di scala collocate a tergo
dell'altare, si accedeva ad un altro vastissimo
locale, di livello superiore, eseguito con le
elargizioni di papa Albani e da lui inaugurato
appunto nella ricordata visita del 1702." |
| G) |
The paintings
Finally two paintings exist showing the
visit of pope Clemens XI; we will refer to as
Painting1 and Painting2: |
| G1 |
Painting1 (see pict.1)
It represents the pope while assisting the sick
people in an hospital ward.
This painting is kept in Rome, in the hospital 
at the Tiber Island and, after a restoration
carried out in 2006, it is still in the
Refectory of the friars, as indicated in 1925 by
Meyer (see ref. D). It has been then possible,
thanks to the help of Bro Magliozzi, to get a
color picture of the painting and, above all, to
verify the inscription on the back of the
painting itself (pict.1a). |
| G2 |
Painting2 (see pict.2)
It represents the pope while visiting the
Assunta Hall, that was already complete with the
two semicircular stair flights and the new hall
located at a higher level.
This painting, that was kept in the
Fatebenefratelli hospital in Milan, has been
destroyed by bombing in 1943. |
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THE
ANALYSIS
For a better clearness, where necessary, we will refer as
a topographic reference to the plan of the hospital shown
in the pict.1: it is abstracted from the 1748 Nolli Map of
Rome that, even if it is some decades subsequent to the
events, offers the benefit of an excellent clearness.
Until the century XVII the hospital consisted of what
should have become the Assunta Hall. In the Apostolic
Visit of 1699 (see ref.A) it is indicated that its inlet
was at the left of the Monastery (pict.3-a). With
reference to the present arrangement, the old entrance of
the hospital corresponds to the present entrance of the
chemistry in front of St. Bartholomew square, while the
entrance corridor to the Monastery is that just at the
left of the St. Giovanni Calibita church (pict.3-b) once
being its left nave.
The hospital hall, located at a level slightly higher than
the roadway, is described as vault roofed and adorned with
paintings; that corresponds to the structure of the
Assunta Hall still visible today, in spite of the deep
modifications occurred.
Besides the main entrance the hall had two more doors: one
at the opposite end of the hall (visible in the 1676 Falda
map shown in pict.4) and a third one that gave access to
the cloister and therefore, according to the Nolli map, it
was at about one third of the hall (pict.3-c). In front of
this door, on the left wall, it was located an altar
(pict.3-d).
 In 1700 the hospital was restored by
Carapecchia and in that occasion he reorganized and
renewed the Assunta Hall, the first modern hospital ward
with 50 individual beds.
The completion of the Assunta Hall, and then its opening
in the known arrangement, practically unchanged
until the restorations of the century XX, is dated on 28
February 28th 1702, corresponding to the visit of pope
Clemens XI (also confirmed by ref.B1 e C1). As the visit
occurred at 10 p.m., as quoted in the sources, somewhere
we might find the next day date, March 1st, probably
considering that in that time the change of date occurred
at the sun sunset. Such event is represented in the
Painting 1 (ref.G1) as confirmed by the inscription made
by friars on the back of the canvas.
Moreover it is commonly believed that the visit is
represented in a painting formerly kept in the
Fatebenefratelli in Milan and destroyed by bombing in 1943
(see ref. G2).
In that painting it is visible, behind the pope Clemens XI
visiting the hospital, at the end of the hall, the altar
with the image of the Assunta, to whom the hall is
dedicated, and behind it of two semicircular stair flights
that give access to a further elevated hall.
But in the same source C1 it is indicated that the pope,
in that occasion, granted the small square behind the
Hospital, (visible in the pict.4 map) in order to expand
the hospital itself: it's just about the elevated hall
(the future Amici Hall; see pict.3-e), that therefore was
not yet built and cannot be represented in the painting.
This common mistake comes from the ignorance of the second
papal visit in February 1705, event testified by the
sources B and C (in particular see ref.B2 and C2) just
recently recovered by the Author and Bro. Giuseppe
Magliozzi (2005).
The painting should then refer, in all probability, to the
second visit of Clemens XI, that on February 24th 1705
when the two semicircular staircases leading to the second
hall, that frame the Assunta's altar, could be already
completed (pict.3-f).
However in the ref.B3 it is indicated that in the August
of the same year the Brothers of the
Fatebenefratelli invited the faithful to a contribute with
charities for the building of the new hall in the area
that the pope donated them for the purpose: this means
that in that time the works for the Assunta Hall were not
yet completed or, at least, those relevant to the second
hall.
Moreover, comparing the Painting2 to the still visible
elements in the hall (angels, drapery and, especially, the
Assunta picture), one can noted remarkable differences
that lead to doubt that the it was painted from life.
The most probable conclusion is therefore that the
painting has been realized, on the basis of the sketch of
the project, before the restoration of the hall, as thanks
for the pope's donation in 1702, and shown to the pontiff
in the occasion of his second visit in 1705.
In conclusion the restoration by Carapecchia of the main
ward of the Hospital (the Assunta Hall in the strict sense
of the word) can be considered completed in the very first
years of century XVIII while it is still unknown the
completion date in its final arrangement with the arch
sustained by the angels, the Assunta's altar, the access
flights to the new hall en the elevated hall itself. This
event, anyway, can be dated not later than a few years
after 1705.
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OTHER
CONSIDERATIONS
With reference to the other sources, the above information
are then accurate up to the Meyer's text (ref.D - 1925)
that quotes "... un quadro rappresentante al naturale
..." [... a
painting representing life-size ...] and
"Questo quadro si trova ancora nel Refettorio dei
religiosi in Roma"
[This painting is still in the Brother's refectory in
Rome] , two right assertions that
refer to the Picture1 (ref.G1). Meyer himself, however,
wrongly quotes both the name of the author and the
inscription on the back of the painting.
Here below is the real text (with the relevant
translation) checked on the original, still located in the
refectory of the Fatebenefratelli hospital:
Fra Gaspar David de Lahier a Gratianopoli
Religionis S. Ioannis Dei professus pingebat
in occasione quod
Clemens XI Pontifex Maximus ex Sua nimis
Charitate motus
Pauperibus inserviendi ad praefat[ae]
Religionis
Xenodochium se contulit die prima martii 1702
Ad perpetuam rei memoriam Patres posuere
|
Bro.
Gaspar David de Lahier from Grenoble
professed of the Order of St. John of God
painted [this]
on the occasion when
Clemens XI Pontifex Maximus moved by His immense
Love
to serve the Poor went to the Hospital
of the above Order in the day first of March
1702
The Fathers put [this inscription] for eternal
memory of the event |
Martire (ref.E - 1934)
wrongly refers both the paintings to the same event of
March 1st 1702.
Finally Huetter and Montini (ref.F - 1962) combining
the date 1702 indicated on the back of the Painting1
and the image of the Painting2 in which are
represented the arch of the Assunta Hall already
completed and on the background the two semicircular
staircases and the new hall, concluded that also the
completion of the Assunta Hall was to be "...
ristretta al primo biennio del pontificato
clementino ..." [... limited to the first two years
of the Clementine pontificate ...]
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CREDITS
[1]
Visita apostolica 1699
[2] Francesco Valesio: "Diario di
Roma 1700 - 1742" edited by
Gaetana Scano - Longanesi - Milano,
1977-79
[3] Fra Tommaso Mongai (Prior of the
FBF hospital in Florence): "note di
cronaca dal 1692" - Archivio Storico
Comunale di Firenze
[4] Raffaele Meyer "Cenni biografici
dei Superiori Generali dell'Ordine
Ospedaliero di S. Giovanni di Dio
(Fatebenefratelli) , Tip. Vaticana,
Roma - 1925
[5] Egilberto Martire "L'isola della
salute - dal tempio romano di
Esculapio all'ospedale di S.Giovanni
di Dio" - Rassegna Romana - Roma -
1934-XII
[6] Luigi Huetter and Renzo Uberto
Montini "S. Giovanni Calibita" -
Collana Le Chiese di Roma illustrate
- Marietti, Roma - 1962
[7] Bruno Leoni
and Bro. Giuseppe
Magliozzi - 2005
Images:
- 1 and 2 by courtesy of
Fatebenefratelli hospital
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|
|
In 1700 the hospital was restored by
Carapecchia and in that occasion he reorganized and
renewed the Assunta Hall, the first modern hospital ward
with 50 individual beds.
