Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 13. (Budapest, 1993)
PRÉKOPA Ágnes: „Raymundus de Sangro ... invertit"
(? -1752) and later, after Corradini's death, to Francesco Queirolo (1704-1762) from Genova. The church of Santa Maria della Pietá - the chapel of Sansevero - is famous for a most professional sculptural achievement, which attacks the limits of materiality - and the genre of sculpture as well. Beside technical virtuosity, the program of the tombs is also worthy of our attention: according to Wittkower, the iconography is already closer to the nineteenth century than to its own age. 8 The tombs of the various members of the family are decorated with an allegorical sculpture or group of statues symbolizing the most typical merit of the person. Perhaps the most well-known among them is the figure of "Dcsinganno", freed from false beliefs: it depicts a male figure who is being freed from a net with the help of a winged genius. This piece of Corradini commemorated Raimondo's father, Antonio di Sangro. The tomb of his mother, Cecilia Gaetani d'Aragona is decorated with the figure of "Pudicizia", Pudency. Some further examples for the other allegories used in the chapel: "Sincerità", "Educazione", "Liberalita" - all of them were made in the 1750s. In the second half of the following decade brought slightly more conventional topics, such as "Benevolenza Coniugale" and "Zelo della Religione". The sculptural decoration of the chapel had emerged excessive emotions in the contemporary public. Beside general fascination there were opinions which claimed that these scandalous "profane" illustrations were in fact "idols that do not fit in a church of God" 9 . The marble plate commemorating the dona tors of the building and Raimondo, who had the tombs made, was put on the wall of the chapel in 1759. The inscription was a lengthy appraisal of the prince's merits and deeds, calling Raimondo di Sangro (among other names ) "CLARUS IN PERSCRUTANDIS RECONDITIS NATURAE ARCANIS". It was made with an interesting technique: the plate was made of one marble block but the base is red, the revealed letters white, "fascinating the public who were not familiar with Prince Raimondo's skill in deep-colouring marbles. 11 From a technical point of view it must be a variant of the same procedure that was applied on the St. Theresa-picture. Marble colouring was by all means no news at that time, the great French Encyclopaedia listed several solutions for it, applying different acids. 12 Raimondo's invention referred first of all to the creation of a separate, original method and we may well say that the two known "deep-coloured" marbles are not far-away from each other in time. Among the first questions to be answered there is the one that requests how we could indentify the word "INVENIT"of the back. Whether it refers only to the method or the whole composition can somehow be connected with Raimondo, who also had a talent for painting (even on glass and porcelain). As to the interpretation of the scene it is likely that the Prince's enlightened approach, coloured with freemason ideas had an influence on the picture. Instead of representing extasy as loosing consciousness, which is well-known in the iconography of St. Theresa 13 , here the saint accepts the arrival of the angel in full consciousness. 13 Her right rests on a book, which is the usual attribute of doctor saints; the gesture shows fright and acceptation at the same time, frequently used on Annuncalion pictures from the Late Middle Ages. Accepting the heavenly herald in a way "learnt" from Virgin Mary is a rather unusual motif on scenes of transverberation. Besides, the emphasis on
