THE PARTS OF THE WORLD

The Camerino of Asia, 1658 – 1659

Attributed to Francesco Cozza (Stilo di Calabria 1605 – Rome 1682)

The Camerino of Asia also faithfully respects the dictates suggested by the highly successful Iconology of Cesare Ripa.

The figure is sumptuously attired in robes of different colours, adorned at the neckline with a pendant of pearls: according to Ripa, ‘the gown, rich in gold and jewels’ and the ‘precious ornaments, necklaces, maniglie, pendants‘ worn by the women indicate the richness of ‘this most felicitous part of the world’. In her left hand, Asia holds a thurible, from which the smoke of burning incense emerges, and in her right, a bundle of branches with leaves, behind which a camel can be seen. Her head is adorned with a thick garland of intertwined foliage, fruit and flowers in virtue of the ‘very temperate and benign sky’. On either side of the allegory, there are two female figures with cornucopias, while on the lower right, a bearded old man is immersed in the waves, most likely representing a river deity. In the upper part of the fresco, there is a triumphant chariot on the clouds led by a winged figure blowing air from its mouth.

In the execution of the fresco, the author used the cartoon technique, as can be seen by the presence of numerous incisions, including the holes of the nails used to fasten the cartoons to the vault. During restoration work (2008), no traces of spolvero were found on the painted surface. The technique adopted consists mainly of frescoes with numerous dry finishes, a process also found in the rest of the series on the piano nobile. There are obvious pentimenti from the engraved design and parts that were not executed but only engraved (a torch-bearing putto engraved on the cloud near the smoke of the thurible; the face of the cornucopia-bearing maiden hidden by the rose-tinted drapery on the right).