PAINTER ACTIVE IN ROME, after RAPHAEL
late 18th – early 19th century
The fire of borgo
oil on canvas, cm. 94×128
This work is a reinterpretation of the famous The Fire of Borgo fresco, painted by Raphael and his workshop in the so-called Stanza dell’Incendio, now part of the Vatican Museums. The scene depicts a miraculous event that, according to legend, occurred in the 9th century, when a fire ravaged the Roman area of Borgo and was extinguished by Pope Leo IV’s blessing gesture from his loggia. At the center of the composition, a fleeing crowd is captured in a desperate attempt to escape: men climbing, mothers shielding their children, bodies straining in panic and effort. In the foreground, a naked man carries an elderly person on his shoulders, a clear reference to the characters of Aeneas and Anchisesin Virgil’s Aeneid.
Most likely dating to the second half of the 18th century, when the Vatican frescoes enjoyed increasing popularity thanks to the wide circulation of engravings after Raphael – notably those by Marcantonio Raimondi and Marco Dente (1486 – 1527), and by Paolo Fidanza (1731 – 75) – works such as our painting were likely the direct result of the study of these prints. Often created for collecting purposes or educational use – such as those painted by Giuseppe Cades, now housed at the Royal Academy of Arts in London – these reinterpretations were primarily intended for foreign travellers who, between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, visited Rome as part of their Grand Tours to admire the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance.