Vittoriano
The Dinner at the House of the Pharisee is one of the reliefs of the great machine conceived by Giorgio Vasari, a painter, architect, and writer, made between 1567 and 1569. The work originally adorned the high altar of the basilica of Santa Croce in Bosco Marengo, in the province of Alessandria, the birthplace of the commissioner Pope Pius V Ghislieri.
Placed on the high altar, the wooden altarpiece originally consisted of painted panels, executed by Vasari himself and his workshop, and sculptures, both in relief and in the round. For its creation, Vasari coordinated the activities of several collaborators. For the carvings, the Aretine relied on various masters, including Giovanni Gargiolli and Angelo Marini known as the Sicilian, a sculptor active mainly in Pavia and Milan who, according to an eighteenth-century source, the Istoria di Giovanni Della Valle, was hired in particular for the figures and narrative scenes.
The relief, initially attributed to Gargiolli, is now traced by Clara Seghesio precisely to Angelo Marini through comparison with other known works of his. Indeed, the physiognomic features of the characters, the treatment of hair and drapery, and even the theatrical backdrop refer to his style.
In 1719 the Vasarian relief was replaced by a new marble altar, and in 1927 it was donated to the Italian state by Count and senator from Alexandria Giuseppe Frascara.
On the occasion of the opening of the Deposits on Display cycle, VIVE is putting the relief Dinner at the House of the Pharisee in dialogue with other important works in the museum. These are the frescoes painted for Palazzo Altoviti by Vasari himself and the bronze bust of the Roman school depicting Pope Pius V himself.
