Ricerc@Sapienza

The chapel of Santa Cecilia was commissioned to the architect and painter Antonio Gherardi by the Congregation of Musicians in Rome. Various studies have tried to understand the links between architecture and music here interwoven, sometimes propending for synaesthesia and literary recreations. In this essay at first is noticed a change during construction, where a narrow lantern at the top of the vault was dramatically enlarged. This allows to create a balcony, that shows musician angels, visually connected at the upper compartment. It is possible that the Congregation - presided over by Cardinal Ottoboni, a great connoisseur in the field of music - made suggestions here. In this case it is difficult not to think of those rooms for music that spread the sound from above. In the seventeenth century there are illustrious examples in this regard.