In the early years of the 17th century Annibale Carracci (Bologna, 1560 - Rome, 1609) accepted the commission from Juan Enríquez de Herrera to paint frescoes in his family chapel in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Rome. Carracci devised the entire scheme and painted some of the frescoes prior to 1605 when he became seriously ill, which obliged him to cease working on the project and entrust the execution of the paintings to Francesco Albani.
Despite the fact that this was the most important commission which Carracci received in the final phase of his career, these frescoes - which depict scenes from the life of Saint Didacus of Alcalá, an Andalusian Franciscan who died in 1463 - are almost unknown to the general public in their entirety, partly due to the fact that they were separated from each other.
Following the removal of the frescoes from the chapel walls due to the deterioration of the church, of the 19 surviving fragments only 16 reached Spain (7 are in the Museo Nacional del Prado and 9 entered the Royal Catalan Fine Arts Academy of Saint George from where they were sent on long-term deposit to the MNAC), while the remaining 3 were deposited in the church of Santa Maria in Monserrato in Rome where it has not been possible to locate them. The altar painting was also sent to that church, where it remains today.
The group in the Museo Nacional del Prado comprises seven frescoes. The first are the four trapeze-shaped canvases that decorated the chapel ceiling and which depict episodes from the life of the titular saint: Saint Didacus receiving Alms, The miraculous Meal, Saint Didacus saves the Boy who fell asleep in the Oven and Saint Didacus receives the Franciscan Habit. The Prado also houses three of the ovals from the pendentives: Saint Lawrence, Saint Francis and Saint James the Greater. These works are now being exhibited for the first time since their recent restoration.
The Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) in Barcelona houses nine more murals (on deposit from the Royal Catalan Fine Arts Academy of Saint George which they entered on 9 August 1851). These are the two that were located on the exterior of the chapel above its doorway, depicting The Assumption of the Virgin, and The Apostles around the Virgin’s empty Tomb, plus a further four that had been removed from the chapel’s side walls: The Preaching of Saint Didacus, Saint Didacus heals the blind Youth, The Apparition of Saint Didacus above his Tomb, and The Miracle of the Roses. In addition, the MNAC has three other frescoes: God the Father, removed from the circular cover of the roof lantern; Saint Peter; and Saint Paul, the two saints that flanked the altar painting on the end wall of the chapel.
The altar painting, which is an oil on panel, depicts Saint Didacus of Alcalá interceding for Diego Enríquez de Herrera. It is now in the church of Santa Maria in Monserrato in Rome.
These paintings are shown in the exhibition alongside related drawings, prints that depict lost fragments, and books of funeral services of Spanish monarchs which include images of the interior of the church’s interior.
|-