Interior of Saint Peter’s, Rome
1735
Giovanni Paolo Panini (Italian, 1691–1765)
Oil on canvas
The Norton Simon Foundation
Panini painted close to 20 versions of the interior of St. Peter’s Basilica, the seat of Catholicism in Rome. St. Peter’s was a major site of religious pilgrimage and tourism in the 18th century, as it is today. This painting depicts the church as it looked prior to changes that occurred after 1743. It is based on a work, now in the Louvre, that was commissioned by Cardinal Melchior de Polignac, French ambassador to the Vatican. Although he is not depicted in this version, Polignac can often be spotted in these paintings in red robes and surrounded by a small coterie. In this painting, the bold description of the vast interior architecture and the finely detailed rendering of the decor testify to Panini’s early training in designing theater sets.
Italian Paintings in the Norton Simon Museum with Sir Nicholas Penny: Giovanni Paolo Panini
In 2021, Nicholas Penny, former director of the National Gallery, London, created three videos in conjunction with his publication Italian Paintings in the Norton Simon Museum: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Each episode features a single object and highlights discoveries made during his research process. In the video for Interior of Saint Peter’s, Rome, Penny shares his initial assumption that this topographic subject would be boring. But to his surprise, Panini’s depiction of Saint Peter’s interior, virtually photographic in its level of detail and slice-of-life characters, intrigued and delighted him.
