‘Locum ecclesiae designavit, quae Ioannis et uxoris pecunia extructa est’ : Bernardino Poccetti and the Decoration of the Canigiani Chapel in Santa Felicita

Abstract

Bernardino Barbatelli (called Poccetti, 1553–1612) painted much of the imagery in the Canigiani Chapel at Santa Felicita. Commissioned by Giovanni Canigiani at the end of the sixteenth century, the decorative program—which includes a mural of the miraculous snowfall that led to the foundation of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome—reveals how Canigiani and Poccetti collaborated to create a complex iconography that reflected contemporary Catholic concerns regarding art patronage, the importance of saintly intercessors, and the role of bishops in implementing the reforms of the Council of Trent. Although overshadowed by Pontormo’s efforts in the facing Capponi Chapel, the images in the Canigiani Chapel are a striking example of Florentine religious painting in the period of church reform.