Narrative scene
by GHERARDI, Filippo, Fresco
The picture shows a narrative scene at the west end of the vault of the Grande Galleria in the Palazzo Colonna. It depicts the Erection of the Commemorative Statue of Marcantonio Colonna on the Capitol. The scene belongs to the cycle on the ceiling illustrating decisive events from the military career of Marcantonio II Colonna (1535-1584). In its form and composition the narrative cycle borrows from sixteenth-century Venetian painting, which beginning with Veronese had specialised in depictions on ceilings of historical events viewed from extremely low vantage points.
The cycle is a collective work by Filippo Gherardi and Giovanni Coli, the architecture painting and framing is by Johann Paul Schor and his workshop.