Ciro Ferri
(Rome, 1634-1689)
The Vestal Virgins
Oil on canvas, 148 x 194.3 cm
Purchased by Cardinal Fabrizio in 1698 for the sum of 120 scudi, the work was executed thirty years earlier by the great Baroque painter Ciro Ferri, probably between 1666 and 1667, when he was in Bergamo to fresco a church in this city.
Strongly influenced by the art of Pietro da Cortona, to whom it was once attributed, the painting is a tribute to the Vestal Virgins and the cult of the hearth, which they offered to the goddess Vesta. The fire sacred to the goddess glows on a golden altar, constantly fed by the priestesses, while a small crowd awaits the distribution of a special focaccia prepared by the Vestals themselves.
This magnificent work by the Roman painter recreates the atmosphere of the Aedes Vestae, the circular building where the cults were administered; the white-robed priestess in the foreground illuminates the complex scene, which is scaled in depth; a multitude of episodes allow the painter to quote from his main references: Raphael and Pietro da Cortona.
