Mummies, scimitars, and a lost Crucifixion by Domenichino: the collections of Pietro and Nicolò Francesco della Valle in seventeenth-century Rome

Christian, Kathleen Wren (2013). Mummies, scimitars, and a lost Crucifixion by Domenichino: the collections of Pietro and Nicolò Francesco della Valle in seventeenth-century Rome. In: Israëls, Machtelt and Waldman, Louis A. eds. Renaissance Studies in Honor of Joseph Connors. Villa I Tatti (29). Florence: Villa I Tatti, pp. 568–573.

URL: http://itatti.harvard.edu/connors-festschrift

Abstract

This article discusses archival documents related to the art collections of the Della Valle family in the seventeenth century, including an inventory that describes objects brought back from a voyage to the East by Pietro della Valle. Among the highlights of Pietro's collection were three Egyptian mummies. This article investigates inventories, wills, and a bill of sale that trace the acquisition, display, and dispersal of exotic objects and paintings. Particular attention is paid to a painting of a Crucifixion by Domenichino, which the Della Valle are known to have sold in France. The purchaser of the work is here identified for the first time as the King of France, Louis XIV.

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