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Cassiano dal Pozzo's Copy of the Zaccolini Manuscripts

M ATTEO ZACCOLINI of Cesena is now a footnote in most modern histories of Baroque painting, but in his own time, in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, his name commanded considerable esteem. An early historian of the Theatine order, Giuseppe Silos, in 1666 praised Zaccolini as 'one of the geniuses of our order and the admirable men of his age'.' Bellori called him 'the most excellent of our century in the painting of perspective and optics'.2 He gave instruction in perspective to numerous artists: Pomarancio, Cavalier d'Arpino, Francesco Gagliardi3 and Domenichino. The latter, according to Passeri, was 'always speaking of this cleric with great reverence for his valour, praising him as a most erudite man'.4 His reputation extended to France, where F6libien praised his paintings at the Roman church of San Silvestro al Quirinale, complimented him as 'one of those who knew better than others how to put into practice all the rules of perspective', and noted that he was greatly esteemed by Poussin.5 Zaccolini was born in 1576 in Cesena, where he received his practical training from a local artist, Francesco Masini, and some education in perspective theory from the nobleman Scipione Chiaramonti.6 He became a lay brother of the Theatine order in 1603 and spent most of his adult life in Rome at the Theatine house of San Silvestro on Monte Cavallo, now known as San Silvestro al Quirinale, where he died in 1630. Except for juvenile works, his artistic career was restricted to decorations and projects for the Theatine churches and monasteries where he lived: San Silvestro in Rome and Santi Apostoli in Naples. Most of this work has disappeared since the late eighteenth century when the Theatine order was suppressed and its property confiscated. From among some thirteen works cited by seventeenth-century sources, only a few survive today: two early collaborative projects-the rear bay of the choir vault at San Silvestro al Quirinale, done in collaboration with Giuseppe Agellio, and the nave decoration at Santa Susanna, done in collaboration with Baldassare Croce; and two poorly-executed frescoes of