Resumen de Il Medioevo immaginato: un dipinto 'romano' di Francesco Hayez a Milano alla vigilia dell'Unità d'Italia
The subject of the article is a 19th-century history painting with the long title: "Father Orlando from Parma, envoy of Henry IV of Germany, defended by Gregory VII from the unjust contempt of the Roman Synod". Signed and dated "Francesco Hayez 1857", the work presents no problems regarding attribution, and it is more interesting to reflect on the content and the client. A "main attraction" at the 'Esposizione Braidense di Belle Arti' in 1857, this large history painting by Hayez is rendered unusual by his choice of a singular and rare episode. As opposed to the widespread iconographic popularity of other historical reconstructions of the "Gregorian" world -such as the well-known Canossa episode- at the time, the iconographiy of the historical event depicted here is unique. First and foremost, in the painter's choice of architectural setting: the event takes place in the presbytery of the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, in evocative surroundings that are a mixture of faithful reconstruction and imaginative staging. The choice of subject is linked to the commisioner of the work, Marquis Pietro Isimbardi, who was probably an exponent of the more conservative wing of the Milanese nobility, which was then deeply involved in the Roman Question dispute and committed to defending the independence of the papacy. Placed in the context, the work becomes a precious document of the ideology embraced by the nobility, who saw the Middle Ages primarily as a Christian past to be revisted in a nostalgic key.
