• The Journal of Art Theory & Practice
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• no.14
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• pp.159-186
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• 2012

Julio Romano decorated the facade of his house in Mantua with a statue of Mercury to give expressions to his ideas on painting. Hereby the painter from Rome could show his home to the world as that of a painter. To be concrete, Mercury was the planet god to which visual artists belonged, and so was basically related to visual arts. In his role to deliver diverse features of art works Mercury could also convey concepts and emotions expressed in a picture to the viewer. The power of a painting to arouse certain emotions or move the mind of the viewer was further connected to the role of Mercury as the guide of the human soul. This function again related the Roman god to the characteristic of a portrait to present absent persons to the viewer. Above the statue of Mercury, a Lucian head of the god is seen, so that they together form the central axis of the facade. This seems to emphasize that the theme of the facade decoration was the powerful persuasive forces of eloquence. The two masks on the left could then refer to sources of eloquence, I.e. various beautiful expressions of a language and its generative process. On the other hand, the masks on the right could represent consequences of eloquence, for instance, prudence, evil effects which come about to imprudent listeners, and other influences on listeners. Finally, it would be useful to remind us of a line from On Architecture by Leon Battista Alberti. According to the humanist architect parts of a building which are seen from the outside, like a facade, should be appropriately designed, since the decoration of a house could play a significant role to enhance the fame and honor of the family and its fatherland. This theory of Alberti could have provided the foundation to the facade decoration of the Casa Pippi which proudly presented the profession of painting to the public in visual form.