Antonio Asprucci (1723–1808)
Design for the Altar of the Cappella Paolina, ca. 1760
Black chalk and brown ink on paper
15 x 16 7/8 in. (380 x 430 mm)
Private collection
Michael Bodycomb
In 1760, Prince Camillo Borghese commissioned the refurbishment of his family chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, known as the Cappella Paolina as it was the burial site for Paul V, the Borghese pope. Antonio Asprucci designed a new altar for the chapel, for which Valadier provided the bronze decoration. This is Asprucci’s original design for the altar.