In the summer of 1923, Richard-Ginori was commissioned by the Holy See to design the new maiolica tile flooring for the Loggia delle Benedizioni. The archive of the Ginori Museum preserves many studies and design drawings related to the decorations conceived for this commission, one of which is illustrated here. The loggia in question is a long and narrow gallery located at the level of the façade portico of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. It occupies much of the length of the main front and corresponds to the five large windows on the second level, with the balcony at the center from which the pope, newly elected in the Conclave, imparts the benedictio urbi et orbi. In 1922, Pius XI, having just ascended to the papal throne, reinstated the tradition of the papal blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s, previously abolished by Pius IX in 1870 as a protest against the capture of Rome.
The Milanese architect Luca Beltrami was involved in this undertaking for the technical aspects, and Costantino Sneider was tasked with designing the new tiles. The flooring was to consist of compartmentalized sections and three octagons: one bearing Pope Ratti’s coat of arms and the others with inscriptions. The preliminary sketch shown here presents an initial compositional idea for the central octagon featuring Pius XI’s coat of arms within a wreath. From this, rectangular maiolica sections decorated with green and yellow rosettes radiate outward, framed by a leafy frieze. The lateral decoration, on the other hand, consists of bands and panels made from rhomboidal or square terracotta tiles, bordered by white sections.
The idea to include the long maiolica section decorated with rosettes may have emerged in October 1923, when the factory director Carlo Zerbi wrote to Beltrami that it should appear as a horizontal carpet stretching across the hall. The composition was later altered and simplified in its main aspects and installed in 1924.
