OF THE collaborative projects on which Lodovico, Agostino and Annibale Carracci worked together before the break- up of the workshop, the group of mythological paintings executed c. 1592 for Cesare d'Este's Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara has received least critical attention, and has remained highly problematic.* Five pictures by the Carracci have survived, together with a number of other paintings from the same palace by Ferrarese artists.  Unfortunately, the Carracci paintings remained in situ for only a short time: with the secession of Ferrara to the Papal States in 1598, the Este lost a number of their most important works of art (notably Titian's Bacchanals) to the papal nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini; those that they were able to save, including the Carraccis, were removed piecemeal to Modena over a number of years, until at least 1630. Relatively little documentary evidence concerning the Diamanti pictures has emerged from the Este archives.3 As a result there has been considerable uncertainty about their intended location. Nor has it been possible to establish whether the Carracci paintings were conceived as an independent set or intended to form part of a cycle alongside some or all of the works by other artists with the same provenance. Even the subject matter of the paintings has remained problematic. This note seeks to clarify some of these problems and to propose a tentative reconstruction of the paintings' original setting and iconography within a larger scheme to which, I shall suggest, a number of Ferrarese painters also contributed, including Ippolito Scarsella, known as il Scarsellino, and Gaspare Venturini.

) to the papal nephew Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini; those that they were able to save, including the Carraccis, were removed piecemeal to Modena over a number of years, until at least 1630. Relatively little documentary evidence concerning the Diamanti pictures has emerged from the Este archives.3 As a result there has been considerable uncertainty about their intended location. Nor has it been possible to establish whether the Carracci paintings were conceived as an independent set or intended to form part of a cycle alongside some or all of the works by other artists with the same provenance. Even the subject matter of the paintings has remained problematic. This note seeks to clarify some of these problems and to propose a tentative reconstruction of the paintings' original setting and iconography within a larger scheme to which, I shall suggest, a number of Ferrarese painters also contributed, including Ippolito Scarsella, known as il Scarsellino, and Gaspare Venturini.

THE election of Pope Urban VIII on 6th August 1623 came at the end of a long and arduous conclave. Rival factions of cardinals intrigued and negotiated for nearly a month before reaching a consensus. The season was unusually hot, and as the conclave dragged on conditions became intolerable. Disease spread rapidly through the crowded quarters where the cardinals, in accordance with newly-established regulations governing papal elections, were obliged to remain confined. Many of the fifty-four cardinals present fell ill, and eight of them died, almost certainly of malaria, either during or immediately following the conclave. Among the conclavists, the personal secetaries who attended the cardinals, the mortality was even higher, with as many as forty perishing in the epidemic.

THE St Dominic chapel in the basilica of S. Clemente in Rome is decorated with three scenes from the life of that saint: the altar-piece shows St Dominic in Ecstasy (Fig.25), and on the side walls are representations of two of his miracles - the Miracle of Prince Napoleon Orsini (Fig.26) and the Miracle of the mason (Fig.27). The latter is by Sebastiano Conca, an important example of his early Roman public style. The two other paintings in the chapel, despite repeated attributions to Conca, can now be regarded as the work of Carlo Roncalli. Before discussing these works in detail, some account should be given of the artist's career.

Fig.27). The latter is by Sebastiano Conca, an important example of his early Roman public style. The two other paintings in the chapel, despite repeated attributions to Conca, can now be regarded as the work of Carlo Roncalli. Before discussing these works in detail, some account should be given of the artist's career.

IN an article published in this Magazine in August 1990, Steven Ostrow and ChristopherJohns discussed five illuminated frontispieces from a series of manuscripts belonging to the basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, Rome, and suggested a connexion between the style of these illuminations and Pier Leone Ghezzi's paintings of contemporary historical subjects. This hypothesis is confirmed by the existence, in a private collection in France, of a black- chalk preparatory drawing for the first miniature, Clement XI inspecting the repairs to the fafade mosaics of S. Maria Maggiore (Fig.32). Although this sheet (Fig.33) has an old attribution to Placido Costanzi, it bears the unmistakeable hallmarks of Pier Leone Ghezzi's graphic style. It can be closely compared to a series of pen studies by Ghezzi in the Louvre preparatory to book illustrations and engravings, including two drawings rep- resenting Cardinal Ottoboni opening the 'porta santa' at S. Maria Maggiore, engraved by Frezza, and an album of studies for the Pontificale romano, engraved by Aquila.2The attendant figures in the middle ground, especially, are treated in the same sche- matic manner, with the formulaic hooked noses and round eyes habitually adopted by the artist.

, engraved by Frezza, and an album of studies for the Pontificale romano, engraved by Aquila.2The attendant figures in the middle ground, especially, are treated in the same sche- matic manner, with the formulaic hooked noses and round eyes habitually adopted by the artist.

JAMES BYAM SHAW, who died in March at the age of 89, began his career as Lecturer and Assistant to the Director at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London University (1933-34). In 1934 he joined Messrs P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., and from 1937 to 1968 he was a Director of the firm. At Christ Church, Oxford he was Lecturer (1964-73) and Assistant Curator of Pictures (1973-74).