CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE SAXON DISTRICT

S. SPIRITO IN SASSIA
Via dei Penitenzieri 12/Via Borgo S. Spirito

Church inside the SCHOLA SAXONUM, the complex built in the year 727 for Ina king of the Saxons in order to assist his compatriots pilgrims, the English of Wessex, the south west of England

Rebuilt in 1198 when it took the name of S. Spirito (Holy Spirit) for Innocent III Conti di Segni (1198/1216)

It was rebuilt again in the years 1471/75 for the Jubilee of 1475 when it was united to the nearby hospital of S. Spirito at the behest of Pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

After the destruction for the sack of Rome in 1527, new reconstruction and FAÇADE 1538/45 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (1483/1546) for Pope Paul III (1534/49)

“Sangallo was able to operate an organic synthesis between the fifteenth-century architectural culture and the changing needs for urban quality and representational appearance typical of his century and beyond. It is also remarkable this sort of timelessness that hovers in the entire building and that often makes one underestimate the architectural choices and confuses the visitor accustomed to recognize the same architectural choices in many churches of the second half of the sixteenth century” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

COAT OF ARMS, STAIRCASE AND PLASTERING OF THE FAÇADE
1588/90 by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

BELL TOWER
1471 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92). It is unique among the Romans bell towers for its robustness that makes it look like a watchtower for the Vatican citadel

“The decoration of S. Spirito in Sassia represents a significant evolution in the field of contemporary visual arts, especially the works of Jacopo Zucchi showing an attempt to give to the ideologies of the counterreformation a strong structure. The evolution of the sixteenth-century artistic tools here has three phases: in the time of Paul III there is still the Renaissance language assigned to the school of Perin del Vaga. A second phase (1544/77) in which Livio Agresti operates with the interventions of Pompeo Cesura and Giuseppe Valeriano; a third and more important phase, with Jacopo Zucchi eventually replaced by Cesare Nebbia” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

CEILING
Wooden lacunar ceiling of 1547, restored in the mid-1700s and in 1856

COUNTER FAÇADE
“Coming of the Holy Spirit” about 1930 by Antonino Calcagnadoro (1876/1935)
“Angels”, “St. Peter”, “St. Paul” and “Sibyls” about 1583 by Cesare Conti (about 1550/1622)
On the left “Visitation” 1545, the first Roman work of Marco Pino aka Marco da Siena (about 1525/87)
On the right “Conversion of St. Paul” begun in 1545 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63) and finished by his pupil Pedro de Rubiales

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF PENTECOST
Above the altar “Pentecost” 1588, on the right “Prophet Joel”, on the left “St. John the Baptist”, frescoes on the walls and vault by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96)

“The Pentecost theme that in the apse he had painted a few years before had exploded in a clear willingness to involve the whole ecclesial community encompassing the whole church with the miracle action, here is more intimate and exclusive. It becomes an event that qualifies as an example and witness of grace, understood as reward and encouragement that God offers to those who have done well in life. The means employed by Zucchi to express these concepts are very different from those used in the complex machinery of the apse. The medium is no longer the allure of perspective but the emotion of light, whose presence is capable of upsetting and suggest sensations, even to the point to reduce the viewer in a state of feverish excitement” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION
Above the altar “Assumption” 1576 maybe by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79) but more likely by his pupil Litardo Piccioli
On the right “Circumcision” by Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601) and on the left “Nativity of the Virgin Mary” by G.B. Lombardelli (about 1538/92)
Decorations in the basin “Life of the Virgin Mary” by Livio Agresti

ORGAN WITH BALCONY
Fixed here in 1547, according to Arnaldo Bruschi, by Andrea Palladio (1508/80)
Paintings by artists under the organ by artists of the school of Livio Agresti

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND S. FILIPPO NERI
Devotional image “Merciful Jesus” 1994 by the Polish painter Piotr Moskal, which has replaced the lost “Trinity” by Livio Agresti
On the sides “Healing of the blind man and the paralytic” by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79)

4^th RIGHT - TRANSFIGURATION CHAPEL
Above the altar “Ascension” 1570, vault “Pentecost”, on the right “St. Augustine”, on the left “St. Paul” by Giuseppe Valeriano (1542/96)

APSE
In the upper part “God the Father”, in the basin “Jesus between St. Peter and St. John the Baptist”, in the lower part “Pentecost”, on the sides “Stories of Sts. Peter and Paul” 1582/83 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96) with his brother Francesco Zucchi (about 1562/1622) with iconographic program designed by father Egnazio Danti (1536/86), the mastermind of the phantasmagoric Gallery of the Geographical Maps in the Vatican Museums

“The use of a perspective structure open on a fictitious space that simultaneously engages, with an effect of redundancy, on a real space is a bold artistic idea that is unparalleled in its time. Although similar expedients, but on a smaller scale, had already been tested by artists in the High Renaissance (Mantegna, Correggio), it is surprising to see this sudden revival of thematic perspective that Mannerism had made obsolete and especially their application on such a scale. In fact, after the difficult years of religious crisis, the Catholic Church feels now strong enough to regain the initiative and felt the inadequacy of the artistic language tools devised by Mannerism” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

MAIN ALTAR
Relics of Sts. Tryphon, Respicius, Nymph, Agapitus and Severa
On the floor in front of the altar “Commemorative plaque of the physician Giovanni Maria Lancisi” d. 1720

5^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE EVANGELIST AND OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Above the altar “St. John the Evangelist” 1834 by Antonio Giorgini
“Stories of the Old Testament” and on the right “Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist” attributed by Vasari to Marcello Venusti, but in reality by artists of the school of Perin del Vaga

4^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS OR GONZAGA
Above the altar “Deposition” and oil paintings on the wall “Saints and stories of the Old Testament”, on the sides “Adoration of the Shepherds” and “Resurrection” 1554/57 the first major works of Livio Agresti (about 1508/79)

“This chapel opened a new chapter in the history of Roman Mannerism anticipating that devout and pious feeling that would characterize the second half of the century” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX
On the altar “Crucifix” of the sixteenth century
Frescoes “Stories of the Passion of Christ” maybe by Livio Agresti or Pedro de Rubiales

On the right “Tomb of Antonio Foderato” 1549 containing small relief with “Pietà” by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604), maybe from a design by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) with a very controversial subject at the time, for which Michelangelo was described as an inventor of garbage by an anonymous author of a contemporary document

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. AUGUSTINE
Above the altar “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” (moved here from the first chapel on the left) about 1595 by Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)
Frescoes in the basin with “Stories of St. Augustine”, on the sides “St. Augustine” and “St. Monica” begun by Pompeo Cesura (?/1571) and maybe finished by his pupils

1^st LEFT - BAPTISTERY
Statue of “St. Aloysius Gonzaga and a young man” by Ignazio Jacometti (1819/83)
Frescoes “Saints” by Cesare Nebbia and pupils

SACRISTY
Above the altar “St. Helena, relics of the Passion of Christ, the risen Christ and saints” by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96)

St. Helena in this painting has maybe the appearance of Clelia Farnese, daughter of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and lover of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici
Vault and walls with “Stories of the Schola Saxonum with popes and allegorical figures” 1648/50 masterpiece by Guidobaldo Abbatini (1600/56) the painter favorited as collaborator by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

St. MARY DOOR OF HEAVEN

S. MARIA PORTA PARADISI

Via di Ripetta 63

1523/26 and 1537/43 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)

Sangallo built it adjoining the Ospedale S. Giacomo degli Incurabili (Hospital of St. James of the Incurables) that he was expanding in that same period, due to the legacy of the Spanish priest Antonio de Burgos who had died in 1523

1645 top part of the FAÇADE, modernization and restoration of the church by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616/95)

On the façade “Madonna and Child” 1509 by Andrea Contucci aka Andrea Sansovino (1460/1529)

INTERIOR

1645 by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi

DOME

Frescoes in the ribs “Assumption of the Virgin Mary with angels musicians”, in the seven lunettes “Stories of St. James”, in the eight round medallions “Virtues” by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini (about 1614/about 1684) a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

Stuccos with “Marian Symbols” by Giovanni Maria Surruti and Pietro Nosedi

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Meeting with St. Anne” 1662 by Lorenzo Greuter (1620/68)

RIGHT CHAPEL

Marble altarpiece “Madonna, St. Anne, St. John the Baptist and Jesus” by Domenico De Rossi (1659/1703)

TO RIGHT OF THE ALTAR

In the upper part “Tomb of the physician Matteo Caccia” 1645 by Cosimo Fancelli (1620/88)

Higher still, fresco “Annunciation” 1662 by Lorenzo Greuter

MAIN ALTAR

Fifteenth-century altar picture “Virgin Mary and Child” set in a spectacular composition in marble and stucco with “Glory of Angels, St. Joseph and St. Anthony” about 1685 by Francesco Brunetti

At the sides “Birth of the Virgin Mary” and “Presentation of Mary in the Temple” 1659 by Lorenzo Greuter

TO THE LEFT OF THE ALTAR

In the upper part “Tomb of Antonio de Burgos” patron of the church, 1526/34, designed by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481/1536) and executed by an aide

Higher still, fresco “Death of the Virgin Mary” 1662 by Lorenzo Greuter

CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

High relief “Sts, James and John presented to Jesus by their mother Mary Salome” 1645 by Cosimo Fancelli

TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Rest on the Flight into Egypt” 1662 by Lorenzo Greuter

It appears that in the church worked at the stuccos also Pietro Paolo Naldini (1619/91), whose almost homonymy, as well as the contemporary period, with the painter Pietro Paolo Ubaldini has generated some confusion among scholars

SACRISTY

Canvas “St. James and sick in adoration of the Virgin of the Miracle” by Bernardino Gagliardi (1609/1660) with an antique frame

St. MARY IN MONTSERRAT

S. MARIA IN MONSERRATO

Via di Monserrato 115

Begun in 1518 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (1483/1546) on the area of the Ospizio di S. Nicola dei Catalani (Hospice of St. Nicholas of the Catalans) of mid-1300s to emulate the Church of St. James (S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli) in Piazza Navona sponsored by the Crown of Castile

Completed with the vault of the presbytery in the years 1673/75 by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)

Remodeled in the years 1820/22 by Giuseppe Camporese (1763/1822) with his nephew Pietro Camporese the Younger (1792/1873)

LOWER PART OF THE FAÇADE

Two levels 1585/93 by Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da Volterra (1535/94)

PORTAL

Maybe by G.B. Contini who would have also designed the sculpture with “Madonna and Child cutting the rock with a saw” in memory of the sanctuary of Montserrat, which is Spanish for mountain sawn

The saw that is part of the sculpture is a genuine carpenter saw

UPPER PART OF THE FAÇADE

1929/35 by Salvatore Rebecchini (1891/1977)

Originally it was the church of the Aragonese and Catalans, now it's the Spanish national church

INTERIOR

Nineteenth-century decoration by Giuseppe Camporese

CENTRAL NAVE

On the right “Death of the Virgin Mary” by Francesco Nappi (about 1565/1630), on the left “Coronation of the Virgin” by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

1^st RIGHT - ROCCI CHAPEL

Above the altar “St. Diego of Alcantara” 1606 07 by Annibale Carracci (1560/1609) and maybe Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641), formerly in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli

On the right “Mausoleum of the two popes of the Spanish Borgia family: Callistus III (1455/58) and Alexander VI (1492/1503)” 1889 by Felipe Moratilla

The sarcophagus contains mixed in the same coffin, the bones of both popes, uncle and nephew, transferred here in 1881. The names of the two popes under the medallions were mistakenly reversed

Below “Tomb of Alfonso XIII” King of Spain from his birth in 1886 until 1931 when he was deposed by the Second Spanish Republic and he went to exile in Rome, where he died in 1941. He was the last Spanish king before Franco's dictatorship

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE MOST HOLY MARY OF THE ANNUNCIATION

“Annunciation”, “Birth of Mary” and “Assumption” by Francesco Nappi (about 1565/1630)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF PILAR

“Our Lady of Pilar and Saints” by Francisco Preciado (1713/89), a pupil of Sebastiano Conca

On the right “Assumption” by Frans Van De Casteele (1541/1621), on the left “Triumph of the Immaculate Conception” by Louis Cousin aka Luigi Gentile (1606/67), both Belgian painters

MAIN ALTAR

“Crucifixion” 1564/65 by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80) a pupil of Perin del Vaga

The painting was originally in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli and it reveals its full adherence to the precepts of the Council of Trent which had just ended, in 1563

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JAMES

Statue of “St. James” masterpiece by Jacopo Tatti aka Jacopo Sansovino (1486/1570)

On the left “Tomb of Bishop Alfonso de Paradinas” about 1486 by Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)

On the right “Tomb of Juan de Fuensalida” d. 1498, secretary of Alexander VI Borgia maybe by Luigi Capponi (active end of 1400s/beginning of 1500s), a pupil of Andrea Bregno

“Funerary monuments” by the school of Andrea Bregno

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF MONTSERRAT

Magnificent stucco decoration of the beginning of the eighteenth century maybe by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)

Lunettes and spandrels by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

On the right fresco “Miracle of St. Raymond of Peñafort”

On the left “View of the mountain of Montserrat” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANNA

Sculptural group “Virgin Mary, St. Anne and the Child” 1544 by Tommaso Boscoli aka Maso (about 1501-03/after 1578), formerly in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli

According to Vasari Tommaso Boscoli would have cooperated with Michelangelo in carving the recumbent figure of the pope of the Mausoleum of Julius II in the church of S. Peter in Chains

“This work, derived from the similar group of Andrea Sansovino in St. Augustine in Rome, with references also to that of Francesco da Sangallo in Orsanmichele in Florence, and in some details referring to Michelangelo's patterns, shows uncertainty of composition and an archaic taste” (Giancarlo Bojani - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Spanish College

CONFERENCE ROOM

Bas-relief “Crucifixion and Saints” with the upper part maybe executed by Paolo Taccone aka Paul Romano (about 1415/77)

“Tomb of Cardinal Pietro Montoya” d. 1630 with architecture by Nicola Torriani (active in Rome about 1601/1636) and outstanding bust sculpted in about 1621 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680), an early work showing already a fine technique and his ability to reveal a psychological insight of the sitter

The marvelous busts “Damned Soul” and “Blessed Soul” now in the Palazzo di Spagna were also part of the monument

“He shows those qualities of realism noted in the Santoni's portrait but with such clarity and accuracy that make the previous portrait look like rough and unrefined. (...) It is sharp and clear as a whole and in its parts; it was considered the apex of realistic portraiture” (Howard Hibbard)

St. ANSELM OF CANTERBURY

S. ANSELMO

Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta 5

1893/1900 Hildebrand of Hemptinne Belgian abbot and Francesco Vespignani (1842/99) in Lombard-Romanesque style

It is the Primatial Abbey of the Benedictine Order

BENEDICTINE MONASTERY

It is the seat of the PONTIFICIO ATENEO S. ANSELMO IN URBE, the International Benedictine University offering courses in philosophy, theology and liturgy as well as various specialization courses

Mosaic of the second or third century AD with “Scenes of the myth of Orpheus” from the HOUSE OF LUCILLA PACTUMEIA whose ruins are in the basement

GARDENS

“Bastion of the Colonnella” 1540 fortification designed for the never finished walls of Rome for Pope Paul III (1534/49) by G.B. da Sangallo and Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)

HOLY SPIRIT GATE

PORTA S. SPIRITO

Via Porta S. Spirito

Gate of the Leonine Walls built at the half of the ninth century, known as SAXONUM GATE for the settlement of the Saxons, the English of Wessex, the South West of England, in this area since the beginning of the eighth century

The current gate was begun in 1543 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) for Paul III (1534/49), discontinued the following year due to a quarrel with Michelangelo Buonarroti on the design of fortifications and left unfinished

The CONCAVE FAÇADE is an interesting incunabulum of Baroque curves that would appear almost a century later

SANGALLO MEDICI CLARELLI PALACE

PALAZZO SANGALLO MEDICI CLARELLI

Via Giulia 79

1535/36 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)

At his death it was sold to Migliore Cresci from Florence, mentioned in inscriptions along the five windows MELIOR DE CRESCIS CI FLORENTINUS

Between 1559 and 1565 the new owner decorated the entire façade with frescoes, including Medici crests and portraits of Giovanni and Giuliano de' Medici

The decoration remained in this condition until the end of the nineteenth century, when the plaster was replaced

On the façade there is a plaque honoring Cosimo II Duke of Florence (COSMO MEDICI / DUCI FLOREN II / PACIS ATQUE / IVSTICIAE CULTORI)

It was enlarged in the seventeenth century extending the façade

It passed to the Consulate of Tuscany and later to the Marini Clarelli family

It became a barrack for soldiers and it was eventually acquired by the municipality which has restored it

SACCHETTI PALACE

PALAZZO SACCHETTI

Via Giulia 66

1542 designed by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) as his home

The unfinished building was sold in 1550 by his Sangallo's son, Orazio, to Cardinal Giovanni Ricci of Montepulciano treasurer of Paul III Farnese (1534/49)

Completed in 1552 maybe by Sangallo's student Giovanni Lippi aka Nanni di Baccio Bigio (about 1513/68) and his son Annibale Lippi (active in Rome in the second half of the XVI century)

NYMPHAEUM 1660 by Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)

It belonged for nearly three decades until 1608 to the Ceoli family who enriched it with ancient sculptures and then sold it to Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese

Later it belonged to Cardinal Ottavio Acquaviva d'Aragona, and finally, from 1649, to the Sacchetti family of Florence who still owns it

The GARDEN of the palace was the first place in Rome where oleanders, very rare at the time, would be cultivated

Emile Zola chose the palace as the setting for his novel “Rome” even if with the fictitious name of Palazzo Boccanera

ATRIUM

Bas-relief “Presentation to the Senate of Caracalla by Septimius Severus (193/211)”

AUDIENCE HALL or HALL OF THE GLOBES

Masterpiece of Roman Mannerism “Stories of David” including “Bathsheba goes to King David” 1553/54 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“Simulating illusionistically complex decorative systems made of architecture and painted sculptures, of fake easel paintings and tapestries (behind which is a conceptual plot of meanings resulting from the complicated web of allegorical, mythological and historical themes) Salviati gave another proof of the great expressive features of Mannerism”(Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

GALLERY

Copies of sibyls and prophets from originals by Michelangelo executed by Giacomo Rocca (1592/1605)

“Holy Family” and “Adam and Eve” by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

CHAPEL

Frescoes by Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630)

RIVALDI PALACE

PALAZZO RIVALDI

Via del Colosseo 61

About 1540/47 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) as Villa Silvestri for Eurialo Silvestri from Cingoli butler of Pope Paul III Farnese (1534/49) on the area of the VELIA HILL ​​

The palace was built consciously on pre-existing archaeological remains consisting of a housing complex of mid-first century AD, used and refurbished until the fifth century

Renovated in 1586 by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604), who also rearranged the gardens for Alessandro de' Medici, the future Pope Leo XI (1605)

Restored in about 1612 by Jan Van Santen aka Giovanni Vasanzio (1550/1621)

It belonged to the Gonzaga family (1621/26), to the House of Savoy (1626/60) and then to the Archbishop Ascanio Rivaldi who used it as the Conservatory of the poor women beggars who were employed here working the wool with the name PIO INSTITUTE RIVALDI

The garden was reduced when the Velia Hill was mostly removed in 1932

Many sculptures found here are now at the Vatican Museums and at the Centrale Montemartini

It is being renovated and there are plans to exhibit here the Torlonia collection of statues if it would be finally acquired and pulled out of the basement of Palazzo Torlonia alla Lungara where it is currently sadly stored

ROOM WITH FRESCOED FRIEZE “The Story of Cupid and Psyche” first half of 1500s maybe by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) or by his pupil Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527/96)

FARNESE PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO FARNESE

Piazza Farnese

1513/46 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III (1534/49) who, once he became pope in 1534, completely renewed the project, doubling the size

The Palace of the Cardinal Albergati-Ferriz was demolished to make room for the building. It used to stand in the right end side area of the palace. Paul III also bought two blocks of irregular shape in front of the building and demolished them to create the square

Some of the materials used for the construction were in part taken from the Constantinian Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls

Sangallo was succeeded by three great architects:

1546/49 Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) who designed the huge CORNICE overhanging about 2 m (6.5 feet), the central balcony with the Farnese coat of arms, part of the SECOND and ALL OF THE THIRD ORDER OF THE COURTYARD

1549/73 Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) who continued it for the two cardinal nephews Ranuccio (d. 1565) and Alessandro Farnese. They were sons of Pierluigi, one of the four children of Paul III

1573/89 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) who completed the REAR WING

The building was so completed in 76 years

It was nicknamed DADO DEI FARNESE (the Farnese Dice) and was considered one of the four wonders of Rome with Palazzo Borghese, the door of the Palazzo Sciarra and the staircase of Palazzo Ruspoli

“Not even twenty years had passed since Peruzzi had built the Farnesina, a pleasant home, in open air, with a lot of light, trees and gardens. Well, Palazzo Farnese is the opposite and indicates a serious decline of Roman society, overwhelmed by the pride of caste and the arrogance of the great families. The monumentality of Palazzo Farnese is no longer expressive of ideals and history: the moment in which the authority is transformed into power, the beauty turns into decoration, the solemnity in pride unnecessarily cloaked in austerity. Not for nothing Palazzo Farnese is the archetype of what it will be in 1600s and in 1700s, i.e. at the time of monarchical absolutism, the royal palace” (Giulio Carlo Argan)

From 1635 it was rented to France who made it the seat of the French embassy

With the extinction of the Farnese family in 1731 and the marriage of the niece of the last heir, Elizabeth, with the King of Spain, Philip V of Bourbon, their assets passed to their son Charles V of Bourbon and the palace became home of the Minister of Naples

In 1861 it hosted the King Francis II and his wife exiled from Naples thanks to a restoration of the interior by Antonio Cipolla (1822/74)

Since 1874 it was again rented to France for its embassy and in 1911 the rent changed into sale for three million francs with right of redemption within 25 years

The right was exercised in 1936 when it was bought by the Italian state and transferred to France for 99 years with a symbolic fee of one lira per year

Italy has the same treatment for reciprocity with its embassy in Paris, the Hôtel de La Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, a dignified palace but truly laughable when compared to the absolute masterpiece in the history of Western art that is Palazzo Farnese

The building is still, at least until 2035, the French Embassy

COURTYARD

“Two sarcophagi” from the Tomb of Cecilia Metella on the right and from the Baths of Caracalla on the left

DELLA VALLE PALACE

PALAZZO DELLA VALLE

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 101

1517/23 maybe Antonio Cordini detto Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) and Andrea Contucci aka Andrea Sansovino (1460/1529) for Cardinal Andrea Della Valle who kept in the palace his collection of ancient statues now largely in Florence

Giorgio Vasari attributed with little credibility to Lorenzo Lotti aka Lorenzetto (1490/1541)

It was left unfinished outside after the sack of Rome in 1527

It passed in 1633 to the Del Bufalo family who had it restored

Since 1948 is the headquarters of CONFAGRICOLTURA (Italian General Confederation of Agriculture), an organization that represents and protects Italian farmers

Employers associated with Confagricoltura account for two-thirds of all enterprises in the sector and employ more than 500,000 workers

SERPIERI ROOM

Coffered ceiling with rosettes, garlands and golden putti with in the center colorful coat of arms of the Cardinal

Walls painted with “Fake architecture and rural landscapes”, “Figures of warriors and female figures” and frieze with “Marine divinities and sirens” maybe by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63) or an artist of the school of Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546)

PALACE OF THE BANK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

PALAZZO DEL BANCO DI S. SPIRITO

Via del Banco di S. Spirito 31

1521/25 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)

Formerly known as Palazzo della Zecca (Palace of the Mint)

Statues on the façade “Charity” and “Abundance”

“Accentuated interests in spatial urban function with the assertion of a vigorous and non-inert 'classical' style inspired by Bramante and Raphael appear in the façade of the Mint, certainly conceived for viewers coming from Ponte S. Angelo. (...) Cordini exhibits a controlled search of novelty and monumental expression animated by the concavity of the front and showing proportional contrasts in the definition of linguistic elements and decorations. (...) Despite some uncertainties, a finally reached maturity, in the full domain of his personal language, characterizes this work generally considered by the scholars as one of the highest expressions of Cordini's activity” (Arnaldo Bruschi - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

The mint remained here until 1541 and the building was thereafter known as Zecca vecchia (Old Mint)

In 1667 it became the headquarters of the BANCO DI SANTO SPIRITO (Bank of the Holy Spirit) changing name with internal adjustments by Giovanni Tommaso Ripoli for the new function

The Banco di Santo Spirito was founded in 1605 by Paul V Borghese (1605/21): it offered rudimentary banking services but it gained a huge success having as guarantee the funds of the nearby Ospedale S. Spirito (Hospital of the Holy Spirit)

It is still a bank today with a branch of Unicredit which incorporated the Banco di S. Spirito

BALDASSINI PALACE

PALAZZO BALDASSINI

Via delle Coppelle 35

1514/20 early masterpiece by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) for the jurist Melchiorre Baldassini

It was later became property of the Palma family and the name changed to PALAZZO PALMA

Giuseppe Garibaldi stayed there in 1875

Now is the headquarters of the ISTITUTO LUIGI STURZO who had the building restored

Luigi Sturzo (1871/1959) was an Italian priest and politician, founder of the Italian Popular Party in 1919. He vigorously opposed Mussolini

Under the loggia in a metope there is the depiction of an elephant, Annone. The elephant really existed and was given in 1513 as a gift to Leo X (1513/21) by the king of Portugal Manuel de Aviz

Annone became an exotic celebrity in Rome, but died after three years and, apparently, he was buried at the Vatican

GROUND FLOOR

Vault with “Grotesque” 1517/19 by Giovanni Ricamatore aka Giovanni da Udine (1487/1564)

FIRST FLOOR

Friezes and frescoes by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) and Giovanni da Udine

St. JAMES' HOSPITAL

OSPEDALE S. GIACOMO

Via Antonio Canova 29

Maybe 1339 with the legacy of Cardinal Pietro Colonna, as written on a plaque in the courtyard

It was also known as Ospedale S. Giacomo degli Incurabili (St. James' Hospital of the Incurables) with disarming lack of confidence in the health service of the time or Ospedale S. Giacomo in Augusta (St. James in Augusta Hospital) for its proximity to the Mausoleum of Augustus, which had been transformed into a fortress of the Colonna family

It was granted in 1515 by Leo X Medici (1513/21) to terminally ill patients with the exception of those with leprosy and plague

Most of the patients were syphilitic

Rebuilt 1519/49 by Giorgio da Coltre from a project by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)

Of this ancient building remain the FAÇADE on Via Ripetta and a marble relief on a landing of the staircase with “Madonna” by Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)

Modified about 1584 by Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da Volterra (1535/94) who also designed the church of S. Giacomo in Augusta

Rebuilt again 1842/44 by Pietro Camporese the Younger (1792/1873)

In 1929 it was converted into a hospital emergency room and in 1950 the general hospital activity began again

In the years 2004/08 there was a very expensive complete renovation with purchase of modern medical technology, only to decide to close permanently the hospital in the same year 2008: a waste of public money for an impressively disgusting speculation by Italian corrupt politicians

A marble plaque near Via del Corso 494 recalls how this hospital has received continuously running water since 1572, coming from the Aqua Virgo roman aqueduct: it is definitely the oldest single user to have received water continuously in Rome, probably in the world