ALTEMPS PALACE - NATIONAL ROMAN MUSEUM (fourth part)

ANTECHAMBER OF THE FOUR SEASONS

Frieze with “Landscapes” maybe by Antonio Viviani aka il Sordo (1560/1620) pupil of Federico Fiori aka Barocci

“Head of Hera” second or first century BC

Beautiful “Head of Heracles” first century AD

“Fragment of a sarcophagus with the myth of Phaedra” third century AD

BEDROOM OF THE CARDINAL

Frieze “Battle scenes” painted in tempera in the seventeenth century by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663) designed by Antonio Tempesta (about 1555/1630)

“Dionysian mask” in ancient red marble, probably part of a fountain

Heads “Igea” and “Attis”. “Sarcophagus with Judgement of Paris”, all statues of the Hadrian's period (117/138)

The head of Attis originally represented Athena and the Phrygian cap was added by the restorer

STUDIO OF THE CLEMENCY

In the vault “Life of the Virgin Mary” 1590 Vitruvio Alberi (active 1575/died after 1590)

“Base with winged dancers” of the Augustan period

PAINTED LOGGIA OR GALLERY

In the vault “Pergola with animals and fruits some of which exotic” 1595 Vitruvio Alberi, Pasquale Cati and Antonio Viviani aka il Sordo (1560/1620)

The fountain dates back to 1594

“Twelve portraits of Caesars” including Nerva, Antoninus Pius and Tiberius

PARTY ROOM OR FIREPLACE ROOM

Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91) who also designed the fireplace

“Galatian's suicide with his wife” copy from a bronze original of the period of Julius Caesar found in the Villa Ludovisi gardens formerly Gardens of Sallust

It is part of the sculptural group that was in turn part of the votive offering dedicated by Attalus I (240/197 BC) in the sanctuary of Athena Nikephoros at Pergamon to mark the victory of 228 BC on Galatians

According to Filippo Coarelli the group included also the Dying Gaul in the Capitoline Museums, whose base fits perfectly in the one of the Galatian Suicide. The group was completed by another statue of Dead Galatian Woman with Child

The arm that holds the sword is restored but the original had the opposite direction and also the original left arm of the woman had to be more realistically lower

“The whole figure is crossed by a dynamic twist drill which starts from the right foot, spread through the legs, very wide apart in a direction oblique to the axis represented by the torso and ends with the head turned in the opposite direction of the upwards torsional movement. The elegant execution of the bodies and the intense expression of suffering make this a sculptural group one the dramatic masterpieces of the Hellenistic age” (Lucio Fiorini - TMG)

“Large Ludovisi Sarcophagus” about 250, with battle between Romans and barbarians

“The all classical attention for the analysis of individual figures and the refinement of their specific articulation, surely connected with Attic experiences, oversees the composition to give maximum relief to the figure of the deceased in arms, but at the same time results in a vibrant and exciting overall effect that denies any spatial naturalistic space” (Gian Luca Grassigli - TMG)

“Bust of Mars” second century AD with bust added in 1500s

“Ludovisi Fury” maybe fragment of Dead Galatian Woman with Child belonging to the group of Attalus I

Chiesa di S. Aniceto

St. Anicet's Church

Begun in 1603 at the behest of Giovanni Angelo Altemps son of poor Roberto, the only church with a tomb of a pope in a private home

S. Aniceto (155/166) was the eleventh pope and his body was found in 1602 in the Catacomb of St. Sebastian

On the walls

“Stories of St. Anicet” with inspiration from the martyrdom by beheading of Roberto Altemps by Antonio Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1568/1629), son of Niccolò Circignani

Vault

“Glory of St. Anicet” and “Angels bearing palms on the left and instruments of torture on the right” by Polidoro Mariottini

Reliquary of 1612 with the relics of Sts Anicet, Zosimus and Famianus in an “Ancient yellow Urn” which, according to tradition, contained the bones of Alexander Severus (222/235)

Behind “Cycle of oil paintings about St. Anicet” 1612 Ottavio Leoni (1578/1630)

OCTAGONAL CHAPEL AND SACRISTY

Wooden door with incredible security lock

CHAPEL OF St. CHARLES BORROMEO

Fragment of St. Charles Borromeo's vestment, musical scores late 1500 and early 1600 written for the Church of St. Anicet

BASILICA OF St. PANCRAS

BASILICA S. PANCRAZIO

Piazza di S. Pancrazio 5 b

Founded about 500 by Pope Symmachus (498/514) on the tomb of the martyr St. Pancras beheaded, according to tradition, during the persecutions of Diocletian (285/305)

In the sixth century it became the fourth most popular destination for pilgrims who visited the graves of the martyrs in Rome after St. Peter, S. Paul and St. Lawrence

Completely rebuilt in about 630 for Honorius I (625/638)

The Romans used to pronounce solemn oaths at the tomb of St. Pancras because it was believed that perjurers would have died on the spot, an earlier and more radical version of the Mouth of Truth. Even a pope, Pelagius I (556/561), suspected of having had his predecessor assassinated, pronounced here a solemn oath in front of the Byzantine viceroy

Renovated 1609 for Cardinal Ludovico de Torres, Archbishop of Monreale, who gave a diplomatic contribution to the victory at the Battle of Lepanto by connecting the Papal States to the other Christian powers

Restored again after the battle for the Roman Republic in 1849

The two columns in the façade are from the early church

Wooden CEILING 1627

CENTRAL NAVE

Stucco frieze with "Putti holding up a banner" 1662

SIDE NAVES

"Eight large relief" in stucco executed in 1662

TO THE RIGHT OF THE PRESBYTERY

Frescoes "Stories of St. Pancras" 1959 by Giuseppe Ciotti (1898/1991) from the Friuli region

On either side of the upper part of the presbytery frescoes "Sts. Dionysius and Pancras" on the right and "Sts. Calepodius and Pancras" on the left by Antonio Tempesta (about 1555/1630)

TABERNACLE with "Four porphyry columns with Corinthian capitals"

Fresco in the APSE "Christ the King surrounded by St Pancras and other saints" 1959 by Giuseppe Ciotti

SEMICIRCULAR CRYPT under the presbytery dating back to the beginning of the sixth century leading to the relics of St. Pancras. After St. Peter's Basilica is the oldest example of this type in Rome

CHAPEL TO THE LEFT OF THE PRESBYTERY

Altarpiece "St. Teresa" 1615 by Jacopo Negretti aka Jacopo Palma the Younger (1544/1628)

"Baptismal font" from the church Sts. Celsus and Julian, where Eugenio Pacelli later Pope Pius XII (1939/58) was baptized

SACRISTY

Small MUSEUM with sculptures and inscriptions, both pagan and Christian, and some fossils

Catacomba di S. Pancrazio o di Ottavilla
Catacomb of St. Pancras or Ottavilla

Ottavilla was a Roman woman who, according to tradition, recovered and buried the body of St. Pancras

Huge underground cemetery with many levels and areas still unexplored

Ornamental paintings in two cubicles and chapel known as Botrus

Here was found an inscription dated 454, which is considered the last dated inscription found in situ referring to an ordinary burial in an underground cemetery. At the end of the fourth century and at the beginning of the fifth, in fact, the use of burying the dead in the catacombs became increasingly rare, and increased the use instead of burials in the great Roman funerary basilicas like this one or in their vicinity