Sts. QUIRICUS AND JULIETTA

SS. QUIRICO E GIULITTA
Via di Tor de' Conti 31a

Seventh century. Originally dedicated to Sts. Stephan and Lawrence

1584 restorations for Cardinal Alessandro de' Medici with inverted orientation and floor raised four meters (13 feet)
With the new orientation the church had its façade facing the new Via Alessandrina ​​opened at the behest of Cardinal Michele Bonelli, nephew of St. Pius V Ghislieri (1566/72), known as Il Cardinale Alessandrino (the Cardinal from Alexandria) as he was a native of Alessandria in the Piedmont region

Restorations 1606/08

FAÇADE about 1733 by Filippo Raguzzini (1680/1771)

PORTAL apparently dating back to the Renaissance period maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92), but most likely put in place in 1750

Dedicated to Julietta and her three year old Quiricus, both martyrs in Tarsus under Diocletian (284/305)

VAULT
Frescoes “Glory of Sts. Quiricus and Julietta” 1856 by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)

FLOOR 1956

1^st ALTAR ON THE RIGHT - ALTAR OF Sts. JOSEPH AND DIMAS (the Good Thief)
“Holy Family with the Infant St. John with Visitation” by an anonymous artist of the eighteenth century

2^nd ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
“Preaching of St. Dominic” 1855 by Ercole Ruspi

MAIN ALTAR
“Martyrdom of Sts. Quirico and Giuditta” in 1631 by an unknown artist of the seventeenth-century
Frescos on the vault of the presbytery “Allegory of the Mystic Lamb” 1856 by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)

2^nd ALTAR ON THE LEFT - ALTAR OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
“St. Dominic and St. Catherine worship the image of the Virgin Mary” by an anonymous artist of the eighteenth century

1^st ALTAR ON THE LEFT
“Sts. Nicholas of Bari and Vincent Ferrer in adoration of the Christ Child” by an anonymous artist of the eighteenth century

There is adjoining MUSEUM OF THE NATIVITY SCENE with 3,000 figurines from all over the world

LOWER CHURCH
Two layers of frescoes, the oldest of which maybe dates back to the eleventh century with “Mystic Lamb” and fragments of “Saints”

EX-CONVENT
1750/53 by Gabriele Valvassori (1683/1761)
It incorporates the small Romanesque bell tower. Now it is the HOTEL FORUM

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. PETER IN MONTORIO

S. PIETRO IN MONTORIO
Piazza S. Pietro in Montorio 2

Originally built maybe in the eleventh century
Mentioned by the sources in the twelfth century
It was built on the site where St. Peter was believed to have been killed, halfway between the Meta Romuli (Via della Conciliazione) and the Meta Remi (Pyramid of Cestius)

Rebuilt in the years 1481/1500 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92) for the Spanish King Ferdinand II of Aragon

The two ramps in front of the FAÇADE were added in 1605

Restored after the damage of the French bombardment of 1849 (in 1995 it has been embedded in a wall outside a cannonball fired by the French) and restored again in 1957 and 1963

ON THE LEFT AFTER THE ENTRANCE
“Monument of Giuliano da Volterra” 1510 by artists of the school of Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)

1^st RIGHT - BORGHERINI CHAPEL
Above the altar “Flagellation of Jesus” with on the sides “St. Francis of Assisi” and “St. Peter” 1518 by Sebastiano Luciani aka Sebastiano Del Piombo (1485/1547), maybe from a design by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564)
In the apsidal basin “Ascension” and outside the arc “Prophets” also by Sebastiano Del Piombo

“Several works by Sebastiano Del Piombo were made on the basis of drawings by Michelangelo, or under his influence. Gorgeous single figures, groups often well-drawn (as in the Flagellation in S. Pietro in Montorio, and colors tones a bit dark even if with a sensitivity always typically Venetian, combined with beautiful atmospheric scenery, but never the creations of a free and radiant genius. Occasionally, however, there is a certain tragic force, a lean greatness, reflecting the intimate bond of the Venetian painter with the spirit of Rome” (Hermann Voss)

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the altar “Madonna of the Letter” by Niccolò Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1520/98)
In the apse frescoes “Coronation of the Virgin” maybe by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481/1536)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
“Presentation in the Temple”, “Immaculate Conception” and “Annunciation” by Michelangelo Cerruti (1663/1748)
On the external arch “Sibyls” maybe by Baldassare Peruzzi

4^th CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Ceiling frescoed by Giorgio Vasari (1511/74). On the left there is a self-portrait of Vasari in a black dress

5^th RIGHT - DEL MONTE CHAPEL
1552 by Giorgio Vasari, by whom is also the altarpiece with “St. Paul and Ananias”

“It's one of the few scenes deeply felt by Vasari. The figure of Paul, struck by blindness and rescued by Ananias, has something touching and extraordinarily great in his complete annihilation. (...) The background consists of a row of columns in a semi-circle that goes in depth, a valid ingenious pattern, cleverly exploited. It is instead comic the bunch of people with no specific function wandering in the background in front of the row of columns, with the sole purpose of enriching the scene” (Hermann Voss)

On the sides “Funerary monuments of Antonio and Fabiano Del Monte”, statues “Justice”, “Religion” and cherubs on the balustrade by the Florentine Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511/92)

MAIN ALTAR
The steps in front of the altar are conventionally regarded as the burial place of Beatrice Cenci
She was actually buried somewhere in this church but without inscription, as was common for anybody who had been executed

In the LEFT NAVE are buried very important Irish men of political and military significance of the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century:
Hugh, Baron of Dungannon (d. 1609), eldest son of Hugh O'Neill, The O'Neill, second earl of Tyrone
A single grave shared by Rory O'Donnell (1575/1608), first Earl of Tyrconnell, and his brother Cathbharr (1583/1609), both younger brothers of Red Hugh O'Donnell
They fled from Ireland in 1607 and died in Rome as well as the more famous Hugh O'Neill (about 1550/1616) leader in the Nine Years War (1594/1603) or Tyrone Rebellion fought between the Gaelic Irish forces against the English government of Elizabeth I in Ireland

APSE
“Crucifixion of St. Peter” copy by Vincenzo Camuccini (1771/1844) from the original by Guido Reni

5^th CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Designed by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66)
Above the altar “Baptism of Jesus” 1568 and frescoes maybe by Giulio Mazzoni (about 1525/after 1589)
“Statues of Sts. Peter and Paul” and balustrade by Leonardo Sormani (before 1530/after 1589)

4^th LEFT - MUTI CHAPEL
“Deposition” 1617 and “Christ Carrying the Cross” by Dirk Van Baburen (about 1595/1624)
Three paintings “Stories of Christ” by David de Haen (1585/1622)
Stuccos by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “St. Anne sitting in a throne with the Virgin Mary and Child” and other frescoes by an unknown pupil of Antonio Aquili aka Antoniazzo Romano (about 1435-40/1508)

2^nd LEFT - RAYMONDI CHAPEL
1640/47, first example of MARAVIGLIOSO COMPOSTO (marvelous compound) first experiment with hidden light shining on sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for the Marquis Marcello Raymondi
Above the altar bas-relief “Ecstasy of St. Francis” a masterpiece by Francesco Baratta (about 1590/about 1663)
On the sides “Funerary Monuments of Girolamo Raymondi and Francesco Raymondi“ by Andrea Bolgi (1606/56)

“The tendency to execute works as a group with an artist primus inter pares (first among equal) typical of the period 1585/1621 was reversed under Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44). Chapels as the Raymondi and Cornaro absolutely show the imprint of Bernini; employees were assistants rather than autonomous artists” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“The role of the viewer is mediated by the busts on the side walls of the tombs overlooking the scene from small balconies, speakers' balconies reserved in churches for important personalities, and that, in the case of the chapels by Bernini, are often mistaken by art historians as theater boxes, architectural elements which at the time did not yet exist” (Francesco Galluzzi)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “Stigmata of St. Francis” and other paintings by Giovanni De Vecchi (about 1537/1615)

SPANISH ACADEMY OF HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND FINE ARTS
It is housed in a wing of the convent 
Lunettes “Stories of St. Francis” maybe by Niccolò Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1520/98)

Tempietto di Bramante

Small Temple by Bramante

Masterpiece probably built in the years 1502/07 by Donato Bramante (1444/1514)
In 1605 the roof was modified
In 1628 Gian Lorenzo Bernini changed the crypt

“The architectural elements are systematically drawn from the vocabulary of ancient architecture, according to choices not guided by subjective aesthetic preferences of the artist, but by a strict organizational and symbolic logic: the classical round peripteral temple is quoted in the body of the building, in absolute eurhythmy and syntactic coherence of the various elements of the building that is a symbol of universal harmony. But the metaphysical ideas and the historical dignity of the classical language are loaded here with further religious and political meanings: built to commemorate the Crucifixion of the Apostle founder of the Church of Rome, it celebrates, at the same time, the universal authority of the city of Rome already established by the ancients, and affirms the universality of the architecture of the Renaissance” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“Bramante is one of the most powerful and original personality of the Renaissance. He was part in Milan of the Lombard tradition imbued of late-Gothic and Tuscan elements, but he overcame it soon for his keen sense of monumentality achieved through the unified rhythm and articulation of architectural masses, modeled with a refined sensibility for coloristic and atmospheric values. This tendency of his for wide and serene breathing space, of which one can find significant advances in the Mantua buildings by Leon Battista Alberti, deepens, in Rome, as the artist is confronted with the classical buildings intensely studied by him and culminates in the Temple of S. Pietro in Montorio, and especially in the new church of St. Peter in the Vatican. Deep has been the influence exercised by Bramante on the architecture of his time; to him is especially connected the art of Sansovino, Sanmicheli and Palladio” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

SIXTUS BRIDGE

PONTE SISTO

Piazza Trilussa/Via dei Pettinari

Part of an arch is ancient: maybe part of the Bridge of Agrippa, built before 12 BC, or of the AURELIUS or “ANTONINUS” BRIDGE built in 147 AD for Antoninus Pius (138/161) or Caracalla (211/217), who was actually called Marco Aurelius Antoninus

It was restored in the years 366/367 by the prefect Lucius Aurelius Avianus Symmachus under Valentinian (364/375 with Valens and Gratian) and called the Bridge of Valentinian until 589 when a flood of the River Tiber destroyed it

Since then it was called tremulous BRIDGE, BROKEN BRIDGE or GIANICOLENSE BRIDGE

It was rebuilt in 1473/75 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92) for Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84). He incorporated the ruins of the ancient bridge in the new construction and used materials taken from the Colosseum

The bridge was financed with money from the taxes levied on the “public whores” or prostitutes under the control of the church

One of the pillars was restored in 1567 by Matteo Bartolani da Città di Castello (about 1527/about 1598) for Pius IV Medici (1559/65)

In 1998 the parapets were rebuilt according to the original design and the damaged metal walkways added in 1877 were removed

It is 108 m (354 feet) long and 11 m (36 feet) wide

It seems that Sixtus IV had decided to build the bridge because when he was still a cardinal he had lived in the Convent of S. Salvatore in Onda in Via dei Pettinari and so he knew well how the construction of the new bridge would have facilitated communications in this area of ​​Rome

It is the only bridge in Rome constructed between antiquity and the nineteenth century

VENEZIA PALACE - MUSEUM OF VENEZIA PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO VENEZIA

Piazza Venezia 3

The first great work of civic Renaissance architecture in Rome, begun in the years 1455/64 for Cardinal Pietro Barbo

Expanded over the years 1465/68 after the election of Cardinal Pietro Barbo as Pope Paul II Barbo (1464/71)

1468/71 WING ALONG VIA DEL PLEBISCITO and COURTYARD which remained incomplete. Later on Cardinal Marco Barbo and Cardinal Lorenzo Cybo, nephew of Innocent VIII Cybo (1484/92), completed it

Intervention of Pope Paul III Farnese (1534/49) who connected it to his tower on Capitol Hill

It was used as a summer residence of the popes, before the construction of Palazzo del Quirinale, until 1564, when Pius IV Medici (1559/64) sold it partly to Venice to be the residence of their Ambassadors

It later became wholly owned by the Republic of Venice

In 1797 it passed to France and in 1814 to Austria

In 1916 it was confiscated by the Italian government and, after a restoration in the years 1924/30, it became a museum

Between 1929 and 1943 the reception rooms housed the office of Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Grand Council here on June 25, 1943 voted against Mussolini and took his political power away from him

The architect of the palace is unknown, but it is the first example in Rome from the model of a Renaissance Tuscan building according to the principles of Leon Battista Alberti

In the VAULT OF THE VESTIBULE there is the first example ever of modern use of cast concrete, a construction technique that had not been used since the ancient times: a crucial step for the development of technical architecture, fruit and expression of Western civilization

Among the artists who worked here for sure, using also travertine taken from the Colosseum: Giacomo da Pietrasanta (active since 1452/d. about 1497), Francesco da Borgo S. Sepolcro and Meo del Caprino

BALCONY

1714 for the Venetian ambassador Niccolò Duodo

CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF GRACE

1600, rebuilt in 1911

Altar 1682 by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)

“Madonna and Child” by Bernardino Gagliardi (1609/1660)

On the right “Flight into Egypt” by Francesco Cozza (1605/82)

GARDEN

Fountain “Marriage of Venice to the Sea” 1729 by Carlo Monaldi (about 1690/1760), restored in 1930 by Giovanni Prini (1877/1958)

LOGGIA

1467/68 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92)

STAIRCASE

1930 by Luigi Marangoni (1872/1950)

ROOMS OF THE PAULINE PALACE

Royal Hall, Hall of Battles (originally Consistory), Hall of the Globe and Apartment Barbo subdivided and altered over the eighteenth and nineteenth century, restored in the years 1924/30

These rooms are currently used for temporary exhibitions

The painted decoration was widely integrated

In the Hall of the Globe, with the famous balcony from which Mussolini used to address the Italians, the painted architecture is attributed to Andrea Mantegna

PALACE OF THE CONFESSORS

PALAZZO DEI PENITENZIERI

Via della Conciliazione 139

Begun in about 1480 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92) for Cardinal Domenico Della Rovere from Turin, distant cousin of Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

It hosted the King of France Charles VIII in 1495

After the death of Domenico Della Rovere in 1501 it went to Cardinal Francesco Alidosi who, suspected of treason, was assassinated in 1511 by the Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria Della Rovere, who later lived in the palace himself

Later it belonged to Cardinal Giovanni Salviati

It took its present name for the confessors transferred here by Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67)

Now it is the HOTEL COLUMBUS and the headquarters of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem

Ceiling of the ROOM OF THE DEMIGODS in the right wing with frescoes of mythological figures maybe by Bernardino di Betto aka Pinturicchio (1454/1513) who had also painted the façade with decorations now obviously disappeared

In the other four rooms on the first floor decorations also maybe by Pinturicchio and his school

On the second floor ROOM OF APOLLO with fresco in the ceiling “Apollo driving the horses of the Sun” painted in 1552 maybe by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63) for Cardinal Giovanni Salviati

HOSPITAL HOLY SPIRIT IN SAXIA

OSPEDALE S. SPIRITO IN SASSIA

Lungotevere in Sassia 1

Schola Saxonum built for Ina king of the Saxons in 727 to assist his compatriots the English pilgrims of Wessex, the south-west of England

Though not yet then a hospital in the modern sense, it is considered the first hospital in Europe

In 1050 resided here as an illustrious pilgrim King Macbeth of Scotland, later immortalized by Shakespeare's play

After the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Norman occupation of England pilgrims dwindled drastically and the structure declined

Rebuilt in 1198 maybe, according to Vasari, by Marchionne Aretino at the behest of Innocent III of the Counts of Segni (1198/1216) and formalized in a Papal Bull in 1204

It was given to Guy of Montpellier, who had established the HOSPITALLER ORDER OF THE HOLY GHOST for the care of abandoned children, orphans and illegitimate

Rebuilt after being destroyed by fire and extended in the years 1473/78 for the Jubilee of 1475 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92) for Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84) according to Giorgio Vasari

Vasari, however, seems to be contradicted by evidence documenting the presence of Baccio Pontelli in Rome shortly in 1477 and longer only after 1482

Expanded in the years 1665/67 with the SALA ALESSANDRINA (Alexandrine Hall) for Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) parallel to the Sistine Ward and now used for conferences

The hospital enjoyed the proceeds of the Banco di S. Spirito (Bank of the Holy Spirit) founded in 1605 by Pope Paul V Borghese

ENTRANCE ARCH

1664 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) that contains the portal of the end of 1400s maybe by Bregno Andrea (1418/1503)

To the left ARCH OF THE EXPOSED with spinning wheel where the unwanted children were left

From that moment they became children of the institute and were registered as matris ignotae. The contraction m. ignota generated the Italian word mignotta (bitch), certainly not a very nice way to describe a woman

It is believed that this custom began here in 1198 even if there is evidence only since the sixteenth century. In 1866 there were 1179 wheels all over Italy and they were abolished only after 1870

FAÇADE FACING THE RIVER rebuilt in the years 1926/28 by Luigi Lepri

To build the levees the 1744 extension of Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) was destroyed. Only the PORTAL maybe by Andrea Bregno and few items are original

BUILDING ON LUNGOTEVERE IN SASSIA 1927/33

VESTIBULE

On the altar of S. Job “Canopy” about 1546 maybe by Andrea Palladio (1508/80), altarpiece by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)

SISTINE WARD

1473/78 maybe by Baccio Pontelli 120 m long (400 feet) and the two wings BAGLIVI HALL on the left and LANCISI HALL on the right

1,000 m² (10,800 square feet) of frescoes “Stories of Sixtus IV” of the fifteenth century by various artists of the Umbrian school

VATICAN MUSEUMS - SISTINE CHAPEL (first part)

CAPPELLA SISTINA

1475/81 Giovannino de' Dolci (d. about 1486) at the behest of Pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84) from a design by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92)

“Müntz thought that Dolci was the architect of the chapel, according to an act of payment of 1486 in favor of his son. The hypothesis was accepted by Steinmann, who spotted the portrait of Dolci, portrayed by Pietro Perugino in the group of onlookers to the Delivery of the Keys: the man on the far right holding the square. Then Dolci was considered the architect of the chapel by various scholars (Tolnay, Nogara, Pittaluga), although Lavagnino (1924) had noted that the documents do not qualify Dolci as 'architectus' and had indicated in Baccio Pontelli the likely author of the design of the chapel. It seems likely, as some believe (Tomei, Ettlinger, Redig De Campos, Salvini), that Dolci executed this work according to the design of another master. Redig De Campos (1965) recognized the portrait of Baccio Pontelli in the same group of bystanders of the Delivery of the Keys, the man with the compass in hand, facing Dolci, testimony of the two working together: Dolci, building the chapel, adapted Pontelli's design, taking care of the technical aspects” (Marcia Casini Wanrooij - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

The dimensions are 40.5 x 13.2 m (133 x 43 feet), height is 20.7 m (68 feet)

Same dimensions of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem that was built in 966/973 BC and destroyed in 586 BC. The measurements are written in the Book of Kings of the Bible

A preexisting building was incorporated in the project which, according to some scholars, was maybe originally the seat of the leader of the Mithraic religion. It was mentioned for the first time by the sources in 1368 and it probably had a wooden ceiling

It was consecrated August 15, 1483 as S. Maria Assunta (Assumption of the Virgin Mary)

In the years 1566/68 it was reinforced with three buttresses by Pirro Ligorio (about 1513/83) and Giovanni Lippi aka Nanni di Baccio Bigio (about 1513/68) after various stabilization work following the opening of a wide crack in the northwest corner of the roof, caused by moisture

It has hosted the conclave 25 times in total

Conclaves have always been held here from 1878 onwards, when there was the election of Leo XIII Pecci (1878/1903)

All four conclaves of the nineteenth century were held in the Pauline Chapel of the Quirinal Palace built for Paul V Borghese (1605/21) with the same measures of the Sistine Chapel

The conclave of 1800 was exceptionally held in Venice, in the Basilica of S. Giorgio Maggiore, because of the revolutionary movements that had led to the birth of the Roman Republic

The electorate is composed of 120 cardinals and octogenarians are excluded

Currently the majority of the votes for the election of the pope must be equal to 2/3 rounded to the unity above when the number of voters is not divisible by three. From the 34° ballot onwards a run off will proceed, with a majority of half plus one of voters, among the two most voted cardinals in last ballot. They both lose, however, their right to vote

Smoke from the Sistine Chapel to announce the results of voting is now made white or black with special chemical additives mixed with the ballots, while in the past damp straw was used for the white smoke

The stove currently used to burn the documents and producing the smoke is the same as 1939

During the conclave of 1978 that would eventually end with the election of Pope John Paul I, it seems that the pipeline had some cracks in the stove and filled briefly the Sistine with black smoke

The floor dates to the end of 1400s in imitation of Opus Alexandrinum similar to cosmatesque floors, a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings

Barrier separating the Chapel in two and marble balustrade of the choir by Mino da Fiesole (1429/84), Andrea Bregno (1418/1503) and Giovanni Duknovich aka Giovanni Dalmata (about 1440/1510)

The barrier was used to separate the observers from the members of the Cappella Papalis, a sort of government of the papal state

It was chaired by the pope and it comprised about 200 lay and ecclesiastical dignitaries of high rank who met at least forty-two times a year attending religious services at least twenty-seven times a year

The barrier was moved in the mid-1500s of about 5 m (16 feet) toward the entrance due to the increase in the number of members of the Cappella Papalis

The restoration lasted 20 years (1979/1999) starting from the lunettes and ending with the paintings on the walls

The television company Nippon Television Network Corporation has been providing most of the funds for the restoration of Michelangelo’s paintings in the Chapel, totaling $ 4.2 million, in exchange for film rights

“Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one cannot even have an idea of what a man is able to achieve” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)