DE CAROLIS PALACE

PALAZZO DE CAROLIS

Via del Corso 307

1714/24 Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) for Livio De Carolis bourgeois scion of a wealthy family of merchants of grain who wanted to build his palace next to those of the patrician families

The exorbitant cost of the construction contributed to the ruin of the family who was forced to put the building up for auction

It passed in 1750 to the Jesuits who gave it to rent to famous people

It was from 1769 the French Embassy and with Cardinal François-Joachim de Bernis it was the site of parties and beautiful banquets that gave to the French cardinal the popular nickname of King of Rome

Later it belonged to the Simonetti and Boncompagni Ludovisi families

In 1833 the attic was added and the cornice was modified

The building belongs since 1908 to the BANCA DI ROMA and it was enlarged and adapted by Pio Piacentini (1846/1928). He covered the courtyard that became the hall of the bank and changed some of the rooms in Art Nouveau style

Wonderful SPIRAL STAIRCASE by Alessandro Specchi considered one of the wonders of Rome

On the external left end side “Speaking Statue of a Porter” one of the six of Rome, to which anonymous messages were posted

It dates back to the time of Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85) although it is erroneously attributed by popular tradition to Michelangelo Buonarroti

In the courtyard there is a cannonball fired by the French in 1849 embedded in the second floor

The lower stretch of Via del Collegio Romano was named after Alessandro Specchi only in 1980, an incredible delay in making a toponymic tribute to the gigantic but unfortunately underestimated Roman architect

“Citing the close-by Palazzo d'Aste of which it repeats the decorative windows and the corner solution, perhaps at the suggestion of the client who wanted a house clearly inspired by the traditional type of mansion” (Paolo Portoghesi)

Rooms of the first floor with ceilings painted by some of the best painters working in Rome in the early eighteenth century:

GALLERY

Now used as a library

“Triptych Bacchus, Venus and Ceres” by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727)

“Diana and her Companions” by Benedetto Luti (1666/1724)

“Chariot of Apollo with Aurora and Muses” by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

HALL OF MINERVA

“Allegory of caste Love with passionate Love represented by Minerva who takes away Youth from Venus and give it to Hercules symbol of strength and virtue” and “Venus and Vulcan” by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746) from Istria

“At age 21 he moved to Rome. Here he studied the works of Carraci, was inspired by Correggio and attended the circle of Carlo Maratta. He had a good success as the representative of Venetian Rococo style. He produced altarpieces with very pathetic tones, but he was also appreciated as a very precise portrait painter and for his vast landscape scenes, which are the background of historical or mythological events” (Consorzio La Venaria Reale - www.lavenaria.it)

“Allegory of the arts and wisdom” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

“Aurora” by Andrea Procaccini (1671/1734)

More paintings by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742), Ludovico Mazzanti (1686/1775) and Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

COLONNA PALACE - COLONNA GALLERY (sixth part)

Room of Landscapes

Vault “Allegory of the Battle” by Sebastiano Ricci (1659/1734)

“Ricci is the typical extrovert virtuoso of the eighteenth century and as such his splendor could look a bit superficial. Roberto Longhi spoke of his paintings that have the flavor of a skilled reportage of all the Europeans themes. But it took the easy and versatile talent of Ricci to bring Venetian art back to a new understanding of the great past and towards the synthesis accomplished by the heroic style of Tiepolo” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Two magnificent chests of sandalwood and precious stones: one in ebony and ivory with the image of the Last Judgement by Michelangelo, another maybe by Carlo Fontana (1634/1714)

“Landscapes” by Gaspard Dughet (1615/75), Crescenzio Onofri (1632/1712) and Jacob de Heusch (1657/1701)

“Antigone near the bodies of Eteocles and Polynices” maybe by Paul Brill (1554/1626)

“The deer hunting” and “Battlefield” by Jacques Courtois aka Borgognone (1628/79)

“Preaching of St. John the Baptist” by Michelangelo Cerquozzi (1602/60)

Room of the Apotheosis of Martin V

In the center of the ceiling painting “Apotheosis of Martin V Colonna (1417/31)” 1720 by Benedetto Luti (1666/1724)

“Among the students of Maratta only the distinguished Benedetto Luti from Florence, character of international renown, also known as a collector and teacher, completed the transformation of Maratta's style in an eighteenth-century style elegant and sweet” (Rudolf Wittkower)

In the ceiling near the walls: “Merit crowned by Virtue” by Pietro Bianchi aka il Creatura (1694/1740) Roman student of Luti and Baciccio

In the ceiling near the walls: splendid “Time discovers the truth” and in the corners “Allegories” by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87) among which there is an incredibly explicit and passionate sapphic kiss between Peace and War

“In the work of Batoni, in his thematic ideas, he reconstructed his love for the operatic melodrama of which he had to be an assiduous listener (...), and as a painter of mythological themes he had a preference for scenes that would lend themselves more to express a pathetic aspect (...). As in opera, where they often are not overly moved if not in words, so in Batoni’s painting, the characters express themselves psychologically in a gesture, in a tear, but the painting remains serene and full of life because of its colors: it becomes a show, a wise and skillful game content in the oblivion of all evil or simply of all the unpleasant” (Isa Belli Barsali – Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

“Madonna and Child asleep, St. John and St. Elizabeth” by Agnolo di Cosimo Tori aka Bronzino (1503/72)

“Under the influence of Michelangelo, Bronzino also carried out a total change of style, which manifested itself most clearly in the extraordinarily exalted corporeality of the naked figures, in the strong emphasis on the muscles modeled as if they were sculpture. To this he added a chromatic style, cold and hard, which increased even more the plastic impression” (Hermann Voss)

“Portrait of Onofrio Panvinio” by Jacopo Robusti aka Tintoretto (1518/94)

“Mangiafagioli (Beans Eater)” about 1584/85 by Annibale Carracci (1560/1609)

“Being able to work simultaneously on two levels, Agostino and Annibale Carracci reveal a dichotomy that from then on became more and more marked in the work of great artists and culminated in the dual activities or double aspirations of Hogarth or Goya. It is not surprising that this mentality would define the Carraccis as the ancestors of the modern caricature” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“St. Charles Borromeo” by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647)

“Rape of Europa” by Francesco Albani (1578/1660)

The color combinations are intoxicating and bring out the irresistible sensuality of the icy and curvy legs in Europe, constituting, with her breasts exposed, the element in the painting that glows more than any other with bright light

Two “Portraits of men” by Domenico Robusti aka Tintoretto (1560/1635)

“Portrait of a Gentleman” by Paolo Caliari aka Veronese (1528/88)

“Madonna with Child, Two Angels and St. John” maybe by Andrea d'Agnolo aka Andrea del Sarto (1486/1531)

“The Holy Family with St. Sebastian, St. Jerome and Mary Magdalene” by Paris Bordon (1500/71)

“Guardian Angel”, “The Virgin of the Annunciation” and “The Archangel Gabriel” by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666)

“Ecce homo” by Francesco da Ponte aka Bassano the Younger (1549/92)

“Resurrection of Lazarus” and “Portrait of a Gentleman with cameo” Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“St. Jerome Penitent” by Giovanni di Pietro aka Spagna (about 1450/1528) a pupil of Perugino to whom he owed a lot for his style

“Bust of Cardinal Girolamo I Colonna” 1651 by Orfeo Boselli (about 1600/67)

The Cardinal was the one who wanted to begin the art collection of the family

“Virgin Mary gives the scapular to St. Simon Stock” by Ippolito Scarsella aka Scarsellino (1551/1620)

BARBERINI PALACE - NATIONAL ART GALLERY (twenty-third part)

Room XXVIII - Painting in Rome in the Early 1700s

“S. Pius V Ghislieri (1566/72) blesses in St. Peter's Square a relic of the soil of Rome before sending it to the King of Poland” by Benedetto Luti (1666/1724)

“Luti painted scenes of great miracles, as was then customary, but he underlined the nicely narrative tone, almost a historical document. The monumentality of the scene is scaled down by the soft and clear paint, typical of the rococo grace” (Official Web Site Barberini Gallery - www.galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it)

Four paintings “Allegory of the four parts of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa and America“ about 1709

Models for the mosaics in the spandrels of the vestibule of the Baptistry Chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter eventually executed only in the years 1724/26

The presence in the Baptistry Chapel of the representation of the four continents known at the time is symbolic of the desire on the part of the Catholic Church to spread throughout the world the saving power of the Sacrament of Baptism

“Portrait of Cardinal Ottoboni” about 1700/05

“The Venetian Pietro Ottoboni (1667/1740) was a patron of artists, musicians and writers. (...) Despite the wealth of his office, his munificence was such to find himself burdened with debts incurred for his patronage. (...) He was also the chief patron and client of Trevisani, so much so that in 1698 he gave him accommodation in the Palace of the Chancellery and appointed him as his Primo Pittore (First Painter)” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

Beautiful and sensual “Mary Magdalene” about 1725, represented here with almost theatrical flamboyance by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746) from Istria

“Strong charge of monumentality, enhanced by the quite unusual framing, almost three quarters, which sheds light on both the face and the nude and sensual body of the saint, emerging from the shadows of the rocky background. (...) Pathetic yearning of theatrical taste, much appreciated by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, Trevisani patron and protector of the Arcadia” (Anna Lo Bianco)

“Portrait of the Quarantotti family” 1756

“The large portrait of the Quarantotti family, signed and dated 1756 on the pillar on the left, celebrated their son preacher in distant lands, surrounded by family members dressed in exotic way, in an atmosphere eccentric and suspended. The picture, in addition to expressing the spreading of passion for the Orient, is a polished piece of realism, anticipating Goya. But it's good to know that it was Goya himself, in his sojourn in Rome in 1770, to copy a Benefial work in his notebook, the Expulsion from Garden of Eden - shown here - clearly aware of the innovative power of the paintings by this artist” (Official website of the Barberini Gallery - www.galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it)

“Expulsion from Paradise”, “Original Sin”, “Hercules and Omphale”, “Pyramus and Thisbe”

“The stories of Hercules and Omphale and of Pyramus and Thisbe are united by a reference to love as a passion that goes beyond human reason. They depict, in fact, Hercules ranking as a maid and giving his club, a symbol of virility, to the queen Omphale of Lydia, enslaved by love, and Thisbe who kills herself in front of the body of the beloved Pyramus, who, in turn, committed suicide believing that she had been torn by a wild beast” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

Sketch for “St. Margaret of Cortona finds the corpse of her lover” in the Church of S. Maria in Aracoeli, all works by the great Roman painter Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

“The freshness of the sketch summarizes in a more immediate way than the finished painting the scene of the discovery (...) with the contrast between the pathetic attitude of the saint, the humorous note of the dog and the raw description of the corpse, boldly foreshortened and placed in foreground, featuring a detailed study of the nude, which in the final canvas will be hidden by the branches and not so obvious. The figures placed in relief with the use of light testify, among the numerous sources used by Benefial, even a study of the Caravaggio's followers” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Miracle of St. Joseph of Copertino” by Placido Costanzi (1702/59)

In this curious scene the patron saint of test takers, accustomed to levitate during his ecstasies, heals the young nobleman Baldassarre Rossi who had gone crazy all of a sudden, grabbing him by the hair and lifting him off the ground with him

The philological accuracy in representing the clothes of the previous century is remarkable

Sketch of “Madonna and Child with S. Filippo Neri (known as St. Philip Neri in English)” by Francesco Mancini (1679/1758)

“The sketch shows a remarkable fluidity and virtuosity of touch as evidence of a development process of the finished work, leading Mancini to give precedence to formal discipline over the urgency of pictorial expression, in a work of mental construction of the work that is to be found in other cases, of which the most famous is Canova, in the proto-neoclassical and neoclassical culture” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Madonna reading” by the Frenchman Pierre Subleyras (1699/1749)

“Intimately engaged in the widespread movement of return to nature and antiquity, his noble but lively classicism was undoubtedly the most worthy of that label. Alien to the exaggerated gestures of Baroque characters, or to the excessive affectation of late Maratta taste, he was all aimed at a balanced composition and a conciseness of volumes, favoring the opposition of masses of color, always based on a few essential tones, with a predominance of large and picturesque expanses of white” (Giancarlo Sestieri)

“Prophet Jeremiah with an Angel” and “Prophet Jeremiah with a Cherub” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

Sketches for the oval commissioned by Pope Clement XI Albani (1700/21) in 1718 for the central nave of the Basilica of St. John Lateran

He commissioned eleven more ovals, all with prophets, to the leading painters in Rome at that time. Sebastiano Conca chose the version with the angel points to the cross

“Portrait of Sir Robert Clive, Baron of Plassey” 1766 by Anton von Maron (1733/1808)

“It wants to be a celebration of the high position of the English nobleman, governor of Bengal from 1757 to 1760, and is set in the tradition of the courtly portrait, but it also becomes a representation, of outstanding effect and unique in its kind, of British power in the colonies. The subjugation of the indigenous with turban, caught while the Governor is issuing rules, wants to allude to the civilizing role of the colonial power, while the curtains in the background hint at the military role of the governor. (...) He had a bitter fate: after his return to England he was subjected to a parliamentary inquiry into his conduct in the colonies. He managed to be acquitted of the charge of corruption, but he took his own life in 1774 for a depression caused by his opium's vice” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Portrait of Count Niccolò Soderini” by the great Pompeo Batoni from Lucca (1708/87)

Count Soderini was the Tuscan consul in Rome and the dedicated patron of the Roman painter Marco Benefial

BASILICA OF St. JOHN LATERAN

BASILICA S. GIOVANNI IN LATERANO

Piazza di Porta S. Giovanni

The official name is Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and Sts. John the Baptist and the Evangelist at the Lateran, Cathedral of Rome, Mother and Head of all churches

Built 313/318 by the order of Constantine (306/337) on the site of the CASTRA NOVA EQUITUM SINGULARIUM, the second barracks of the Emperor's Horse Guard to be built

The first, CASTRA PRIORA EQUITUM SINGULARIUM, was in the area where Via Tasso is now

Nearby there was the RESIDENCE OF THE LATERAN FAMILY confiscated by Nero (54/68) and then donated by Fausta, wife of Constantine, to Pope Miltiades (311/314). It became the main papal residence for about 1.000 years. Constantine ordered the construction of the Basilica next to the residence

It was damaged and restored several times

In the fifteenth century the interior was painted by Gentile di Niccolò aka Gentile da Fabriano (about 1370/1427) and Antonio Pisano aka Pisanello (about 1390/about 1455)

Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) had the benediction loggia added by Domenico Fontana and Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) had the transept redecorated

Innocent X Pamphili (1644/55) had the five aisles remodeled in the years 1646/50 and 1656/57 by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)

FAÇADE

Rebuilt in the second half of 1100. Rebuilt again 1732/35 by Alessandro Galilei (1691/1737) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40). Galilei had won a competition among twenty-three architects, the largest in the history of Roman architecture, which marked with his victory the triumph of the classicist party

On the BALUSTRADE fifteen sculptures: "Christ, Sts. John the Baptist and the Evangelist and twelve Doctors of the Church"

"The impact of Palladian taste has been wrongly detected in Galilei's work filtered by the architect during a previous visit in England (no Palladian building had in fact yet been erected in England at that time). It is the stimulus of the Roman tradition of Maderno and Michelangelo which is at work here: the crowning of the façade, and even more the new pedestal of the statue of Christ, draws directly from baroque models. These components are repeated in a strong composition, perfectly balanced in the alternation of full and empty sections, typical of the late Baroque classicism" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

In 1763 the reconstruction of the apse was commissioned to G.B. Piranesi by Pope Clement XIII Rezzonico (1758/69), but the project did not materialize

In 1884/86 Leo XIII Pecci (1878/1903) had the apse rebuilt, the only element of the churh that had remained intact until then

On 28 July 1993, the side entrance and the façade of the palace were severely damaged by a car bomb. Although the static of the façade was damaged, it was possible to repair the damage quickly. This attack was regarded as a warning to the pope who earlier had spoken in Sicily against Mafia

PORTICO

Bronze doors from the Curia in the Forum adapted in about 1660 with a banded contour decorated with symbols from the coats of arms of Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67)

On the left "Statue of Constantine" from the homonymous baths on the Quirinal

Above the statue and the doors there are marble reliefs with "Stories of the life of St. John the Baptist" Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768), Bernardino Ludovisi, G.B. Maini (1690/1752) and Pietro Bracci (1700/73)

On the right there is the entrance to the MUSEO STORICO VATICANO (Vatican Historical Museum)

MAIN NAVE

130 m (427 feet) long

CEILING

1562/67 maybe by Pirro Ligorio (about 1513/83), decorated by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66). It was begun under Pius IV Medici (1559/65), completed under S. Pius V Ghislieri (1566/72) and restored under Pius VI Braschi (1775/99): the coat of arms of the three Pius popes are massively displayed in the ceiling

"The primitive form of the basilica was to be preserved and so Borromini conceived the aisle as a great hall while preserving the ancient structures. He filled a span encompassing in large pillars every two columns in pairs of the ancient basilica: an order of fluted pilasters articulates the powerful rhythm of the walls. Lowering the height of the coverage of small aisles he gave them a quiet luminosity as opposed to full clarity in the main nave. The vault he had designed would have continued the articulation of color and space of the nave, but the pope preferred to keep the massive sixteenth-century ceiling" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

"Borromini developed a strategy, particularly in the placement of the light sources to obtain an effect of perspective depth by the dosage of light in areas situated in succession and finalized the system of the chamber of light, an enclosed space in which the light source is completely hidden and produces a stream of reflected light crucial to get the effects of soft and gradual chiaroscuro reminiscent of Leonardo's sfumato" (Paolo Portoghesi)

TWELVE AEDICULAE

Designed by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667), with "Twenty-four ancient columns of mottled green marble from Greece" formerly used as support of the naves and recovered in the reconstruction of the Basilica, in which TWELVE STATUES OF THE APOSTLES were placed in 1718:

"St. Thaddeus" by Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736)

"St. Matthew", "St. James the Great", "St. Andrew" and "St. John the Evangelist" Camillo Rusconi (1658/1728)

"In Rusconi it can be identified a kind of simultaneous presence of classic, algardiane and Baroque-Bernini lines that shine in the intense pathos of many of his creations and in the vibrant permeability of the forms to the atmosphere. St. Matthew, set to a specific pattern of diagonal cross, stands energetic but perfectly balanced in the aedicula space. Intense and heroic is the attitude of the apostle, absorbed by his book, in comparison of whom the admittedly refined S. Bartholomew by Legros is more rhetorical in its pathetic excitement. The mass of the statue is powerful, but under the tiered steps of nuanced chiaroscuro, it is shrouded by a veil of atmospheric air that gives it a thoroughly modern lightness" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

"St. Philip" by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725)

"St. Thomas" and "St. Bartholomew" by Pierre Legros (1666/1719)

"St. Peter" and "St. Paul" by Pierre-Étienne Monnot (1657/1733)

"St. James the Less" by the Genoese Angelo De Rossi (1671/1715)

"St. Simon" by Francesco Maratta, brother of Carlo Maratta

On top of the aediculae HIGH-RELIEFS IN STUCCO:

On the left "Scenes of the Old Testament", on the right "Scenes of the New Testament" 1650 designed by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654) who sculpted himself four of them ("Resurrection", "Baptism", "Crucifixion" and "Expulsion from Paradise"). The others were sculpted by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86) and Giovanni Francesco Rossi (active 1640/77)

Higher up, in oval frames, PROPHETS:

Painted in about 1718, a gallery of paintings by the best artists active in Rome at the time:

On the right

"Nathum" by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742), "Jonah" by Marco Benefial (1684/1764), "Amos" by Giuseppe Nasini (1657/1736), "Hosea" by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731), "Ezekiel" by Giovanni Paolo Melchiorri, "Jeremiah" by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

On the left

"Isaiah" by Benedetto Luti (1666/1724), "Baruch" by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746), "Daniel" by Andrea Procaccini, "Joel" by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721), "Obadiah" by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727), "Micah" by Pier Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755)

CYBORIUM

1367/69 designed by Giovanni di Stefano (active 1366/91) for Urban V (1362/70) with the money of the French king Charles V (lilies of his arms in the decoration) decorated with twelve panels frescoed maybe by Barna da Siena and retouched by Antonio Aquili aka Antoniazzo Romano (1452/1508) and Fiorenzo di Lorenzo

Giovanni di Stefano was here clearly inspired by Arnolfo di Cambio (about 1245/1302)

Urban V was the first pope to return from Avignon to Rome, where he remained for three years (1367/70)

Above "Reliquaries with heads of St. Peter and St. Paul" made in 1804 as replacement of those by Giovanni di Bartolo stolen in 1799 by the French

Tradition has it that the heads were placed here after the period in which the bodies of the two saints were hidden in the Basilica of St. Sebastian, at the time of the persecution of Valerian (253/260) in 258. When it was possible to transfer the bodies back into their respective basilicas, it was apparently decided to keep the heads in the Papal Basilica

PAPAL ALTAR

Restored in 1851 with, in the top part inside, the wooden altar of the early popes

In the CONFESSIO "Tomb of Martin V" Colonna (1417/31) 1443 maybe by Simone Ghini on a design by Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi aka Donatello (1386/1466)

FAR RIGHT NAVE

"Borromini was given broad scope to demonstrate his skills as a decorator. The various decorative elements and, what is more important, the reorganization of the new aisles during the pontificate of Alexander VII, of the old graves and monuments of the popes, cardinals and bishops show an inexhaustible wealth of ideas and imagination without restrictions. Each of the venerable relics of the past is placed in a kind of treasure chest of its own, wonderfully suited to his character. Typical of the style of Borromini is the blending in these decoration of realistic forms and motifs of flowers and fresh greenery filled with sharp, clear architectural shapes" (Rudolf Wittkower)

220 heads of cherubs in stucco by Borromini have been counted in the church

"In St. John the winged heads of the cherubs play a role in the dialectic of the beveled corners, of the roundings designed to overcome the harshness of the 90 degrees angles. (...) Angels in Bernini are a figurative event introducing into the architectural discourse the 'appearance' of sculpture, whereas in Borromini angels become rhythmic emphasis and access to the supernatural in the abstract system architecture" (Paolo Portoghesi)

On the right "Monument of Cardinal Paul Mellini" 1527 with fragmentary fresco above "Madonna with Child" by Melozzo's school

1st RIGHT - ORSINI CHAPEL

Rebuilt by Borromini, "Immaculate" 1729 Placido Costanzi (1702/59)

Between first and second chapel

"Monument of Cardinal Giulio Acquaviva" 1574

2nd RIGHT - TORLONIA CHAPEL

1830/50 Quintiliano Raimondi (1794/1848)

Altar front made with malachite and lapis lazuli, above the altar relief "Deposition dalla Croce" 1844 by Pietro Tenerani (1789/1869)

BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD CHAPEL

"Statue of St. James" 1492 maybe by Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)

3rd RIGHT - MASSIMO CHAPEL

1564/70 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602)

"Crucifixion" 1575 by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80) a student of Perin del Vaga

4th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

"Vision of St. John the Evangelist in Patmos" about 1660/65 masterpiece of Lazzaro Baldi (c. 1624/1703)

"In the Vision of St. John in Patmos he implemented the immersion of the figure in an atmospheric space, with a use of the light similar to Pietro da Cortona, (...) he obtained one of the highest results of Pietro da Cortona's school and at the same time he anticipated the plein-air painting typical of much of the eighteenth-century" (Evelina Borea - Biographical Dictionary of Italian Treccani) 

FURTHER ON IN THE NAVE "Tomb of the Milanese Cardinal Casati" 1287 in Cosmatesque style, rebuilt magnificently by Francesco Borromini

FURTHER ON MORE "Tomb of Cardinal Antonio Martino de Chaves" aka Cardinal of Portugal 1447 with sculptures by Isaia da Pisa (active 1447/64), who completed the project by Antonio Averlino aka Filarete (about 1400/about 1469) who had to flee Rome wrongly accused of theft of antiquities

RIGHT MIDDLE NAVE

5th PILLAR

"Tomb of Cardinal Rinuccio Farnese" 1565 by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73): he was the son of Pierluigi Farnese, a son of the Pope Paul III

4th PILLAR

"Tomb of Sergius IV (1009/12)" 1012

3rd PILLAR

"Tomb of Alexander III Bandinelli (1159/81)" by Francesco Borromini with the help of Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

"Borromini who prefers whitewashed plaster, used here polychrome marble in a symbolic way for effects of great elegance" (Paolo Portoghesi)

2nd PILLAR

"Cenotaph of Sylvester II (999/1003)" 1909 with an old inscription. He was a pope interested in esoteric sciences and legend has it that when approaching the death of a pope, the coffin used to sweat and make noises of clashing bones

The legend ended in 1648 when the tomb was opened and the body was found intact but crumbled immediately on contact with air

The present tomb was rebuilt in 1909 by the Hungarian Gzila Nalder

1st PILLAR

"Boniface VIII Caetani (1294/1303) proclaims the Jubilee Year 1300" fragment of a fresco by Giotto (about 1267/1337)

FAR LEFT NAVE

On the left "Sarcophagus with reclining statue of Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi" copy of the original by Arnolfo di Cambio now in the cloister

1st LEFT - CORSINI CHAPEL

1732/35 by Alessandro Galilei (1691/1737)

"Strictly classical in comparison to other works of the same years, the chapel is still far from true Neo-classicism, especially regarding the sculptural decoration and the subtle symphony of colors of the marbles where the pale purple and green mottled still dominate" (Rudolf Wittkower)

On the altar "St. Andrew Corsini" copy in mosaic from the original by Guido Reni (1575/1642)

On the left "Monument of Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)" urn and porphyry columns recycled from the Pantheon. The urn was located in front of the Pantheon and was known as the Tomb of Agrippa

"Bronze statue of Clement XII" and "Monument to Cardinal Neri Corsini" G.B. Maini (1690/1752)

Allegorical figures by Carlo Monaldi (about 1690/1760)

Statues in niches, "Fortress" by Giuseppe Rusconi (1688/1758), "Justice" by Giuseppe Lironi (1689/1749), "Prudence" by Agostino Cornacchini (1683/1740) and the excellent "Temperance" made in 1742 by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)

"Della Valle from Florence developed a language of elegance where, along with the teachings of Rusconi, there are echoes of the clearest classicists from Tuscany and France, which are tinged with a grace of expression typical of the eighteenth-century. His work emblematic is the Temperance: the shape, plastically contained, winds in a harmonious rhythm serpentine with a distant echo of Mannerism. The surfaces are gently exposed to light. The extreme attention to details - the hair, the finely chiseled amphora - stresses the precious elegance of his work" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

On the right memorial plaque remembering papal soldiers who died fighting against the patriotic soldiers of Garibaldi in 1860

2nd LEFT - ANTONELLI CHAPEL

Rebuilt by Borromini

"Face of the Virgin" fragment of painted wood of the fifteenth century included in "Assumption of the Sts. Dominic and Philip Neri" by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

To the right marble group "Pietà" about 1732 by Antonio Montauti (1685/1740) formerly in the crypt of the Corsini Chapel

BETWEEN 2nd AND 3rd CHAPEL

"Tomb of Cardinal Bernardino Caracciolo" 1255

3rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX

1600/10 Onorio Longhi (1568/1619)

On the altar "Crucifix" maybe by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636)

On the left "Monument of Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio" about 1631 with bust sculpted by the great Giuliano Finelli (1602/53)

"Here Finelli expanded the idea of the baroque figure kneeling to the altar began by Algardi with the Mellini Tomb in St. Maria del Popolo: Cardinal Santorio seems really kneeling behind a kneeler, his hands resting on the pillow. The Algardian realism in dealing with the surface strengthens the illusion of real life and this is accompanied by a very audacious move of the figure toward the altar and a more intense expression of devotion" (Rudolf Wittkower)

4th LEFT - LANCELLOTTI CHAPEL

1675 Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616/95)

Canvas of "St. Francis" by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721)

The chapel is beautifully decorated in stucco with "Angels and cherubs" about 1685 Filippo Carcani (active 1670/91)

"Absorbed in the style of the last part of Bernini's life, Filippo Carcani was attracted by Ercole Antonio Raggi of whom resumed the iper-sensitive style, but with this difference: in Raggi's style, as in Bernini's last style, the body structure was still important; you can always perceive the classical model even if the body is hidden by a mass of drapery. Carcani, however, was no longer interested in the classical structure. In his stucco bodies are very long and fragile, as if they had no bones, while the drapery folds parallel to the masses cover them. The stuccos in the Lancellotti chapel can be defined as strange protorococò with a fascination already belonging to the eighteenth century" (Rudolf Wittkower)

On the last pillar "Monument of Cardinal Girolamo Casanate (founder of the Casanatense Library at St. Ignatius) 1707 Pierre Legros (1666/1719)

5th CHAPEL ON THE LEFT rebuilt by Borromini

LEFT MIDDLE NAVE

"Tomb of Elena Savelli" 1570 by Michelangelo's followers Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604), prototype of many seventeenth-century tombs with a portrait bust

TRANSEPT

Completely renovated in 1597/1601 for the Jubilee of 1600 at the behest of Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) with the architecture of Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) and the frescoes by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640) who coordinated the Roman Mannerists in "Saints" at the top and "Stories of St. Sylvester and Constantine" at the bottom:

RIGHT TRANSEPT

On the right wall:

"St. Barnabas" by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

"St. Bartholomew" and "St. Sylvester receives the envoys of Constantine" by Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601)

"St. Simon" and "Baptism of Constantine" by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio (1552/1626)

On the left wall:

"St. Thomas" by Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)

"St. Philip" by Giovanni Baglione (1566/1643)

"St. Thaddeus" by Orazio Gentileschi (1563/1639)

"Foundation of the Basilica" by Paris Nogari

"Consecration of the Basilica" by G.B. Ricci

LEFT TRANSEPT

On the right wall:

"St. James" by Paris Nogari

"St. Paul and two Saint doctors" by Cesare Nebbia

"Appearance of the Holy Face" and "Constantine donates furniture to the Basilica" by Giovanni Baglione

On the left wall:

"St. Andrew" by G.B. Ricci

"St. Peter" and "Triumph of Constantine" by Bernardino Cesari (1571/1622) brother of Cavalier d'Arpino,

"Two Saint doctors" and "Dream of Constantine" by Cesare Nebbia

On the right ORGAN

1598 Luca Biagi (1548/1608) with decorations by G.B. Montano (1543/1621). It is also known as Organo Biagi from the name of the specialist who designed it

Columns of yellow marble from Tunisia and "Two Angels" by Giovanni Antonio Parracca aka Valsoldo (?/1642-46)

It is the largest and oldest organ of Rome and one of the largest in the world, originally had 1,000 barrels and 700 more were added in 1731 after a restoration work. In 1707 it was played by Georg Friedrich Handel

A wrong restoration in 1934 made it unusable until 1984 when it was finally restored to its powerful sound

"Tomb of Pope Innocent III of the Counts of Segni (1198/1216)" 1861 by Giuseppe Lucchetti (1823/1907)

He was the pope who summoned the Fourth Lateran Council, and he finally declared the superiority of the church over any other secular power with the birth of the Papal State in the year 1200. He acknowledged St. Francis but, ironically, he also established the Inquisition Tribunal and declared the Fourth and the Fifth Crusade

On the left ALTAR OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT

About 1600 Pietro Paolo Olivieri (1551/99)

Above the pediment in a reliquary there is a fragment of the last supper table that is exposed on the day of Easter

At the sides statues "Elijah", "Moses", "Melchizedek" and "Aaron" about 1599 by Camillo Mariani (1567/1611), Gillis de la Rivière (?/1602), Nicolò Pippi (?/1601-1604) and Giacomo Longhi Silla (active since 1568/d. 1619)

Above fresco with "Transfiguration" by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino

The four columns of gilt bronze were obtained, according to legend, with the fusion of the bronze beaks of the ships of Cleopatra defeated at Actium in 31 BC. They had been placed by Augustus in the Temple of Jupiter

"Tomb of Leo XIII Pecci (1878/1903)" 1907 by Giulio Tadolini (1849/1918)

CHOIR CHAPEL or COLONNA CHAPEL

1625 Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655) for the Colonna family

"Portrait of Martin V Colonna (1417/31)"

"Monument to Lucrezia Tomacelli" 1625 by Teodoro Della Porta (1567/1638) son of Guglielmo Della Porta and Giacomo Laurenziano (active since 1607/d. 1650)

PRESBYTERY AND APSE

1884/86 rebuilt by Francesco Vespignani (1842/99) to a design by his father Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) for Leo XIII

Mosaic "Christ with angels and, on the right, Sts. John, Andrew, Paul and Anthony (small), on the left Virgin Mary, St. Peter and St. Francis (small) with Nicholas IV offering the church" 1291 by Jacopo Torriti (active 1270/1300) for Nicholas IV (1288/92)

He was in charge of the pictorial program of the imposing Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to which Torriti himself worked. The mosaic was transported from the old apse and restored

N THE WALLS OF THE PRESBYTERY frescoes: on the right "Stories of Innocent III of the Counts of Segni (1198/1216)" and on the left "Virginio Vespignani submit the draft to Pope Leo XIII" Francesco Grandi (1831/91) a pupil of Tommaso Minardi

MUSEUM OF THE BASILICA

Liturgical furnishings including various reliquaries with relics: St. Catherine, St. Mary of Egypt, and cilice of Mary Magdalene

Crosses: Stational thirteenth or fourteenth century, Processional 1441 by Nicola da Guardiagrele (1385/about 1462) from the Abruzzi region

SACRISTY

In the corridor Tombs of Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661) and Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino

OLD SACRISTY aka BENEFICIATI SACRISTY

Vault decorated with frescoes by the brothers Giovanni Alberti (1558/1601) and Cherubino Alberti (1553/1615)

Wood panel painting "Annunciation" by Marcello Venusti (about 1512/79) after a drawing by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564)

EXTERNAL PORCH ON THE RIGHT (Loggia of the Blessings)

Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V

Bronze statue of "Henry IV of France (1503/1610)" 1608 by Nicolas Cordier (1567/1612)

Henry IV was a Huguenot, and before he became king of France he was involved in the wars of religion. Before his coronation as King of France in 1589, he abjured the Calvinist faith to embrace Catholicism. In 1598 he ended the civil war by issuing the Edict of Nantes which guaranteed religious freedom to Protestants

Frescoes in the vault "Angeli e Santi" by Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614), Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613) and others

TWO TWIN BELL TOWERS of the thirtheenth century, cusps added in 1370

CLOISTER

1215/32 cosmatesque masterpiece by Vassalletto father and son. In the center "Circular well" of the ninth century

Along the walls, architectural elements, sculptures and ornaments from the ancient basilica as well as Roman and early Christian material excavated in the Basilica:

"St. John the Baptist" and "St. John the Evangelist" 1492 by Luigi Capponi (active end of 1400s/beginning of 1500s) from the dismembered De Pereriis altar

"Bronze doors" 1196 by Pietro and Uberto da Piacenza, formerly doors for the Holy Stairs and now, oddly enough, the door of a room with a vending machine

"Recumbent statue of Riccardo Annibaldi" and fragments including the relief of "Funeral procession of clerics" from the 1276 tomb, certainly one of the earliest works attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio (about 1245/1302)

Tapestry of the sixteenth century

"Ciborium" 1297 Deodato Cosma

BEHIND THE APSE OF THE BASILICA

"Monument to Workers" 1904 by the deaf and dumb sculptor Annibale Monti (1875/1941) for Leo XIII with base by Luigi Rosa

"Annibale Monti, who had always maintained regular contacts with representatives of the Lombard artistic culture of those years, worked several times inspired by social issues, both in the representation of figures of workmen, and in the more symbolic representatin of the work tools, in support of portraits or devotional images. However, a fundamental result in this sense, was the victory achieved by the artist in the competition held by the Company of Workers of St. Joachim in Rome in 1904 to externalize through a sculpture the principles of the Encyclical 'Rerum Novarum' that Pope Leo XIII had wanted to write about labor issues. The work (...) represents a worker who holds a cross and the working tool combining in this way the religious and the social instance" (website storiadeisordi.it)