HOLY STAIRS

SCALA SANTA
Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano

1587/89 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

Arches closed in 1853 by Francesco Azzurri (1831/1901)

Built to preserve the chapel of S. Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum (S. Lawrence in the Palace of the Holy of Holies) originally built for Nicholas III Orsini (1277/80) but already mentioned in the sources of the end of the sixth century

“The experience of the construction of the transept of the Upper Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, and, according to Marina Righetti Tosti-Croce, also Cistercian constructions through which came the influence of French Gothic, were clearly an inspiration for the architecture of the ‘Sancta Sanctorum’, the Holy of Holies. Here the model of Assisi appears, however, proposed to a lesser extent and measured, as exemplified in the fake tunnel with trefoil arches, with more direct references to the classical Roman tradition, reaching a result that combines tradition and innovation” (Emanuela Marino)

SCULPTURES IN THE ATRIUM
From right “Pius IX in prayer” 1877 by Tomasz Oscar Sosnowski (1810/86)
“Jesus praying in the Garden” 1915/17 by Giulio Aristide Sartorio (1860/1932)
At the center marble groups “Kiss of Judas” 1855 and “Ecce Homo” 1857 by Ignazio Jacometti (1819/83)
On the left “Pietà” 1875 by Tomasz Oscar Sosnowski and “Jesus at the column” 1874 by Giuseppe Meli

STAIRS
28 marble steps of Proconnesio marble from the Marmara Sea covered in wood in 1723 to prevent the wear and tear

It is believed they are the ones that Jesus went up three times in the Palace of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem (Scala Pylati)
It is also believed that the steps were brought here by St. Helena, the mother of Constantine in the year 326

Originally the steps made up the stairway entrance to the Patriarchìo (Patriarchate), the old papal palace

The stairs can only be climbed up by the faithful kneeling and red spots are visible on the steps, tracks, according to an extremely improbable belief, of the blood of Christ
The first information of any devotion for the stairs dates back, however, only to 1450, while before that date they are not even called holy and it appears they didn’t have any kind of devotional consideration

The stairs were moved from the old location in the old, now destroyed, papal palace to the new papal palace in a single night in 1589. They were reassembled in reverse, with the original first step which is the last one now, so that the workers who carried out the displacement would not have walked on the steps

“It was the seat of an actual law court and a stage at the same time to perform punishment and even death sentences” (Cesare D'Onofrio)

VAULT AND WALLS OF THE STAIRS
“Stories of the Old Testament” and “Stories of Christ” 1586/90 iconography designed by Giovanni Guerra (1544/1618) mainly executed by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624), Giacomo Stella (1545/about 1630), Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601), Andrea Lilio (about 1555/1632), Paul Brill (1554/1626), Giovanni Baglione (1566/1643), Ferraù Fenzone (1562/1645)

“Andrea Lilio painted on the walls of the Holy Stairs various scenes of the Legend of Moses and among them the fresco with the Miracle of the Source deserves special attention. The style of Lilio is not always uniform: among his works carried out quickly and often superficially, there are works of great quality made with great precision. What sets him apart is the unusually irregular and broken character of the design and the iridescent coloring” (Hermann Voss)

“Paul Brill in the History of Jonah shows a lively and exciting fantasy that seeks to unify the wealth of ideas of the Nordic peoples with Italian clarity” (Hermann Voss)

Among the ones who also collaborated:
Avanzino Nucci (1552/1629), Antonio Viviani aka il Sordo (1560/1620), Cesare Torelli, Paolo Guidotti aka il Cavalier Borghese (1560/1629), Baldassarre Croce (about 1553/1628), Antonio Scalvati (1557/1622), Girolamo Nanni (about 1569/about 1642), Vincenzo Conti (second half of the 1500s/about 1620), Prospero Orsi, Giuseppe Franco aka Giuseppe Monti or “delle Lodole” (1565/1628), Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613), Giovanni Alberti (1558/1601) and Cherubino Alberti (1553/1615) (as many as 21 artists in total!)

Unknown Flemish artists also collaborated for inserts with landscapes and topographical details
“Three ancient lintels” recycled here above the gaps in the upper part of the stairs

SANCTA SANCTORUM (Holy of Holies)
Remade in 1278 by members of the Cosmati family
“Bronze door” of the third or fourth century AD perhaps from the ancient Patriarchìo (Patriarchate)

Important frescoes on the VAULT “Four Evangelists” and on the WALLS “Sts. Peter, Paul, Lawrence, Stephen, Nicholas and Agnes”, “Nicholas III presents the Holy of Holies to the Saviour between Sts. Peter and Paul” about 1280 maybe by Jacopo Torriti (active 1270/1300) and Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/about 1325) (according to Serena Romano) or by Cenni di Pepo aka Cimabue (about 1240/1302) (according to Pietro Longhi)

“The face of Nicholas III is the first real portrait in the painting Gothic civilization in central Italy” (Serena Romano)

“These frescos for the excellent condition and high quality style can reasonably be estimated as the most significant text of artistic Roman culture of the end of the thirteenth century, also considering the possibility to date them accurately. Recent studies are therefore reassessing their central role in relation to the parallel and important site of Assisi” (Emanuela Marino)

VAULT OF THE PRESBYTERY
Mosaic “Christ Pantocrator blessing” in a medallion supported by four angels about 1280

“The mosaic, which shows significant technical similarities with the paintings, as revealed by the restoration of 1994, it differs, however, from the paintings for modes more similar to Byzantine prototypes” (Emanuela Marino)

FAKE GALLERY
“Madonna and Child, saints and prophets” 1590 maybe by Girolamo Nanni (about 1569/about 1642), Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613), Baldassare Croce (about 1553/1628), Andrea Lilio (about 1555/1632) and Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601)

MAIN ALTAR
Painting on board “Redeemer” acheropita (believed not to be painted by human hands) dating back to about fifth or sixth century, on which it is superimposed a copy of silk of the beginning of the thirteenth century

In the altar were kept SOME OF THE MOST PRECIOUS CHRISTIAN RELICS many of which stolen:
A piece of the Cross of Jesus, the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul, the sandals of Jesus, the sofa of the Last Supper, the rod of Moses, the manna descended from heaven, the bread of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, two ampoules with the blood spilled by the side of Jesus, the bread of the Last Supper, the sponge that was offered on the cross, the navel of Jesus and, incredibly, the foreskin of the Child Jesus

The holy foreskin was stolen, according to tradition, by a lansquenet in 1527 during the sack of Rome and ended up, somehow, in a church in the village called Calcata, 47 km (29 miles) north of Rome, where it was venerated until 1985 when it mysteriously disappeared

CHAPEL OF St. LAWRENCE
1587/89 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607)
Above the altar fresco “St. Lawrence venerated by the faithful underneath God the Father and the Son” by Baldassare Croce (about 1553/1628)
Four lunettes with “Landscapes” by Paul Brill (1554/1626)
Ceiling and pediments “Trinity in glory, saints and prophets” maybe by Giovanni Guerra (1544/1618) and Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)

CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
1936/37 by Vincenzo Mannucci
“Wooden crucifix” by an anonymous artist of the fifteenth century

CHAPEL OF St. SYLVESTER
1587/89 Domenico Fontana. It is used as choir
Vault “Triumph of Sixtus V” maybe by Giovanni Alberti (1558/1601) and Cherubino Alberti (1553/1615)
Lunettes with “Landscapes” by Paul Brill (1554/1626)
“Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross” of the second half of the eighteenth century by Tommaso Maria Conca (1734/1822)

St. ANTHONY OF EGYPT

S. ANTONIO ABATE

Via Carlo Alberto 2

Built in the fifth century as S. Antonio Cata Barbara over the BASILICA OF JUNIUS BASSUS of the fourth century

Founded in 1308 with its current name near the eponymous hospital of the years 1263/66

Rebuilt in 1481 for Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

Russian Catholic Church with Byzantine Slavonic Rite dedicated to St. Anthony of Egypt (about 251/356) hermit and founder of asceticism

St. Anthony of Egypt is usually shown next to a pig because the devil appeared to him in that form and he has therefore become protector of animals: every January 17 was celebrated here the blessing of the animals but, due to the heavy traffic in Via Carlo Alberto, it now takes place in front of the nearby church of S. Eusebio

FAÇADE

Remade in 1932 by Antonio Muñoz (1884/1960) with magnificent Romanesque portal of the old hospital about 1265 maybe by Vassalletto

INTERIOR redone in about 1730

BEGINNING OF THE RIGHT NAVE - CHAPEL OF S. TERESA

1583 by Domenico Fontana (1543/1607)

DOME

Frescoes in the drum about 1585 by Niccolò Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1520/98)

APSE

“Crucifixion” by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

The church was incorporated by the PONTIFICAL RUSSICUM COLLEGE

1928/29 by Antonio Muñoz

CROSSROAD OF THE FOUR FOUNTAINS

QUADRIVIO DELLE QUATTRO FONTANE 

Incrocio Via del Quirinale/Via XX Settembre

About 1590 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) who wanted to adorn the top of Via Felice with four statues of saints placed in each corner of the crossroad

The statues of saints were preferred four fountains that give the name of the street, each surmounted by a recumbent statue:

The Arno River, with a lion, heraldic emblem of Florence

The Tiber River with the wolf and in the act of supporting a cornucopia full of fruit

Fortitude or Juno, buxom woman represented with regal symbols: the lion and the crown

Loyalty or Diana, who is flanked by a dog and leaning on a symbolic hill with three peaks, similar to the coat of arms of Sixtus V

The sculptors of the statues are not known, but maybe the drawings were by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

The “Background reliefs representing countrysides” were added in 1668, probably on a design by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)

The fountains were built using travertine blocks from the destroyed ancient Roman monument known as Septizodium

RUSTICUCCI PALACE

PALAZZO RUSTICUCCI

Via della Conciliazione 44 - Ricostruito

1584/88 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) and Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) for Cardinal Girolamo Rusticucci, who also paid for the construction of new church of S. Susanna

To build the palace, the cardinal had bought all the buildings in the area except the house of an old woman, Mrs. Moscetti, who had categorically refused to sell it. The cardinal did, however, made his architects build the palace anyway, incorporating the property of the old woman who found herself with her house surrounded by a cardinal's palace

The original palace was built on the now disappeared Piazza Rusticucci which used to be between Via del Mascherino and Borgo Sant'Angelo

In the seventeenth century the palace became the property of the Accoramboni family

It was rebuilt approximately as it was here in 1950 with some original elements

LATERAN PALACE - HISTORICAL MUSEUM OF THE VATICAN

PALAZZO LATERANENSE

Piazza S. Giovanni in Laterano

1586/89 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V (1585/90) to replace the old palace where the popes lived for 1,000 years known as Patriarchìo (Patriarchate)

It was converted into a hospital and then in archives

Restored for Gregory XVI Cappellari (1831/46) by Luigi Poletti (1792/1869)

Since 1844 there was the Gregorian Profane Museum, since 1854 the Pio-Christian Museum and since 1926 the Ethnological Missionary Museum. These museums were later transferred to the Vatican

Since 1929 it has the privilege of extra-territoriality and since 1967 it is the seat of the ROME VICARIATE

“The results of the operations of Domenico Fontana, although dictated more by pragmatic spirit, than from an original artistic vision, in fact exerted a strong influence on the visual culture of the Baroque artists, for the evidence of those values​of spatial dynamism, of open geometry, born from the overlap of a new programmatic structure over the complex fabric of the old city. (...) One joint as that of St. John Lateran (...) for the presence of ancient monuments and alignments dictated by the survival of ruins, turned out to be not so much a square as a 'space' rich in multiple perspective indications, so much to propose a new relationship between the viewer and the architecture” (Paolo Portoghesi)

On 28 July 1993 part of the façade of the building and the side entrance of the Basilica of St. John Lateran were severely damaged by a car bomb

Even if the stability of the façade was damaged, it was possible to repair the damage quickly. This attack was seen as a warning to the Pope, who shortly before had spoken in Sicily against the Mafia

From 1987 on the first floor there is the

Museo Storico Vaticano

Historical Museum of the Vatican

PAPAL APARTMENT

CHAPEL AND TEN ROOMS

Frescoes with cycle “Glory of Sixtus V” and “Stories of the Old and New Testaments” executed under the direction of Giovanni Guerra (1544/1618) by several late Mannerist painters including:

Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614), G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624), Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613), Andrea Lilio (about 1555/1632), Ferraù Fenzone (1562/1645), Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601) e Matthijs Brill (1550/83)

ROOM OF THE CONCILIATION

Orientation and the dimensions of the hall of the popes of the Patriarchate where the Lateran Pacts signed on February 11, 1929

There is still the “Coffered wooden ceiling” of 1589

HISTORICAL MUSEUM

1) Collection of weapons of the sixteenth and seventeenth century

2) Iconography of the Popes

3) Ceremonial uniform and items of the papal court

GIUSTINIANI PALACE

PALAZZO GIUSTINIANI

Via Dogana Vecchia 29

1585/87 Giovanni Fontana (1540/1614) and his more famous brother Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Monsignor Francesco Vento who sold it shortly after, in 1590, to the Giustiniani family, rich bankers from Genoa

Continued by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629), Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655) and his son Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)

It was finished in 1678 maybe to a design of 1653 by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)

The art collection of the Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani ended up comprising about 1,600 pieces of ancient sculpture and about 600 paintings by such artists as Caravaggio (fifteen paintings!), Raphael, Giorgione, Titian and others

When the Giustiniani family became extinct at the end of the nineteenth century, the collection was dispersed and the palace became the seat of Freemasonry

Mussolini wanted to acquire it for the Senate, but the part that overlooks Piazza della Rotonda remained the property of Freemasonry until 1888 when the seat was moved to the Villa del Vascello

Today it houses the OFFICES OF THE SENATE and it is HOME OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

The palace is in the area of the BATHS OF NERO AND ALEXANDER SEVERUS of which there are traces under building

VESTIBULE

“Front of a sarcophagus with lion hunt”

COURTYARD

“Nine ancient reliefs”

ROOM OF THE CONSTITUTION

It was formerly the library, where it was signed on December 27, 1947 by Enrico De Nicola, Alcide De Gasperi and Umberto Terracini the Italian Constitution which became effective on January 1, 1948

ROOM OF THE COLUMNS or ZUCCARI ROOM

Maybe by Francesco Borromini

Vault

“Five stories of Solomon” 1586/87 by Federico Zuccari (c. 1542/1609)

Walls

“Temperance” and fragments of other “Virtues” by Giovanni Baglione (1566/1643), Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613), G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624) or maybe Antonio Tempesta (about 1555/1630) and Pietro Paolo Bonzi aka Hunchback of Carracci (about 1576/1636)

QUIRINAL PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO DEL QUIRINALE

Piazza del Quirinale

1573/77 begun by Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91) as the summer residence of the popes

It was built over the demolished fifteenth-century villa of Cardinal Oliviero Carafa which had later belonged to Orazio Farnese, nephew of Paul III (1534/49), and to Cardinal Ippolito d'Este

1578/85 continued by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606), who designed the so-called PALAZZINA GREGORIANA (Gregorian Small Palace) for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)

It would later be used as accommodation, first for the kings of Italy and later for the Presidents of the Republic

Under Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) directed the decorations in the Gallery of Alexander VII

It was the PAPAL RESIDENCE for 278 years, from 1592 with Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) until 1870 when it became the residence of the Savoy family

In 1938 Adolf Hitler was a guest on the main floor of the small palace built by Mascherino under the clock tower and, for the occasion, restorations were carried out and new marble floors were made

Since 1947 it has been the RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC

It was built on the site of the ancient TEMPLE OF SALUS

EXTERIOR OF THE PALACE

WING FACING THE SQUARE AND FAÇADE

1589 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

WING FACING THE GARDEN

1609/11 Flaminio Ponzio (1560/1613) for Paul V Borghese (1605/21)

WING FACING VIA DEL QUIRINALE

1615/17 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) also for Paul V, in place of the deceased Flaminio Ponzio

TOWER

1626 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44)

1615 PORTAL by Carlo Maderno

1638 BENEDICTION LOGGIA by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

“Statue of St. Peter” by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636) and “Statue of St. Paul” by Guillaume Berthelot (about 1570/1648)

Manica Lunga (Long Wing)

Begun 1659 by Bernini, continued by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) and finished by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) who was also responsible for the construction, at the short north end of the wing, of a BUILDING FOR OFFICES OF THE SEGRETARIO DELLE CIFRE (Accounting Secretary) who used to take care of the diplomatic correspondence of the Holy See

PALACE OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

PALAZZO DEI SS. APOSTOLI

Piazza dei Ss. Apostoli 51

1478/80 Giuliano Giamberti aka Giuliano da Sangallo (1445/1516) for Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere who later became Pope Julius II (1503/13)

TWO ADJOINING CLOISTERS

The first dates back to the end of the fifteenth century

The second to the years 1503/12:

Fine marble relief inserted in the wall “Annunciation to the Shepherds, Nativity and Lavender of Christ” by an anonymous sculptor of the fifteenth century

“Fountain” by Domenico Fontana (1543/1607)

“Bronze statue of S. Maximilian Kolbe (1894/1941)”

“Funerary monument of Cardinal Bessarion (1408/72)”

“Cenotaph of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564 )” who had his first tomb in the adjacent Basilica of the Holy Apostles

The recumbent figure is, in fact, maybe the philosopher Ferdinando Eustachio who died in 1594

On February 18, 1564 the funeral of Michelangelo Buonarroti took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles. Eighteen days after the funeral, his nephew Leonardo stole the body and carried it in a cart covered with cloths to Florence, where it was buried in the church of Santa Croce

COLONNA PALACE - COLONNA GALLERY (third part)

GALLERIA COLONNA

The collection was put together from 1650 by Cardinal Girolamo I Colonna (his grandfather was Marcantonio II Colonna the victor of Lepanto)

It was continued from 1666 by his nephew Grand Constable Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna and by his son Filippo II Colonna, who inaugurated the gallery in 1703

The building of the gallery was begun in 1654 by Antonio Del Grande (about 1625/79)

A document written by Antonio Del Grande mentions a collaboration with Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) but the active presence here of the great genius of Baroque art is not otherwise documented

Continued in the years 1693/1703 by Girolamo Fontana (1668/1701)

“It is the most spectacular work designed by Antonio Del Grande in the palace, which was gradually assuming the form of a huge complex with several courtyards, for which only in the eighteenth century, with the intervention first of Nicola Michetti, and then of Paolo Posi, there will be attempts to impose uniformity. The gallery (...) will be finished by Girolamo Fontana, but the wide body, divided into three spaces by two pairs of free Corinthian columns, demonstrates the ability of Del Grande to interpret courtly themes avoiding any rhetorical excess” (Manfredo Tafuri - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

The 210 paintings dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century and the about 150 sculptures mostly ancient are shown to the public for one morning a week since the seventeenth century

STAIRS

“Isabella Colonna Salviati” by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)

Antechamber

“St. Julian Hospitaller” maybe by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47)

“Christ Crowned with Thorns” by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746)

“Vision of St. Jerome” by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)

“Time steals away beauty” by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

“He stands out thanks to a sensibility, become rare, for noble tranquility and grandeur. In contrast to the broken lines of the Zuccaris' school, he loves long lines that runs uninterrupted, with a distinctly melancholy ductus. In line with this approach, in him the modeling of bodies and of drapery does not show, as in his predecessors, the absolute tension toward a strong plastic fullness, but instead something consciously superficial. (...) Even in chiaroscuro, however treated with great care, he does not seek, as it happened for example in the school of Barocci, a surprising effect in patches, but he puts larger areas of well shaded tones alongside each other. Thanks to these qualities, Cavalier d'Arpino's works have an aristocratic touch” (Hermann Voss)

VATICAN CITY APOSTOLIC PALACE

PALAZZO APOSTOLICO DI CITTÀ DEL VATICANO

Città del Vaticano

Current residence of the pope, also known as the Palazzo Sistino (Sistine Palace), designed by Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

In this palace however, neither Sixtus V nor his successors for three centuries, would put a permanent abode preferring other residences, particularly the Palazzo del Quirinale (Quirinal Palace)

The pope’s bedroom is at the right corner on the top floor of the building, next to the private study from which he appears for his Sunday Angelus prayer. The window from which he appears is the second from the right

The pope appears in the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica only on the day of his election, on Christmas, Easter and when he proclaims new saints

On the east side of the top floor there are in succession: bathroom, dental studio, dining room and kitchen. In the penultimate floor is the ceremonial apartment

Pope Francis (2013) decided not to use the Apostolic Palace as his home preferring to live in the Casa di S. Marta. He uses it only for ceremonial purposes

TORRIONE DEGLI SVIZZERI (Tower of the Swiss)

To the northeast of the building

1447/48 maybe by Antonio da Firenze o Bernardo Rossellino (1409/64) for Nicholas V Parentucelli(1447/55)

Originally the height was about 50 m (146 feet), but in 1454, perhaps because of the excessive height, the foundations gave way. It remains today only the much restored lower part

Now the tower is the seat of the Vatican bank, the ISTITUTO OPERE DI RELIGIONE (IOR) or the Institute for Works of Religion). In here work most of the about 110 employees of the bank

ALBANI DEL DRAGO PALACE

PALAZZO ALBANI DEL DRAGO

Via Quattro Fontane angolo Via XX Settembre

1587/90 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Muzio Mattei

Completed and extended along Via XX Settembre (known then as Strada Pia) from 1707 onwards by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) for Cardinal Alessandro Albani, with the addition of the lookout tower

In mid-1800 it was acquired by Queen Maria Cristina widow of Ferdinand VII of Spain, and, at her death, by the Prince Del Drago

Now it is the property of the company Servizi Interbancari, provider of Italian credit card services

In the corner of the crossroad of the Four Fountains there is the fountain with a lion representing the Arno River

Frescoes by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765) and Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

In a room on the second floor there are frescoes copies of those found in ancient tomb of the Nasonii on Via Flaminia

LATERAN OBELISK

OBELISCO LATERANENSE

Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano

Erected for Pharaoh Thutmose III (1457/1424 BC) and his nephew Thutmose IV (1398/1388 BC), both mentioned in the inscription, at Thebes in front of the Temple of Ammon in about 1400 BC

At the time of Moses it was already about 200 years old and it stood in front of the Temple of Ammon for about 1700 years in total

It was brought to Rome by Constantius II (337/361) in 357 and placed in the Circus Maximus

Originally Constantine (306/337), Costantius II's father, had it moved from Thebes and taken to Alexandria to be eventually transported to Constantinople, but after his death, Constantius II changed the destination

It was found at 7 m (23 feet) deep in the Circus Maximus and transported to the Lateran by Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) on August 3, 1588 after a year of work in place of the statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback that had been moved to the Capitol

It is the oldest (if one does not consider the Vatican Obelisk that maybe dates back to 1990 BC) and the highest in Rome: 32.18 m (105.5 feet) and, including the basement, 47 m (154 feet) for a weight of 230 tons (253 tons)

Part of the inscription informs that the obelisk remained in production for thirty years “in the hands of the workers” at the side of the temple of Ammon at Thebes

A small section of the base is still in the center of the Circus Maximus

FLAMINIUM OBELISK

OBELISCO FLAMINIO

Piazza del Popolo

Erected for Pharaoh Ramses II (1297/1213 BC) and his son Mineptah at Heliopolis in Egypt in about 1250 BC

It is 23.30 m (76 feet) high

It was brought to Rome by Augustus and placed in the center of the Circus Maximus in 10 BC

The inscription still on the base remembers the dedication of the obelisk that Augustus made to the Sun

It was found in 1587 at the center of the Circus Maximus broken in three and it was restored and moved to Piazza del Popolo by Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) in 1589 for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

When it was moved to Piazza del Popolo an inscription was engraved on the side facing the church of S. Maria del Popolo in opposition to the Augustan one: “Most august and more glad I rise before the sacred temple of her virginal womb from which during the reign of Augustus the Sun of Justice was born”

It was decorated in 1823 with the basins and the fake Egyptian lions by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) who replaced the previous fountain by Giacomo Della Porta

VATICAN MUSEUMS - APOSTOLIC VATICAN LIBRARY (first part)

BIBLIOTECA APOSTOLICA VATICANA

Founded by Nicholas V Parentucelli (1447/55) in 1451 and made “official” by Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

The building was erected in the years 1587/89 by Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) dividing in two, the Belvedere courtyard by Bramante

About 800,000 printed volumes, 100,000 maps and engravings, 75,000 manuscripts, 70,000 archival volumes, more than 100,000 separate original documents, about 8,200 incunabula

 

Gallery of Urban VIII

Decoration begun by Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615/74) and resumed in 1756

Two “Planispheres” of 1529, one by Diego Ribera, and one by Giovanni da Verrazano, in which the New World was still largely “Terra Incognita”

“Celestial globe painted” 1567 by Giovanni Antonio Vanosio (1535/93) for Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps

It was attributed to Giulio Romano for a misunderstood phrase written by Giorgio Vasari

 

Two Sistine Rooms

Walls

“Episodes of the pontificate of Sixtus V Peretti 1585/90”

Lunettes

“St. Peter's Basilica according to the design of Michelangelo” and “Transportation of the obelisk in St. Peter's Square” 1590 by Giovanni Guerra (1544/1618) and Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)

Four tiny fragments of the moon collected by the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission and given to the pope by the U.S. President Richard Nixon

They are exhibited near a Vatican flag that was taken to the moon by the same astronauts

Small Gallery of the Library

“Hebrew Bible” 1295 by the Urbinate

 

Sistine Hall

1587/89 Domenico Fontana 80 x 16 m (262 x 53 feet)

It was the reading room of the library

Pendentives and lunettes “Views of Rome”

Between the windows “The book through the centuries” and “Glorification of the pontificate of Sixtus V”

The decoration was directed by Giovanni Guerra (1544/1618) and Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614) and executed by Paul Brill (1554/1626), Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613), G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624), Andrea Lilio (about 1555/1632), Orazio Lomi aka Orazio Gentileschi (1563/1639), G.B. Pozzo (1561/91), Avanzino Nucci (1552/1629) and others

“What Ventura Salimbeni had in mind was the unusual color effect, the originality in composition: he cared little for careful preparation and diligent execution. And since the enormous works done under Sixtus V and Clement VIII did not allow a careful examination of individual works, Salimbeni obtained the desired result: his work was chromatically distinguished from the other painters' and attracted the attention” (Hermann Voss)

The wooden cabinets of 1645 once contained manuscripts

 

Two Pauline Rooms

Prepared for Paul V Borghese (1605/21) for storing Greek codes

“Episodes from the Life of Paul V” 1620 by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

In Room II

“Machine to prepare papal bulls” invented by Donato Bramante (1444/1514)