St. CHRYSOGONUS

S. CRISOGONO
Piazza Sidney Sonnino 44

Fifth century as a basilica with the name of Titulus Chrysogoni on the remains of a building dating back to the early imperial age

It was enlarged in the eighth century by Gregory III (731/741) who also had the roof remade and promoted a new decoration
Rebuilt in the years 1123/29 for Cardinal Giovanni da Crema
Fully restored in the years 1620/26 by G.B. Soria (1581/1651) for Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese nephew of Paul V (1605/21)
Last renovation in the years 1863/66
It is the national church of the Corsican Nation

BELL TOWER 1124

It is the only church in the world dedicated to St. Chrysogonus, martyred in Aquileia in the year 303 AD

Beautiful coffered ceiling with paintings mirroring the wonderful cosmatesque FLOOR, the best preserved in Rome and one of the most beautiful

CENTER OF THE CEILING

Copy of the painting “Triumph of St. Chrysogonus” by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666)
The original was stolen in 1808 and it is now in the Stafford House in London

TWENTY-TWO COLUMNS IN GRANITE among the largest, precious and rare in Rome. They used to be decorating some ancient Roman building

TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Monument of Cardinal Giovanni Jacopo Millo” by Carlo Marchionni (1702/86) with statues by Pietro Bracci (1700/73)

RIGHT NAVE

“Three Archangels” by Giovanni Mannozzi aka Giovanni da S. Giovanni (1592/1636)
“St. Frances of Rome” and “Crucifixion” by Paolo Guidotti aka the Cavalier Borghese (1560/1629)

HEAD OF THE RIGHT NAVE - CHAPEL OF THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT

1641 maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)
On the altar “Guardian Angel” by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97) covered by an eighteenth-century painting
In the vault “Trinity and angels” Giacinto Gimignani (1606/81), father of Ludovico
On the sides “Funerary Monuments of Monsignor Gaudenzio Poli and Cardinal Fausto Poli” about 1680 with busts by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725)

PRESBYTERY

Ceiling “Blessed Virgin Mary” by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

APSE

In the lower part mosaic “Madonna and Child with Sts. James and Chrysogonus” about 1290 maybe by Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/about 1325)

CANOPY of the high altar by G.B. Soria (1581/1651) who used “Four pillars of alabaster” formerly used in the ancient basilica of the fifth century

Under the altar relics of one hand and skullcap of St. Chrysogonus

LEFT TRANSEPT

Pipe organ 1938 by Giuseppe Migliorini

CHAPEL IN THE LEFT NAVE

Embalmed body visible in a glass case of the Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769/1837)
Born in Siena she lived in Rome from the age of six and worked here as a waitress
She was equipped with incredible prophetic powers that made her announce thousands of historical events before they happened
She claimed to see a mysterious mystical solar orb that was always present above and in front of her

From the sacristy it is possible to go down to the

PALEO CHRISTIAN AND HIGH MIDDLE AGES BASILICA

On the right side

Frescoes of the eleventh century with stories of Sts. Benedict and Sylvester: “Pope Sylvester capturing the dragon”, “St. Pantaleon healing the blind man”, “St. Benedict healing the leper” and “Saving of S. Placido”

On the left side

Frescoes in panels and medallions shaped as clypei of the eight and tenth centuries with “Saints and Martyrs”

“The remains of the classical period discovered during the investigation of the Lower Basilica of St. Chrysogonus allow to reconstruct the ancient Roman street level, nearly 6 m. below the current level, and document the transformation of one (or more?) domus in a titulus, a hall for Christian worship similar to a 'parish' avant la lettre, that, since the beginning of the fifth century AD took the shape of the basilica, with a nave and an external ambulatory (narthex). The Roman house - made entirely in bricks - is almost 2/3 of the volume of the basilica. To build it the forepart of the narthex to the east was added, and the walls were prolonged toward west- in 'opus listatum' with alternating bricks and tufa rocks - in order to build the presbytery and the apse” (Flavia Frauzel - www.trasecoli.it)

VENEZIA PALACE - MUSEUM OF VENEZIA PALACE (second part)

MUSEO DI PALAZZO VENEZIA

Museum of Venezia Palace

In the rooms of the Cybo Apartment and in the premises of the Palazzo Venezia formerly Viridarium of Paul II Barbo (1464/71), which was dismantled and moved in 1911 of about 100 m (330 feet)

Ceilings 1916 by Ludovico Seitz (1844/1908) in imitation of the style of the sixteenth century

VESTIBULE and ANTEROOM

“Bust of Pope Paul II” by the workshop of Paolo Taccone aka Paolo Romano (about 1415/77)

Venetian Paintings

“Double Portrait” about 1502 maybe by Giorgio Zorzi or Giorgio da Castelfranco aka Giorgione (1477-78/1510)

Mysterious and extremely beautiful painting where the light shines differently on the two characters, creating an effect of almost photographic realism

The young man in the foreground holds a wild orange bitter and sweet at the same time that the Renaissance was associated with the sufferings and the joys of love

“Madonna and Child” and “Head of a Young Woman” maybe by Antonio Pisano aka Pisanello (about 1390/about 1455)

The head of a young woman maybe was part of the lost decoration of the Basilica of St. John Lateran that Pisanello had carried out with Gentile da Fabriano in the first half of the fifteenth century and which was destroyed during the works of Francesco Borromini for the Jubilee of 1650

“Madonna and Child” by Paolo Veneziano (active about 1320/62)

Emilia-Romagna Paintings

“Crucifixion” first half of 1400s by Stefano da Ferrara

There are few biographical information regarding this painter and there is much uncertainty in the attributions. In this painting the expressions of torment of the faces are remarkable and innovative

“Christ Carrying the Cross” by Bernardino Zaganelli (about 1465/about 1511)

“Adoration of the Magi” by Lorenzo Sabatini (about 1530/76)

“Pieta” about 1579 by Lelio Orsi (1511/87)

“In this work there are influences of Correggio's poetry, especially in the pathos expressed by the figure of St. John the Evangelist, whereas the plasticity of the body of Christ is livid expression of a strong influence by Michelangelo, disseminated through engravings. Not to mention that from an elaboration of an idea by Michelangelo, namely the Deposition for Vittoria Colonna, comes the pose of Christ lying in the lap of the Mother” (Official website of the Museum of Palazzo Venezia - www.museopalazzovenezia.beniculturali.it)

Lazio, Umbria and Marche Regions Paintings

“Head of the Redeemer” from an artist of the school of Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/about 1325)

“Great Painted Cross” from the church S. Tommaso dei Cenci

Processional banner “Virgin Mary of Mercy” by the Master of Staffolo

Rooms 4 and 5 - Tuscan Paintings

“Marriage of St. Catherine” by the Master of the Coronation of Christ Church

Small panel “Prophet Hosea” by Gherardo di Jacopo aka Starnina (active 1387/1409)

“Nativity” end of 1400s by the school of Filippo Lippi and Pesellino with a portrait of Lorenzo the Magnificent in the lower right

Remarkable “Head of the Redeemer” maybe by Benozzo di Lese aka Benozzo Gozzoli (1420/97), more probably by Fra' Giovanni da Fiesole aka Fra Angelico (about 1395/1455), maybe from the destroyed Chapel of Eugene IV Coldumer (1431/47)

“Episodes from the life of St. Catherine of Alexandria” by Bicci di Lorenzo (1373/1452)

“Vision of St. Bernard” by Francesco di Ubertino Verdi aka Bachiacca (1494/1557)

“Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints” by Mariotto di Cristofano (1393/1457)

Paintings on Canvas

Oldest and largest part of the collection added in 1919 from the collection Ruffo of Motta Bagnara:

“Marriage of St. Catherine” by Ciro Ferri (1634/89)

“Dance of the Nymphs” 1725 by Donato Creti (1671/1749)

“Restless temperament, haunted by an almost obsessive anxiety for perfection, Creti offers a varied range of expressive accents ranging from Veronese inclinations to his own classicism sometimes full of mannerism moods, some other times sublimated in purist formulas, almost neoclassical, largely ahead of its time. This work is a significant blend of his experiences: the party atmosphere is evoked with a Frenchified gallant grace, the traditional Arcadian landscape here is imbued with a rediscovery of more refined ways of the Emilian Mannerism, which give a more decanted and thin grace to this idyll” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“David and Abigail” and “Finding of Moses” by Giuseppe Maria Crespi known as the Spanish (1665/1747) from Bologna

“Dead Christ” by Orazio Borgianni (1578/1616)

“The sons of Francesco Orsini” 1597 maybe by Tiberio Titi (1578/1637), the son of the painter Santi di Tito and official portraitist of the Medici Grand Dukes

“Wedding at Cana” by Francesco Solimena (1657/1747)

“Cleopatra” by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) who represented the Egyptian queen with the face of his daughter Faustina as she dissolves a pearl in vinegar to prove her indifference to luxury

“St. Peter weeping” by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666)

Golden terracotta “Baptism of Jesus” and “Terracotta bust of Pope Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55)” by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)

SPADA PALACE - SPADA GALLERY (third part)

Room III

The room was known as GALLERY OF THE CARDINAL and was designed in the years 1636/37 by Paolo Marucelli (1594/1649)

Ceiling decorations “Four parts of the world, the four elements and the four seasons” 1698/99 by Michelangelo Ricciolini (1654/1715)

“Portrait of Youth” maybe by Annibale Carracci (1560/1609)

“Allegory of the Massacre of the Innocents” about 1639 and “Sacrifice of Iphigenia” 1640 by Pietro Testa (1612/50) Lucca engraver who committed suicide in the Tiber for disappointments in his painting career

“Astronomers” about 1645 and “Cain and Abel” by Niccolò Tornioli (1598/1651)

The Astronomers exalts the new astronomical discoveries and in particular the telescope of 1609 by Galileo Galilei

At the center of the picture is Nicolaus Copernicus showing the phases of the moon, to the left Ptolemy and Aristotle, and on the right the woman with the turban is Astronomy itself. Galileo Galilei (1564/1642) had recently died and this painting was a burning issue at the time

Some scholars saw a quote of the Narcissus attributed to Caravaggio in the man on the right looking into the telescope, as well as one of the reasons they would ascribe with certainty the Narcissus to Caravaggio

“The Vestal Virgins” about 1670 by Ciro Ferri (1634/89)

“Landscape” about 1555 by the visionary Niccolò dell'Abate (about 1510/71)

“There are two scenes socially opposite: the aristocratic wild boar hunting with knights and ladies in the foreground, and the popular procession with the greasy pole in the distance. The fantasy architecture that gives the entire composition a fairytale feel, refers to the Flemish landscapes and to those of Dosso Dossi” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“Feast of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra” about 1701 by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746) from Istria, with Cleopatra dissolving a pearl in wine to show her indifference to wealth

“In the episode, described with theatrical taste, are placed precious details that combine features of sixteenth-century Venetian tradition with those of Roman classicism” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“Allegory of Music and Poetry” and “Allegory of Painting and Sculpture” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

“Summer and Autumn” and “Spring and Winter” by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

“The Abduction of Aeneas” copy of Giacinto Campana (1600/about 1650) from the original by Guido Reni now in the Louvre. Reni himself revised this copy

“The Death of Dido” about 1631 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) composed almost like a scene out of the newly born Italian musical theater, also known as opera, the most comprehensive art form that would eventually spread throughout the world

“The work is remarkable for the scenographic vision and the richness of the costumes is made with plastic and coloristic sense, characteristics of the artist's work, learned from experiences in Veneto, Bologna and Ferrara” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

Two paintings of the same subject “Boreas Abducting Orythia” one by Francesco Solimena (1657/1747) and one by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

“Bacchus” by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)

“Spring or Flora” about 1680 by Carlo Cignani (1628/1719)

“Looting of a village” by Peter Snayers (1592/1666)

Very realistic “Portrait of young man” by a follower of Annibale Carracci

“View of a beach by moonlight” by Egbert van der Poel (1621/64)

“Death of Cleopatra” 1706 and “Death of Marcantonio” 1702 by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742) for Cardinal Fabrizio Spada

“Christ and the Samaritan” about 1677 and the sketch of “Triumph in the name of Jesus” for the vault of the Chiesa del Gesù (Church of Jesus) by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709)

“S. Lucia's shoulders” about 1632 by Francesco Furini (1603/46)

In this very original painting S. Lucia holds a plate with her eyes which had been removed by the torturers. An opportunity for the Florentine Francesco Furini to show off his specialty: painting beautiful bare backs of women

“He preferred the female figure and created a kind of refined painting genre whose subject, inspired by the poems of chivalry, the biblical tradition and mythology, were appreciated by scholarly collectors. Deeply stimulated by the trip to Venice and the painting by Pietro da Cortona (working in Florence in 1637), Furini became in his maturity a painter increasingly fluid and soft” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“Portrait of Angela Mignanelli” about 1730 by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

“The smug expression of the face, not rigid, but natural and of remarkable psychological intensity is enhanced by using soft and pasty brush strokes which give brightness to the eyes, sweet and mysterious at the same time. (...) The artist seems to overcome the ways of Roman portraiture of the seventeenth-eighteenth century and get closer to the French one, anticipating more casual formal solutions that will be in vogue especially in the second half of 1700s at the hands of Mengs, Goya, and Pier Leone Ghezzi” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“Landscape with windmills” 1607 by Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568/1625)

At the center of the room two globes 1616/22 by the Dutch cartographer William Bleau

“Statue of a philosopher sitting” of the beginning of the first century AD

Room IV

“David with the Head of Goliath” about 1610 by Orazio Lomi aka Orazio Gentileschi (1563/1639) from Pisa

About 50 cm (20 inches) of the painting in the lower part have been lost, where the body of Goliath was

“The painting, in which the hand of Agostino Tassi has been identified in the landscape, reflects the classicist ideals of Carracci's style, and the realistic ones that enrich the scene into several parts, as one can see in the rendering of the coat. A terse light affects the body of David, enhancing the volumetric characteristics, in memory of the original Tuscan Mannerist training of the painter” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“Christ and the adulteress” and “Christ tempted by the devil” by Mattia Preti (1613/99)

Christ and the adulteress is a work of extraordinary visual impact and powerful religious significance. The dizzying cleavage of the adulterous woman stuns and draws the eye inexorably as Christ indicates it and watches us expliciting in the act the message of salvation by grace that disregards human works

The message is clear: God's mercy can save us from the sins of the flesh, even from such white and unavoidably erotic flesh

Isn't this cleavage after all so dazzling illuminated by the same light that comes from the right and that shines on Christ's face and also on the beautiful gesture of forgiveness of His left hand?

“La Pietà” by Orazio Borgianni (1578/1616)

“Allegory of Astronomy” by G.B. Magni aka Modenino (about 1592/1674)

Five paintings of the so-called Bamboccio Pieter Van Laer (about 1595/1642)

“The value of detectable anti-rhetorical realism in his paintings reveals a fundamental part of the culture of the Dutch painter in addition to his mastery in the use of light and shadow. His painting and that of his many followers - the Bamboccianti such as Jan Miel, Michiels Sweerts - proposed the discovery of a papal city not monumental, of a Rome that invited reflection on social policies” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

Three paintings in the so-called bambocciante style including “Death of the donkey” and the historical view “Revolt of Masaniello” by Michelangelo Cerquozzi (1602/60)

“Accents more distinctly typical of everyday life than the ones of Pieter Van Laer are detectable in the lively folklore scenes of Cerquozzi, also a follower of Laer, even if he developed an independent style facing also sacred subjects of large format, battles and still lifes” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“The Holy Family with St. John the Baptist” and “Herodias with the head of St. John the Baptist” by Jean Valentin aka Valentin de Boulogne (about 1591/1632)

“St. John the Evangelist” by the Frenchman Nicolas Tournier (1590/post 1657)

“Market” about 1650 by Willem Reuter (1642/1681), influenced by Michiel Sweerts

“Allegory of Vanity” by Andrea Podestà (about 1608/before 1674)

“Capture of Christ” by a follower of Gherardo delle Notti, maybe Trophime Bigot (about 1579/1649)

“S. Cecilia” and “Madonna nursing the Child” by Artemisia Gentileschi (1593/about 1652)

“Worthy disciple of her father Orazio and highly regarded since 1614 in the Florentine art scene, she lived for a long time in Naples, where the local painting environment represented by artists like Cavallino and Caracciolo was deeply influenced by the Caravaggio's knowledge of Artemisia. She inherited from her father the taste for precious fabrics and a preference for the rendering of golden and firm flesh through a naturalistic study of shadows and lights rousing stunningly beautiful effects” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“Both works have been painted in her youth and are characterized by the delicate and refined drawing of colors, for the firmness and for the expressive intensity of the two female figures, the result of the artistic experiences of his father” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

Plaster cast “Divine love defeats profane love” about 1630 maybe a model of the bas-relief at the Galleria Doria Pamphilj by the Flemish artist François Duquesnoy (1597/1643)

SPADA PALACE - SPADA GALLERY (second part)

GALLERIA SPADA

Opened to the public in 1927, closed in the forties and reopened in 1951 for the commitment of the great art historian Federico Zeri who reorganized it, trying to recreate the original appearance of this seventeenth-century private collection

Room I

The decorations on the ceiling and the frieze date back to 1777

“St. Jerome” and “Portrait of Cardinal Bernardino Spada” 1631 by Guido Reni (1575/1642), who maybe also painted the “Slave of Ripa Grande”

“Portrait of Cardinal Bernardino Spada” 1631 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666)

“Cardinal Bernardino Spada during his papal legation in Bologna (1627-1631) had befriended several artists and especially Reni and Guercino. (...) Both became his official painters so much that he did not hesitate to introduce their skills to the Queen of France, Marie de' Medici, who immediately ordered them some important works. (...) In the painting by Reni the refined and vibrant rendition of the colors and the minute details revealed in the representation of the cardinal outfit, enhance his appearance and his aristocratic look smart and aloof” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“David and Goliath” and “Portrait of Cardinal Bernardino Spada” in 1653 by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609/81)

“Landscape” by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

“Portrait of Cardinal Fabrizio Spada” 1754 by Sebastiano Ceccarini (1703/83)

“Bacchus and Ariadne”, “Apollo and Daphne”, “Latona transforming shepherd into frogs” and “Mercury entrusts Bacchus to the nymphs” 1695/99 by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727), pupil of Carlo Maratta

Beautiful mythological tableaux reproducing episodes of Ovid's Metamorphoses with a delicate color taste and sensual compositional lightness

They could be considered a fitting visual counterpart to the sublime notes of many dramatic cantatas by Georg Friedrich Händel (1685/1759)

“Solomon worships idols”, “St. John of God cure the lepers” and various “Roman Emperors” by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)

“Roman Charity” and “Sacrifice of Mirtillus” by Niccolò Tornioli (1598/1651) from Siena

“Cardinal Bernardino Spada in November 1643 bought seven paintings from Niccolò Tornioli, eclectic painter who could expertly merge Caravaggio's culture with the current Baroque of Pietro da Cortona. Of the seven paintings originally in the gallery, remain only four” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

Two “Still Life with small geniuses” 1714 by Onofrio Loth (1665/1715)

“Landscape with Figures” about 1660 and “Landscape with shepherds” about 1670 by Gaspard Dughet (1615/75)

Four views including “View of the Lazio Region with convent” and “View of Janiculum Hill with the church of S. Pietro in Montorio” 1711 by Hendrik Van Lint (1684/1763)

Four “Battles” by the specialist in this genre Jacques Courtois aka Borgognone (1628/79)

“Portrait of Cardinal Benedetto Naro” about 1825 by Vincenzo Camuccini (1771/1844)

“St. Jerome in Penitence” about 1605 by G.B. Crespi aka Cerano (1567/1632)

Room II

The room was designed in the year 1636/37 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)

Frieze by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) which was to serve as a model for the tapestries designed to cover the plinth of the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel

“The Visitation” maybe by Andrea d'Agnolo aka Andrea del Sarto (1486/1531)

“Portrait of a Man” by Leandro da Ponte aka Leandro Bassano (1557/1622) the son of the more famous Jacopo Bassano

“Portrait of Luca Stella Archbishop of Zadar” by Domenico Robusti aka Tintoretto (1560/1635), the son of the more famous Jacopo Tintoretto

“One of the last works by Domenico Tintoretto, excellent portraitist who manages to effortlessly mix components of the Veneto region culture with the one of Lombardy. In the background it's possible to see the city of Zadar where Luca Stella was archbishop from 1615 to 1624” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“Passage of the Red Sea” and “Moses drawing water from a rock” plus four paintings of “Night scenes” by the very original Giovanni Andrea Danducci aka Mastelletta (1575/1655)

“The paintings with stories of Moses are early works made out of delicate pastel colors dating back to the 'bright' period of the painter and clearly reflect the influence of Bassano, of the culture of Ferrara and Bologna, of Dossi and Nicolò dell'Abate, with hints of Caravaggio, as can be noted in the figure of the wanderer with the donkey, at the center of the Passage of the Red Sea. To the same painter belong four other works to be referred to his 'dark' period adopted in the mature stage of its activity. They are very impressive nighttime scenes, with fairy-tale characteristics, inspired perhaps by the chivalry poems, that were staged a lot by theater companies between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and where also there's no lack of reference to the painter Ludovico Carracci” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

Three portraits: “Notable”, “Botanist” and “King David” about 1570 by Bartolomeo Passerotti (1529/92)

“Portrait of Violinist” about 1515 by Tiziano Vecellio (Titian) (about 1490/1576)

“The astrologer” by Prospero Fontana (1512/97), father of Lavinia Fontana

“Three heads” maybe by Francesco Mazzola aka Parmigianino (1503/40)

“Cleopatra” about 1580 by Lavinia Fontana (1552/1614)

“Cardinal Nicolò Gaetani and a prelate” about 1580 by Bartolomeo Cesi (1556/1629)

Two tempera on two sides of a wooden panel with “St. Christopher” (recto) and “St. Luke” (verso) about 1510 by Amico Aspertini (1457/1552) from Bologna, who was heavily influenced by the painting of the north of Europe

“Way to Calvary” and “Eternal God Blessing” about 1495 by Marco Palmezzano (1459/1539)

“The Way to Calvary, taken from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), captures the particular moment in which Simon of Cyrene is forced to help Christ carry the cross, in a calm atmosphere albeit painful, where citations from Melozzo da Forlì in the framing of the composition blend with Bellini themes in the choice of colors with silvery tones and in the background landscape” (Maria Lucrezia Vicini)

“Portrait of young man” 1531 by the Dutchman Jan Van Scorel (1495/1562)

Vivid “Portrait of Julius III Ciocchi del Monte (1550/55)” by an anonymous sixteenth-century Roman artist

“Marble bust of Laocoon” maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

LANCELLOTTI PALACE ON VIA DEI CORONARI

PALAZZO LANCELLOTTI AI CORONARI

Piazza Lancellotti 18

1591/94 Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da Volterra (1535/94) for Cardinal Scipione Lancellotti

It was completed in the years 1598/1610 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629)

PORTAL and BALCONY by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

“Maderno must have kept at least part of the previous project, because the size of the stairs today correspond perfectly to those described in the contract of 1591. His intervention is clearly recognizable in the loggia on the roof, almost identical to that of Palazzo Mattei, in the large windows of the stairs, in the architectural decoration of the courtyard of the stairs of the hallway, of the loggia on the upper floor and of some rooms on the ground floor. The skill with which irregularities and planimetric asymmetries due to previous constructions were masked is also characteristic of Maderno” (Patrizia Cavazzini)

It is one of the few buildings in Rome still inhabited by the same family who built it

On 20 September 1870 the Prince Lancellotti shut the door in protest “against the Italian aggression to the Papal States” and reopened it only in 1929. In the meantime, someone had written on the columns of the portal in red “V.V.E.” (Viva Vittorio Emanuele - Long Live Victor Emmanuel), a writing still readable today albeit faded

The extraordinary collection of ancient statues and marble reliefs, many of which are inserted in the walls and were completed arbitrarily from the seventeenth century onwards, includes more than 100 pieces

The “Lancellotti Discus Thrower” now at Palazzo Massimo used to be kept in this palace

ROOM OF GENEROSITY

In the vault splendid “Allegory of Generosity” by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) with Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

ROOM OF GUERCINO

In the vault “The love of virtue crowns true nobility”1621 Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and Agostino Tassi

ROOM OF THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED

Four oval panels “Allegories and stories of Rinaldo and Armida” 1621 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

ROOM OF THE GROOMS

Grandiose colonnade painted over two floors that opens to fake rural and marine views

LANCELLOTTI PALACE ON PIAZZA NAVONA

PALAZZO LANCELLOTTI A PIAZZA NAVONA

Piazza Navona 114

1552 Pirro Ligorio (about 1513/83) for Cardinal Ludovico de Torres Archbishop of Monreale, who gave a diplomatic contribution to the victory in the Battle of Lepanto connecting the Papal States to the other Christian powers

In mid-1600 the family passed to the Lancellotti family

FRESCOES

“Allegories and stories of Rinaldo and Armida” 1621/23 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

COSTAGUTI PALACE

PALAZZO COSTAGUTI

Piazza Mattei 10

First half of the sixteenth century for Costanzo Patrizi, treasurer of Paul III Farnese (1534/49) who had the church of S. Leonardo De Albis demolished to build this palace

Renovated during the early seventeenth century by Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) for the Costaguti family. They were Genoese bankers and had acquired it in 1578

It still belongs to the descendants of the family, the Marquis Afan de Rivera Costaguti

Unfortunately the palace is not visible to the general public

The original main entrance was the one on Via della Reginella

The rooms are decorated with some of the richest and most important paintings of all Roman palaces:

ROOM OF HERCULES

Painted maybe by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) or Sisto Badalocchio (1585/1645)

ROOM OF HOURS

Paintings maybe by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91) or Sisto Badalocchio

ROOM OF ARIONE

Paintings by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

ROOM OF BACCHUS AND ARIADNE

Frescoes by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)

ROOM OF THE MONTHS

Painted by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66) and his younger brother Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

ROOM OF VENUS AND AENEAS

Frescoes by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

ROOM OF APOLLO

Ceiling “Chariot of the Sun” with Time revealing the Truth and Cupids about 1622 by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641) and perspectives by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

Truth escapes from Time and Night and goes toward Apollo-Sun

ROOM OF ARMIDA AND RINALDO

Ceiling “Rinaldo sleeping kidnapped by Armida” on a chariot drawn by dragons, 1621 spectacular Roman debut of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and perspectives by Agostino Tassi

“Centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira” by Francesco Albani (1578/1660)