1561/65 by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) for Pius IV Medici
(1559/65), after the ancient NOMENTANA GATE of the Aurelian Walls at 75 m (246
feet) away, under which passed the ancient VIA NOMENTANA, had been walled up
Completed
after Michelangelo's death by his followers Matteo
Bartolani da Città di Castello (about 1527/about 1598) and Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604)
“Coat of arms
of Pius IV Medici” by Jacopo Del Duca with “Angels”
by Nardo De Rossi, restored by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82)
The tools
for barbers stylized in the decoration probably recall the profession of the
Milanese family of Pius IV, namesake of the Florentine bankers
The marble
was taken from the revetment of the Torre dei Conti, which in turn was taken
from the Imperial Fora
“Compared to
the shrine of the Medici Chapel dating back some 40 years earlier,
Michelangelo's forms have become even more complex, such as, for example,
inserting a curved broken pediment in a triangular uninterrupted pediment. At
the same time he shows great interest for the contrasts of texture in the
composition, expressed in the smooth wall surfaces of the central part and the
rough masonry of the side spans. The inventiveness he shows with the blind
windows would be taken up and further developed by the seventeenth-century
architects, such as Bernini and Borromini, who will owe a lot to the Roman
works of Michelangelo” (Peter Murray)
1853/69 Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) who apparently was
inspired by an engraving of 1568 that had to be close enough to the original
plan by Michelangelo
In the
niches “Statues of Sts.
Agnes and Alexander” by Francesco Amadori (active in Rome 1836/67), placed by Vespignani at
the will of Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) who wanted to remember the danger
caused by the collapse of the roof's courtroom in the complex of St. Agnes,
when he had visited it in 1855
The statues
were damaged by shelling in 1870 and relocated here in 1929
During the
skirmish on September 20, 1870 49 Italian Bersaglieri and 19 Papal soldiers
were killed
In the
rooms formerly used as Customs House there is the small
Historical Museum of the Bersaglieri
The
Bersaglieri are a specialty corps of the Italian Army Infantry, famous for the
plumed hat and to be the only military force in the world that in parades
performs running and playing the trumpet
The corps
was established in 1836 by Carlo Alberto of Savoy on the proposal of captain
Alessandro La Marmora
The museum
is currently closed for restoration
COURTYARD
Busts of
the most distinguished representatives of the Bersaglieri Corps including the “Bust
of Enrico Toti (1882/1916)”, a young Roman invalid (he had a leg amputated at
the pelvis) who, despite his disability, volunteered for the First World War
and was killed after he hurled his crutch against the enemy
LA MARMORA
ROOM
“Bust of
Alessandro La Marmora” founder of the Bersaglieri Corps and two rifles that he
himself had invented
HALL OF
HONOR
Various
relics including the “Original Proposition” written by La Marmora himself to
get from King Carlo Alberto the establishment of the corps
MEMORIAL
Dedicated
to the more than 100,000 dead of the Bersaglieri
Saber of
Alessandro La Marmora and his portrait
FIRST FLOOR
Memorabilia,
documents and memories of the campaigns of the Risorgimento from 1848 to 1866
THREE ROOMS
IN THE UPPER FLOOR OF THE SOUTH SIDE
Memorabilia
relating to the colonial campaigns
FIRST FLOOR
OF THE SOUTH SIDE
Memorabilia
relating to the First World War, including the gun that killed at 16 hours on
November 4, 1918 at Quadrivio di Paradiso (Crossroads of Heaven), the nineteen
year old lieutenant Alberto Riva di Villasanta and his riflemen, the last men
to die in the war
GROUND
FLOOR OF THE SOUTH SIDE
Memorabilia
relating to World War II
The museum
also houses a HISTORICAL archive and a LIBRARY with material regarding, of
course, the Bersaglieri Corps
