St. EUSTACE

S. EUSTACHIO

Via di S. Eustachio 19

Maybe founded by Constantine (306/337) on the site where St. Eustace was martyred and buried with his wife and two children, according to tradition, at the time of the reign of Hadrian (117/138)

This is impossible of course, because during the reign of Hadrian there was, according to historical sources, no persecution. Moreover, according to pagan sources such as the Historia Augusta, Hadrian, shortly before his death, had decided to recognize Christianity and was ready to dedicate temples without statues to Christ

St. Eustace, according to tradition, was a Roman army officer named Placido who had a vision of the crucifix between the antlers of a deer as he was hunting

Mentioned as a diaconia at the time of Gregory II (715/731)

A diaconia was an establishment for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in the Middle Ages

Restored and re-consecrated in 1196 by Celestine III Orsini (1191/98), who also built the bell tower reusing the base dating back to about 1090

Complete reconstruction begun in the years 1701/03 by Cesare Crovara (active from 1682/d. 1703) from a design of 1692 by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)

1703/08 further works directed by G.B. Contini after the death of Crovara. He designed the chapels and the porch

1724/27 completion of work with transept and apse by Antonio Canevari (1681/1759), by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751) and, in the years 1728/30, by Giovanni Domenico Navone (known from 1706/d. 1770), thanks to a legacy of Pope Innocent XIII Conti (1721/24)

The construction of the church therefore lasted about 29 years

Restoration in 1861, in the years 1930/40 and 1992

FAÇADE

1701/03 by Cesare Crovara

It was restored in 1992 with the original so-called “color of the air”, a beautiful celestial hue

Above the pediment sculpture “Deer Head” by Paolo Morelli (known from 1712/d. 1719)

The head was not considered similar to that of a deer by most people, so much that there was a lampoon who claimed to not understand why one would confuse deers with donkeys

TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Funerary monument of Giovanni Giraud” 1843 by Giuseppe Barba

“The interior is a splendid set of architectural structures, figurative elements and ornamental solutions of the more mature Baroque style. Visitor is immediately inserted into a space 'animated' by the intertwining of real or illusory lines and a pleasant harmony of colors and gilding, on which the light is diffused in a game of refractions and references. It seems clear, in this way, as the decoration is not an extrinsic and distracting component, but contributes fully to organize a perfect environment balanced between exuberant magnificence and measured sobriety” (Vincenzo Francia)

COUNTER FAÇADE

Spectacular “Organ” 1764 by Johannes Conradus Werle (1701/77)

Stained glass window with “Penitent Magdalene” of the end of the nineteenth century by Gabriel and Louis Gesta from Toulouse

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY FAMILY

Above the altar “Holy Family in the Temple of Jerusalem” about 1854 by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)

On the right “Funerary monument of Luigi Greppi” 1673

In the two ovals on the sides there were two paintings unfortunately stolen not long ago

2^nd RIGHT – ANNUNCIATION CHAPEL

Designed by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782)

On the altar “Annunciation” about 1620 by Ottavio Lioni (1578/1630)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Above the altar “Sacred Heart of Jesus”, on the right “Christ on the Cross and St. Longinus”, on the left “Supper at Emmaus” and other decorations 1934/37 by Corrado Mezzana (1890/1952)

“In his artistic production (...) it is apparent a crystallization of formulas of classical academic style, especially in the works with sacred subjects (...), while in the stamps' designs, to which he devoted himself assiduously since the thirties, Mezzana was able to synthesize the compositional complexity of the details and the expressive immediacy of allegory” (Rosanna Ruscio - Biographical Dictionary of Italian Treccani)

RIGHT TRANSEPT

“St. Jerome penitent” 1725 by Giacomo Zoboli (1681/1767) from Modena

Under the canvas fine “Confessional in wood” by Corrado Mezzana

MAIN ALTAR

1739 by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751) for Cardinal Neri Corsini

On the altar “Martyrdom of St. Eustace” 1725 by Francesco Fernandi aka Imperiali (1679/1740)

The nickname comes from the fact that the artist was protected by Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali

Under the altar “porphyry urn” which contains the bodies of St. Eustace, his wife Theopista and his son Agapito and his daughter Theopista

CANOPY

1746 Ferdinando Fuga

He devised a remarkable and innovative suspended canopy so not to burden the space

APSE

In the upper part plaster relief “Triumph of the Cross” by Galileo Parisini (1872/1949)

In the niches at the sides plaster statues “Redeemer” and “Immaculate” 1900 by Augusto Foli

“An interesting and original architectural solution can be admired in the transept: the edges are beveled so as to evolve the layout of the church toward an elliptical plan. The elliptical impression is accentuated by the shallow depth of the apse. Elegant balconies accompany, with a smooth convex line, the concavity of the rounded corners” (Vincenzo Francia)

VAULT OF THE TRANSEPT

Fresco with fake dome of 1930

LEFT TRANSEPT

“Meeting of the Virgin and St. Elizabeth” 1725 by Giacomo Zoboli

Under the canvas fine “Confessional in wood” by Corrado Mezzana

PULPIT

Decorated in polychrome marble. Built in memory of the preaching here of Bishop Giacomo Della Chiesa who later became Pope Benedict XV (1914/22)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

1771 Melchiorre Passalacqua, son of Pietro Passalacqua, and Agostino Penna (active since 1768/d. 1800)

On the altar ovate painting “Immaculate Heart of Mary” of the Venetian G.B. Casanova (1730/95) copy from an original donated to the church by Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy

On the right “Holy Family” 1774 by Tommaso Maria Conca (1734/1822) who was a pupil of his uncle, the great Sebastiano Conca

On the left “Flight into Egypt” 1774 maybe by Étienne de La Vallée Poussin (1735/1802) or Michele Paolini

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

1714/19 Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753) designed by Alessandro Sperone

Above the altar “St. Michael the Archangel” 1817 copy by Giovanni Bigatti (1774/1817) from the world famous original by Guido Reni in St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception

To the left “Funeral Monument of Teresa Tognoli Samonati Canale” d. 1807

To the right “Funeral Monument of Silvio Cavalleri” d. 1717 Alessandro Sperone with sculptures by Lorenzo Ottoni(1648/1736)

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JULIAN HOSPITALLER

Above the altar “S. Julian” in 1706 by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721)

ODESCALCHI PALACE

PALAZZO ODESCALCHI

Piazza Ss. Apostoli 80-81

Begun in 1622 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) for the Ludovisi family

He modified the courtyard of a building they had bought in the previous year from the Colonna family

The original structure was a turreted building of the fifteenth century. It belonged to the Benzoni family

FAÇADE

1664 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Flavio Chigi, who had taken it in usufruct in 1661 and had expanded it by buying the Mandosi Palace overlooking Via del Corso

In the years 1745/50 it was extended doubling the sides and in the middle (with sixteen pillars instead of the eight by Bernini and two gates instead of one) by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751) and his assistant Luigi Vanvitelli (1700/73) for the Odescalchi family

They had bought in the same year, even if they had lived here in rent since 1693

“The additions of Salvi did not prejudice the revolutionary importance of Bernini's design. Various architectural elements were combined here in a project of true nobility and grandeur. Bernini had found the formula for the baroque aristocrat palace. And the immense influence of this building extended far beyond the borders of Italy, for example in Vienna and Leningrad” (Rudolf Wittkower)

FAÇADE ON VIA DEL CORSO

1887/89 Raffaele Ojetti (1845/1924) who repaired the damage from a fire in 1887

The palace is still owned by the Odescalchi family and they rent it out partially

The Odescalchis own and keep in the palace a stunning work of art:

“Conversion of St. Paul” 1600/01 by Michelangelo Merisi aka Caravaggio (1571/1610), oil on wood of cypress for Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi

This is the first version, mysteriously never put in place, of the canvas placed in 1605 in the Cerasi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo

“Work of incomparable beauty, still relevant to the first ways of Caravaggio, it was all inserted in the Mannerist style, filled with a golden light that emphasizes a warm and rich palette of color. Yet some deep dark tones hint the revolution that the painter will bring about shortly thereafter in painting. The Odescalchi Conversion shines with its own light, it is made with a smooth and refined painting style that can fully respond to the narrative component of the subject which was inspired, as a homage from the artist to the more famous Conversion frescoed by Michelangelo in the Pauline Chapel. The turmoil of the characters, the wild horse, the Christ that flows from heaven and, not least, the astonishing parallelism, spotted by Cristina Acidini Luchinat, of the gestures of the group of angels in the upper right of Michelangelo's fresco with the angel holding the Christ of Caravaggio's Conversion are clear evidence” (Francesco Buranelli)

PALACE OF THE MOUNTAIN OF MERCY

PALAZZO DEL MONTE DI PIETÀ

Piazza del Monte di Pietà 32

1588 designed by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606) for Cardinal Prospero Santacroce as a modification of previous buildings belonging to the family Santacroce

Headquarters since 1603 of the ISTITUTO DEL MONTE DI PIETÀ (Institute of Pawnshop) at the behest of Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)

It was founded in 1539 with headquarters originally in Via dei Banchi Vecchi to lend money to the poor at low interest against usury

Expanded in the years 1603/29 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) who had as collaborator the then young Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)

Works continued in the years 1629/37 by Bartolomeo Breccioli (?/1639) and Francesco Peparelli (active since 1626/d. 1641)

REAR FAÇADE on Via S. Paolo alla Regola 1735/40 by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751)

It is now a branch of the Unicredit Bank and they continue to make loans in exchange for pledges, an activity carried on here without interruption for almost 500 years

Cappella del Monte di Pietà

Chapel of the Mountain of Mercy

1618 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629), rebuilt 1639/41 by Francesco Peparelli (active since 1626/d. 1641) and continued in the years 1660/70 in the decorations by his pupil Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616/95): he transformed the plan from rectangular to elliptical

Decoration continued 1696/1725 with marble and stuccos by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)

It was consecrated in 1730

VESTIBULE

Oval panel in the vault “Eternal God Surrounded by Angels” 1701 maybe by Michel Maille aka Michele Maglia (active in Rome the second half of the seventeenth century)

“Bust of St. Charles Borromeo” 1657 by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701). St. Charles Borromeo in 1564 was protector of the Monte and wrote its statutes

DOME

Four oval panels with “History of the Monte di Pietà” and central oval panel “Holy Spirit in glory” decoration began in 1696 by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri who coordinated Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736), Simone Giorgini (active in Rome 1677/1712), Michel Maille, Andrea Bertoni and Andrea Berrettoni

“While referring to the examples of Bernini's S. Andrea al Quirinale and St. Thomas of Villanova, the dome sunken-shaped, doesn't have similar monumentality, but it appears lighter as ornamental elements have no structural function” (Susanna Misiano)

STATUES IN THE NICHES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ENTRANCE

On the right “Faith” 1724 by Francesco Moderati (about 1680/after 1724)

On the left “Hope” 1724 by Agostino Cornacchini (1683/1740)

“One of his best works in which the Baroque vehemence is contained in a subdued elegance, infusing lightness and painterly effects in the stone” (Susanna Misiano)

“His best work is the life-size figure of Hope in the chapel of the Monte di Pietà. The body moves with the slight wave of Rome 'Barocchetto' as it is crossed, in an almost musical counterpoint, by the folds of the wet drapery gathered brightly which also serves to reveal the soft underlying shapes” (Robet Engass - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

RELIEFS ABOVE THE SIDE DOORS

On the right “Tobias lends money to Gabelo” 1704 by Pierre Legros (1666/1719)

On the left “Joseph lends the grain to the Egyptians” 1702 by Jean-Baptiste Théodon (1646/1713)

MAIN ALTAR

Relief “Pietà (Mercy)” 1661/76 by Domenico Guidi

“Guidi was largely responsible for the change from the Roman Baroque to the new Late Baroque idiom: this composition, which rises in a curve from the Magdalene at the bottom on the right to the Figure of God the Father at the top, is not without merit, but there isn't discrimination between the degrees of spiritual importance of the sacred characters, nor the individual figures are sufficiently articulated to put the viewer in a position to discern exactly the movements and even to decide whether the drapery belongs to a figure or another: the result is a lively jumble of plastic form” (Rudolf Wittkower)

STATUES IN THE NICHES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE MAIN ALTAR

On the right “Begging” 1724 by Bernardino Cametti (1669/1736)

On the left “Charity” 1721/24 by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725) who maybe coordinated the other sculptors

“Very similar to the Bernini's group of the tomb of Alexander VII in St. Peter, the work, marked by a great dynamism, reveals the artist's effort to show, in a complex and redundant form, his virtuous ability even in his very old age” (Susanna Misiano)

Cappella di S. Maria del Soccorso

Chapel of S. Mary of the Rescue

1759, in Via Arco del Monte with three paintings by an unknown artist of the eighteenth century:

ON THE RIGHT “Adoration of the Magi”

MAIN ALTAR “Virgin and Child bowing to St. John”

ON THE LEFT “Presentation in the Temple”

TREVI FOUNTAIN

FONTANA DI TREVI

Piazza di Trevi

1732/51 Nicola Salvi (1697/1751) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)

It was completed in the years 1751/62 by Giuseppe Pannini (about 1720/about 1810) (son of the painter Giovanni Paolo Pannini) after the death of Salvi in 1751

It is called "Trevi" maybe because it comes from an area formerly known as Trebium (country house) whose name has since disappeared or maybe because it is situated at the confluence of three roads (Trevio o Treio) the current Via Poli, Via Crociferi and Via delle Muratte

The water still comes from the AQUA VIRGO, the aqueduct built in 19 BC by Marcus Agrippa. The springs are at Salone, at the eighth mile of the Via Collatina towards Via Tiburtina, in the Ager Iucullanus between Rome and Tivoli

These springs are 20 km (12.4 miles) away and at a level of height above the fountain of just 6 meters (19 feet). There are no pumps, and water is driven only by force of gravity

It is the only one of the eleven ancient Roman aqueducts to have been always working with only short periods of closure

The aqueduct was restored by Hadrian I (772/795) and in 1453 by Leon Battista Alberti (1406/72) and Bernardo Rossellino (1409/64) for Pope Nicholas V Parentucelli (1447/55)

The great Renaissance architects embellished the old fountain located on the east side of the square (where now Via della Stamperia begins) in the style of their time

PROJECTS to modernize the fountain were entrusted to Giacomo della Porta (1533/1602), Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) and Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669), but they were never realized

The project by Bernini saw only the foundations completed and a basement. The Tomb of Cecilia Metella had been chosen by Urban VIII Barberini as the place from which building materials could have been taken to build the new fountain but fortunately the tomb was spared

Clement XI Albani (1700/21) restored the aqueduct in 1706, and Clement XII Corsini (1730/40) held a contest in 1732 which was won by Nicola Salvi out of 16 projects on display at the Quirinale Palace. The choice of Salvi was due to the insistence of Cardinal Neri Corsini, nephew of the pope, even though the Cement XII had also liked the project by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700/73)

It was inaugurated in 1744 by Benedict XIV Lambertini (1740/58), but it was only finally completed in 1762 for Clement XIII Rezzonico (1758/69) with all the sculptures

It occupies a whole façade of PALAZZO POLI formerly known as Palazzo Ceri

"It represents a perfect synthesis of architecture, sculpture and natural elements. The fundamental theme guiding the work of Salvi is the movement, the perpetual changing of things, of which water, by its very nature is a primary symbol. And the fountain is intensely animated in different parts: in the free-flowing and turbulent water flow, in the irregular shape of the cliff, in the groups of sculptures emerging from it. The magnificent architectural backdrop curtain is rooted in the cliff: Palladian in the lexicon, but rearranged in the articulation of its syntactic elements (see the crowning of the windows on the second order, which breaks the continuity of the cornice, or the free frieze in the attic) and vibrant in the chiaroscuro effect" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

"In the Trevi Fountain (...) the show of water finds its most complete and spectacular expression, from the blades of the central cylindrical cascade to the naturalistic configuration of the smaller bodies of water nested among the rocks, to the geometrical boundary of the basin, it is a continuous interplay of artifice and nature in which the travertine with its rough and chiaroscuro surfaces plays an important role as a mediator between marble's bright stillness and the vibrant race of the waters" (Paolo Portoghesi)

Group of "Ocean" on a shell chariot with "Two Mermen and two Winged Horses" executed at forst in stucco in 1741 by G.B. Maini (1690/1752) and later in marble in the years 1759/62 by Pietro Bracci (1700/73) who was given the task of finishing the work after the Maini's death

The two horses represent the sea respectively calm and rough and are provided with fins instead of hooves

"Bracci's Ocean a little frivolous, standing as a dancing teacher on a huge rockery shell is far from the spirit of the works of Bernini, as it is the picturesque character of the numerous rivulets, or the artificial union of conventional basins with natural rocks. However, the Trevi Fountain is the beautiful swan song of an era that owed all of his vital impulses to one great artist, Gian Lorenzo Bernini" (Rudolf Wittkower)

On the right "Health" 1759/62 and on the left "Wealth" 1759/62 by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)

"Very similar to the Temperance of the Corsini Chapel in San Giovanni in Laterano, even though they are a prelude to the incipient classicism for their greater simplicity and firmness of composition" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

RELIEFS:

On the right "Virgin indicating the location of the source to the Roman troops" by Andrea Bergondi (active in Rome XVIII century)

On the left "Agrippa approving the construction of the aqueduct" by G.B. Grossi

In the upper part FOUR ALLEGORICAL STATUES representing the seasons, carved in 1735, from left:

"Plenty of fruits" by Agostino Corsini (1688/1772)

"Fertility of fields" by Bernardino Ludovisi (about 1713/49)

"Gifts of Autumn" by Francesco Queirolo (1704/62) pupil of Antonio Corradini with whom worked in the amazing Cappella Sansevero in Naples

"Amenities of the meadows" by Bartolomeo Pincellotti (active since 1735/d. 1740) who also made the decoration of the cliff

CENTRAL INSCRIPTION with crest of Clement XII Corsini (1730/40) who commissioned the fountain and on the sides representations of "Fame" 1736 by Paolo Benaglia (?/1739)

The rococò elements of the fountain as the shell on which Ocean stands, for example, are entirely subordinate to a strong late baroque classic style that, despite the crowds and illegal vendors always present, never fails to fascinate and amaze

On the right of the fountain there is a large vase, known as "Asso di Coppe" (Ace of Cups), because it looks like one of the card of this suit. It is said to have been placed there by Salvi to prevent the sight of the fountain to a barber who was constantly criticizing his work from his shop

The tradition of throwing coins into the fountain hoping to return to Rome is perhaps connected with the Roman tradition disappeared at the end of 1800 of the fontanella degli amanti (little fountain of lovers): when a young man had to leave Rome he was accompanied by his girlfriend to the Trevi Fountain to make him drink the water with a new glass which, after the ceremony, was broken. This meant a wish for eternal love

The money being thrown into the water every year by tourists (in 2005 about € 900,000 were collected) is given to the Caritas diocesiana, a registered charity institution of the Vatican. They use it for charitable activities including a supermarket where homeless people can get food for free