TEMPLE OF SERAPIS

TEMPIO DI SERAPIDE
Piazza del Quirinale

Built by Caracalla (211/217)
It was the largest temple of ancient Rome and perhaps in the world together with the Temple of Venus and Rome, of similar size:

135 x 98 m (443 x 322 feet) with an area of 13,230 m² (3.25 acres)
The columns had a diameter of nearly 2 m (6.5 feet) and were 21.17 m (70 feet) high

Serapis was a Greek-Egyptian god, whose cult was introduced in Alexandria by Ptolemy I, who built there the Serapeum
There are conflicting theories about the origins of the deity: the most reliable are the Sinopitic-Babylonian origin (Sinope is in northern Turkey) and the Memphis origin connected with Osiris-Apis 
For the syncretistic phenomenon typical of the Hellenistic age, it was identified with various Greek gods, especially Zeus

In the nearby Villa Colonna there is the largest architectural element existing in Rome of 34 sqm (366 square feet) and weighing 100 tons (110 tons)

Important statues found in the nearby Baths of Constantine were probably part of the decoration of the temple:

“Two Dioscuri” now in Piazza del Quirinale
Two colossal river gods “Tiber”, originally the Tigris River, later transformed with the addition of the twins, and “Nile”, both now in Piazza del Campidoglio

TEMPLE OF HEALTH

TEMPIO DELLA SALUS
Via del Quirinale

306/303 BC, built by Caio Iunius Bubulcus, consul on the year 311 BC, on the area of the current Quirinal Palace, after his victories in the II Samnite War (326/304 BC)

Nothing is left to be seen

There were paintings by Fabio Pittore maybe with scenes of war
The temple gave its name to the nearby PORTA SALUTARIS of the Servian Walls

PALACE OF THE APOSTOLIC DATES GIVERS

PALAZZO DELLA DATARIA APOSTOLICA

Via della Dataria 94

End of the sixteenth century for Cardinal Orazio Maffei

1615 renovated for Paul V Borghese (1605/21) when it became the seat of the Dataria Apostolica (Apostolic Date Givers) the office of the Curia who had the task of affixing the date on papal documents

1860/61 rebuilt by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

It was an important center of power with exceptional financial importance: this is where handouts were conceded and where benefits and ecclesiastical roles were assigned

In 1652 the sub-datario Mascambruno, sentenced to death on charges of having forged the signature of Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55) on some documents, before being beheaded, was conducted in front of the Palazzo della Dataria and here his right hand was cut

The institution was abolished in 1968 by Paul VI Montini (1963/78)

Since 1973 is home to ANSA the main Italian news agency and the fifth in the world

QUIRINAL PALACE (ninth part)

COFFEE HOUSE

1741 Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782)

Two paintings in the room on the mezzanine:

“S. Maria Maggiore” and “Piazza del Quirinale with Palazzo della Consulta” 1742 by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765), a brilliant landscape artist

“It differs from the objective views of Van Wittel for a taste for the theatrical and decorative and for his seemingly casual handling of figurative materials, often arbitrarily combined; but his views nevertheless are widely lucky with foreign travelers: in fact, although they are often invented, they can anyway manage to make alive again the memory of the impact with the grandeur of that historic fabric, the tingle of life, the space and the light of the city” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

Five paintings by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87) in the vault of the green room

Five works by Agostino Masucci (1691/1758) in the turquoise room

SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE

Quirinal Stables

Begun 1722 by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) for Innocent XIII Conti (1721/24) and finished in 1730 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)

Mutilation with removal of the semi-elliptical staircases by Fuga in 1866 by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) to open Via della Dataria

The building was built on the spot where was the glorious Temple of Serapis used to stand. Some of the ancient structures are still visible

In 2000 it was redesigned by Gae Aulenti (1927/2012) as a museum for prestigious temporary exhibitions

QUIRINAL PALACE (eighth part)

TEN ROOMS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

BRONZINO'S ROOM

Ten tapestries displayed in rotation with “History of Joseph Jew” 1546 three of which designed by Jacopo Carrucci aka Pontormo (1494/1556) and the others by Agnolo di Cosimo Tori aka Bronzino (1503/72) commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici for the Room of the Two-Hundreds in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where are the other ten of the series are

“In these tapestries the tormented artificiality of Pontormo reaches its peak. The simplicity of the subject does not raise virtually any concern in the artist, who has become more and more convoluted and self-effacing. (...) The tapestries have a figurative pattern compressed in the vertical direction, with no clear structure or content. It is not surprising that Cosimo and the heads of the Tapestries' factory would no longer employ Pontormo” (Hermann Voss)

ROOM OF DRUSUS

SMALL PASSAGE OF URBAN VIII

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

ROOM OF THE TAPESTRIES OF LILLE

Five tapestries 1715/20 by Guillaume Werniers from models by David Teniers the Younger (1610/90)

SMALL NAPOLEONIC LIVING ROOM

PIFFETTI LIBRARY

MUSIC ROOM

ROOM OF PEACE

ROOM OF VICTORY

ROOM OF THE DAMES

Beautiful frieze “Triumph of Alexander the Great” 1812 by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770/1844)

“Admirable work for the lightness of ornament and for the variety of attitudes in the long procession inspired by the reliefs of the Parthenon” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

Chapel of Pius IX

In the MANICA LUNGA (Long Wing) with five major paintings:

On the right “Madonna with Saints” 1603 maybe by Innocenzo Tacconi (active in Rome 1607/25) and “The Birth of the Virgin” 1643 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

On the altar “Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria with Sts. Jerome and Lucy” 1779 by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)

On the left “Annunciation” by Carlo Maratta 1673 (1625/1713) and “Apparition of the Virgin to St. Lawrence” 1617 by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647)

Garden

“Fountain of the organ” 1596 with hydraulic parts by Giovanni Fontana (1540/1614), brother of Domenico Fontana and expert in hydraulic, with decorations by Giovanni da Neri for Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)

QUIRINAL PALACE (third part)

Pauline Chapel

1617 Carlo Maderno

Same size as the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican

Vault gilded in stucco with rosettes all different from each other built in 1616 by Martino Ferrabosco (active in Rome from 1606/d. 1623)

The vault should have been painted by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644) and the wall behind the altar by Andrea Commodi, the first master of Pietro da Cortona, but the project was not carried out

Monochrome frescoes on the walls “Apostles and Evangelists” 1818 by eleven painters including Tommaso Minardi (1787/1871) and Agostino Tofanelli under the direction of Raffaele Stern (1774/1820)

Four conclaves (elections of popes) took place here in the nineteenth century including the one that elected Pius IX Mastai Ferretti (1846/78)

Room of the seasons

In the vault “Seasons” and at the center “Allegory of Time” 1905 by Alessandro Palombi (active since the end of the XIX/beginning of the XX century) and Ernesto Ballarini (1845/1922)

“Bust of Gallienus (253/268)” third century AD

First Ceremonial Room

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Frieze “Stories of St. Paul” in 1616 by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

In the vault “The fruits of peace” 1906 by Alessandro Palombi and Ernesto Ballarini

Canvas “Chastity punishes love” by Francesco Mancini (1679/1758)

Room of the Virtues

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Frieze “Four virtues” 1616 by Cesare Rossetti (active 1593/1620) and “Landscapes” school of Paul Brill (1554/1626)

Vault mid-nineteenth century maybe by Alessandro Mantovani

Tapestry “Mercury petrifies Aglaurus” about 1550 by the Belgian school of Jean and Guillaume Dermoyen

QUIRINAL PALACE (second part)

INTERIOR OF THE PALACE

In the palace there are:

261 tapestries, Italian, Flemish and French, one of the most important collections in the world

About 38,000 pieces of porcelain

About 300 pre-1800s paintings including works by:

Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546), Simon Vouet (1590/1649), Francesco Mancini (1679/1758), G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709), Jacques Courtois aka Borgognone (1628/79), Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647), Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669), Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) and Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)

About 1900 paintings, drawings and sculptures from the 1800s and 1900s including:

Sculpture “Sad Peri” 1870 by Odoardo Tabacchi (1831/1905) and works by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1799/1873), Giacomo Balla (1871/1958), Arturo Martini (1889/1947), Mino Maccari (1898/1989), Mario Sironi (1885/1961), Mario Mafai (1902/65), Giacomo Manzù (1908/91), Fausto Pirandello (1899/1975), Giuseppe Capogrossi (1900/72), Alberto Ziveri (1908/90), Felice Casorati (1883/1963) and Francesco Trombadori (1886/1961)

Courtyard

Porch with left wing 1589 by Domenico Fontana and right wing 1605/09 by Flaminio Ponzio

Clock with six hours in the Roman way with mosaic 1696 by Giuseppe Conti from a Carlo Maratta painting now in the storage of the Vatican Museums

STAIRCASE OF HONOR

Fragment of fresco “Christ in Glory” from the apse of the Basilica of the Holy Apostles by Melozzo degli Ambrosi aka Melozzo da Forlì (1438/94)

Cuirassier Hall or Royal Hall

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Large frieze “Ambassadors from all over the world” and round panels “Stories of Moses” 1616/17 by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644), Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) and Carlo Saraceni (1579/1620) with the collaboration of Alessandro Turchi aka Orbetto (1578/1649), Giovanni Antonio Galli aka Spadarino (1585/about 1653) and Fra' Paolo Novelli with the painted cornice recovered during the 2006 restoration

“The decorative frame of the frieze designed by Tassi in its abundant organization on the short walls reveals his Florentine late mannerist education, whilst the prospects that are opening in imaginary rooms on the long walls show that he was influenced by the illusionism of northern Italy. It is not easy to establish as Lanfranco and Saraceni had divided the work of figures and scenes: we are confronted with an entente cordiale (friendly understanding) between a pupil of Carracci and a follower of Caravaggio under the direction of a Roman who had studied in Florence. One can add that rarely a Caravaggio follower was considered able to carry out jobs for public frescoes of this kind” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Large lunette relief brought here from the Gregorian Chapel of the Basilica of St. Peter in 1619 with “Washing of the Feet” 1578 by Taddeo Landini (about 1550/96)

“Angels” over the lunette on the left by Guillaume Berthelot (about 1570/1648) and on the right by Pietro Bernini (1562/1629)

French tapestries “Cupid and Psyche” and “Don Quixote” of the eighteen century

“Coat of arms of Italian cities” about 1880 by Gaetano Lodi

In the splays of the windows “Grotesque” by Annibale Duranti