St. ANNE OF THE GROOMS

S. ANNA DEI PALAFRENIERI

Via S. Anna - Città del Vaticano

Begun in 1572 by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) for the Confraternity of the Palafrenieri (Grooms)

Finished in 1583 after his death by his son Giacinto Barozzi (about 1535-40/after 1584)

It was the first church in Rome to have an elliptical plan

It was the church of the palafrenieri (grooms) or the papal sediari (carriers of the papal chair), people that supported the gestatorial chair of the pope and accompanied the pope's carriage

In 1929, following the Conciliation between the Italian state and the church, S. Anna became the parish church of the Vatican and Pius XI Ratti (1922/39) assigned it to the Swiss Guards, designating for the palafrenieri the church of S. Caterina della Rota

FAÇADE

1700/31 Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729), who also added the portal, the balustrade and the bell towers

DOME

1763 by Giovanni Domenico Navone (active since 1706/d. 1770)

Above the doors stucco panels 1746 by G.B. De Rossi

NEAR THE ENTRANCE

“Plaque in memory of the Marquis Del Grillo Onofrio (1714/87)”

He was an eccentric character famous for his practical jokes, a member of the palafrenieri and immortalized in the great 1981 film Il Marchese del Grillo directed by Mario Monicelli with the comedian Alberto Sordi. His tomb is in the church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini

ON THE WALLS

Four frescoes “Scenes from the life of St. Anna” by Ignazio Stern (1679/1748)

MAIN ALTAR

“S. Anna and the Virgin Mary girl” 1927 copy by Arturo Viligiardi (1869/1936) from an original by Alessandro Franchi

Outside to the left of the church there is the unknown but extraordinary FOUNTAIN OF THE BEES by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) who had also prepared a project for the façade of the church

To the right of the church S. ANNA's GATE 1931 by Giuseppe Momo (1875/1940)

It is the church of the SWISS GUARDS in Vatican territory

The Swiss Guards are currently 110 and are at the service of the pope since 1506

During the sack of Rome in 1527 they saved the life of Clement VII Medici (1523/34): 147 died and only 42 survived, escaping with the pope in Castel Sant'Angelo

To be admitted to the corps one must be male, have Swiss citizenship, be of Catholic faith, have served in the Swiss army obtaining a certificate of good conduct, be between 18 and 30 years of age, have minimum height of 174 cm (5.7 feet), being unmarried (marriage is only permitted for corporals and higher ranks), have a certificate of professional capacity or high school diploma and be ready for a minimum service of 25 months

FARNESE PALACE (third part)

Camerino (Dressing Room)

First to be painted for Cardinal Odoardo Farnese with “Scenes of the myths of Hercules, Odysseus and Perseus” 1595 by Annibale Carracci who followed the theme of “The Virtues prevails over Vice” thought by the humanist Fulvio Orsini

The central painting “Hercules at the Crossroads” is at the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples

“Like any great artist, Annibale created something completely new in comparison to his models; he joined the nuanced of Correggio and the warm tonal values of the Venetians to the austere compositions and figurative concepts of late Renaissance in Central Italy, while at the same time, he knew how to give his figures sculptural qualities and plasticity one would seek in vain during the late Renaissance” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Hall of Hercules

Wooden ceiling by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) who also designed the polychrome fireplace

On either side of the fireplace statues “Abundance” and “Peace” 1555/75 by Guglielmo Della Porta (1515/77) for the tomb of Pope Paul III in the apse of the Basilica of St. Peter, but never put in place because, as Vasari wrote, “They left to be desired in chastity

Chamber of the Cardinal

1547 frieze by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66)

Hall of the Farnese Glory

Great mannerist frescoes:

“Celebration of the greatness of the Farnese family: deeds of Paul III (pope of the Council of Trent and peace of Nice between Charles V and the French King Francis I) and celebration of Ranuccio the Elder (represented in the guise of Aeneas) and Peter V Farnese” 1522/56 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“Here for the first time Salviati represented stories with costumes of his time, and we must admit that, despite all the exaggerations of his style of the late period, here dominate a grandeur and a pathos never achieved by any Florentine artist. The walls with frescoes are two, both divided by the same system: in the center, a figure on a throne with chained slaves (...), above, a canopy with allegories full of figures, on the sides, historical scenes, and as a crowning frieze, the usual naked bodies on their knees with medallions and festoons of fruit” (Hermann Voss)

The paintings were completed in 1563 by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66)

ECOLE FRANÇAISE DE ROME

Cultural institution located on the top floor since 1875

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS

“Boundary stone limiting the Tiber” with the name of the censors of 54 BC

Remains of large public buildings in brick with three phases of construction of which the second, Domitian, is the most important

“Mosaics of desultores (acrobats) on horseback” in relation to the near Tarentum and to the Stabula factionum the stables of the four teams of charioteers two of which were in the vicinity

The Veneta (blue) was in the area of Piazza Farnese and the Prasina (green) in the area of S. Lorenzo in Damaso

FARNESE PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO FARNESE

Piazza Farnese

1513/46 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the future Pope Paul III (1534/49) who, once he became pope in 1534, completely renewed the project, doubling the size

The Palace of the Cardinal Albergati-Ferriz was demolished to make room for the building. It used to stand in the right end side area of the palace. Paul III also bought two blocks of irregular shape in front of the building and demolished them to create the square

Some of the materials used for the construction were in part taken from the Constantinian Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls

Sangallo was succeeded by three great architects:

1546/49 Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) who designed the huge CORNICE overhanging about 2 m (6.5 feet), the central balcony with the Farnese coat of arms, part of the SECOND and ALL OF THE THIRD ORDER OF THE COURTYARD

1549/73 Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) who continued it for the two cardinal nephews Ranuccio (d. 1565) and Alessandro Farnese. They were sons of Pierluigi, one of the four children of Paul III

1573/89 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) who completed the REAR WING

The building was so completed in 76 years

It was nicknamed DADO DEI FARNESE (the Farnese Dice) and was considered one of the four wonders of Rome with Palazzo Borghese, the door of the Palazzo Sciarra and the staircase of Palazzo Ruspoli

“Not even twenty years had passed since Peruzzi had built the Farnesina, a pleasant home, in open air, with a lot of light, trees and gardens. Well, Palazzo Farnese is the opposite and indicates a serious decline of Roman society, overwhelmed by the pride of caste and the arrogance of the great families. The monumentality of Palazzo Farnese is no longer expressive of ideals and history: the moment in which the authority is transformed into power, the beauty turns into decoration, the solemnity in pride unnecessarily cloaked in austerity. Not for nothing Palazzo Farnese is the archetype of what it will be in 1600s and in 1700s, i.e. at the time of monarchical absolutism, the royal palace” (Giulio Carlo Argan)

From 1635 it was rented to France who made it the seat of the French embassy

With the extinction of the Farnese family in 1731 and the marriage of the niece of the last heir, Elizabeth, with the King of Spain, Philip V of Bourbon, their assets passed to their son Charles V of Bourbon and the palace became home of the Minister of Naples

In 1861 it hosted the King Francis II and his wife exiled from Naples thanks to a restoration of the interior by Antonio Cipolla (1822/74)

Since 1874 it was again rented to France for its embassy and in 1911 the rent changed into sale for three million francs with right of redemption within 25 years

The right was exercised in 1936 when it was bought by the Italian state and transferred to France for 99 years with a symbolic fee of one lira per year

Italy has the same treatment for reciprocity with its embassy in Paris, the Hôtel de La Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville, a dignified palace but truly laughable when compared to the absolute masterpiece in the history of Western art that is Palazzo Farnese

The building is still, at least until 2035, the French Embassy

COURTYARD

“Two sarcophagi” from the Tomb of Cecilia Metella on the right and from the Baths of Caracalla on the left

BORGHESE PALACE

PALAZZO BORGHESE

Piazza della Fontanella Borghese 22

Begun in 1560 by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) for the Della Genga family

In 1586 it was bought by Cardinal Pietro Deza who employed Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91) to continue the construction

Completed in the years 1605/14 by Flaminio Ponzio (1560/1613) for Cardinal Camillo Borghese who became Pope Paul V (1605/21). Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) also worked on the project

“Inside the Palazzo Borghese, the arrangement of the doors, which allow in the side facing the Piazza Borghese, to see a succession of nine consecutive environments and at the far end, framed in the escape of doors, a particular image of the garden is evidence of an attentiveness to illusive optical values, which reveals the orientation of Ponzio toward a Baroque trend” (Paolo Portoghesi)

It is known as the clavicembalo (harpsicord) for its shape and it is one of the largest palaces of Rome

In the famous FAÇADE TOWARDS THE RIVER TIBER 1612/14 by Flaminio Ponzio, corresponding to the “keyboard” of the great harpsichord, there is a PORTAL built in the years 1671/75 by Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this palace was considered one of the four wonders of the city along with the Palazzo Farnese, the Caetani stairs in Palazzo Ruspoli and the gate of Palazzo Sciarra

It is in part the office of the Spanish Embassy and of the Hunting Club

COURTYARD

Designed by Martino Longhi the Elder with two rows of arches supported by “Ninety-six wonderful columns in pairs” and “Ancient statues” including some that adorned the stage of the Theatre of Pompey

NYMPHAEUM

“Bath of Venus” and fountains by Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615/74) and Carlo Rainaldi

ROOM OF THE FOUR PARTS OF THE WORLD

Superb paintings representing the “Four Continents” by Ludovico Stern (1709/77), his masterpiece

Ludovico Stern (son of Ignazio Stern) served with almost no interruption from 1748 to 1777 for the Prince Paolo Borghese Aldobrandini

“He worked for patrons of the utmost importance and became the most popular painter of altarpieces. Of high rank, although limited in number, was also the decorative cycles for noble residences, culminating in his masterpiece, the four paintings in Palazzo Borghese. His mature style, finally, presents characteristics of refinement of color, essentiality of stroke and simplicity of composition that place him along a line in Roman art of late eighteenth century leading up to Giuseppe Cades, Antonio Cavallucci and Domenico Corvi” (Francesco Petrucci - www.news-art.it)

IN THE OTHER ROOMS

Frescoes by the Roman Ciro Ferri (1634/89), by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) from Bologna, by Domenico Corvi (1721/1803) from Viterbo and by the Venetian Paolo Piazza (1557/1621)

Fresco in the ground floor “Birth of Venus” by Gaetano Lapis (1706/76)

The huge collection of paintings was transferred in 1891 to the Casino Borghese

Part of the building (about 1,000 square meters) was owned by the entrepreneur Vittorio Cecchi Gori from whom it was confiscated in 2009 following the bankruptcy of the football team Fiorentina of which he was president

PIUS IV SMALL PALACE

PALAZZINA DI PIO IV

Via Flaminia 166

1561 Pirro Ligorio (about 1513/83) for Pius IV Medici (1559/65)

Pirro Ligorio adapted the façade to a pre-existing porch of about 1525, maybe by Jacopo Tatti aka Jacopo Sansovino (1486/1570) and to the FOUNTAIN OF THE AQUA VIRGO 1552/53 maybe by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511/92) with a hydraulic system by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73)

The building is also known as PALAZZO BORROMEO as Pius IV gave it to his nephew (his sister's son) St. Charles Borromeo, who had a second floor built and gave it in turn to his sister Anna. After Anna's marriage with a member of the Colonna family, the building passed to them

Now it is the seat of the ITALIAN EMBASSY TO THE HOLY SEE

PALATINE HILL - EASTERN SIDE

ENTRANCE ON VIA DI S. GREGORIO

Gate by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) moved here from its original location on the Sacred Way

Entering it is possible to see the remains of buildings with vaults not yet studied that perhaps had functions of substructure

AQUEDUCT OF CLAUDIUS

Segment of the aqueduct that connected the Celium Hill with the Palatine Hill built by Domitian (81/96) in continuation of that of Nero (54/68) from the Spes Vetus (Porta Maggiore) to the Celium Hill, in turn a continuation of the Aqueduct of Claudius (41/54) 69 km (43 miles) long from the valley of the Aniene River

SEPTIZODIUM SEVERI

Known as Septizodium or according to some archaeologists, Septizonium

It was the monumental façade of a fountain-nymphaeum adorned with columns to impress those who came from the Appian Way

Demolished in about 1588 by order of Pope Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) to obtain building materials with which to construct various buildings, including the Sistine Chapel in the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore, elements of the façade of S. Girolamo degli Illirici and the Fountains of the Crossroads of the Quattro Fontane

ARCHES OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS

Structures of considerable height at the front end facing the Circus Maximus that had functions of substructure, to expand artificially the hill and create a platform to support the new wing of the palace at the time of Septimius Severus (193/211)

Though they are grand structures, they give only a faint idea of what was to be the grandeur of the original massive building

SEVERAN BATHS

Bathhouse from the time of Domitian (81/96)

The upper part of the building, the area of the baths, was built in later times, among which the most important is that of Septimius Severus (193/211), as shown by the marks on the bricks

The construction continued until the time of Maxentius (306/312)

MAXENTIUS BATHS

Among the Severan Baths and the Domus Augustana

Behind the building there is a cylindrical structure located towards the Circus Maximus, perhaps a latrine

Here Septimius Severus built a new imperial stage to watch the races of the Circus Maximus

SO CALLED “STADIUM“

160 x 48 m (525 x 157 feet)

At the two ends small semi-circular buildings, maybes fountains or terminal elements of the spina, the central dividing line

Originally there was a two-story portico restored in the Hadrian's period (117/138)

At the center along the east side there was the imperial box

Maybe it was the Viridarium, green space for rest and walking, and maybe even the Hippodromus Palatii

It was crossed by a wide boulevard ring from which paths and flower beds branched and it was decorated with statues and marbles

Here were found most of the statues now in the Museo Palatino

The small oval enclosure is perhaps dating back to the time of Theodoric (king of Italy 493/526) and may never have been used as an amphitheater, for gladiatorial games had been abolished for about 80 years at the time

PALATINE HILL

PALATINO

Via di S. Gregorio 30

51 m (167 feet) above sea level

It was the most suitable place for the creation of a settlement to control the area below, the so called Forum Boarium, important market near the river port

There are remains of artifacts dating back to the middle Paleolithic (100.000/35.000 BC) proving the human presence in prehistoric times although the first settlement dates from the late Bronze Age (1.300/1.200 BC)

The first urbanization took place in the early Iron Age (800/700 BC) on the top of Germalus, the place where tradition has placed the house of Romulus and in accordance with the chronological Varronian tradition locating here the foundation of Rome sixteen generations after the Trojan war, i.e. in 754/753 BC

With urbanization one refers to:

1) Agricultural increase with surpluses

2) Early secondary and tertiary activities

3) Contacts with the contemporary Greek colonization in Ischia and Cumae

The day of the foundation, April 21, was the same of the feast for the ancient cult of Pales, Italic goddess of flocks and shepherds, which would give rise to the name of the hill, Palatium

The ROMA QUADRATA (Square Rome) mentioned by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, Dio, Solinus and Festo included Palatine and Germalus excluding the Velia

Tacitus gives some indication of the primitive enclosure of the city, under which it is possible to hypothesize the following route, along approximately 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles):

From S. Anastasia, along the south side of the Palatine to St. Gregory, then bend toward the Arch of Constantine, then to the Arch of Titus and S. Francesca Romana then to rejoin the track's Via San Teodoro and down the Velabro again until S. Anastasia

The ends were marked by altars:

The High Altar of Hercules in the Forum Boarium

The Altar of Consus in the valley of the Circus Maximus

The Sanctuary of the Lares at the foot of the Velia

The Curiae Veteres at the northwest corner of Palatine Hill

The hill was always a favorite place for the rich homes of notables. Among the ones who lived here in the late Republican period Marco Emilio Scaurus, Crassus, Cicero, the triumvir Mark Antony and then Augustus (27 BC/14)

His choice was followed by his successors, especially Nero (54/68), Domitian (81/96) with his architect Rabirius, Septimius Severus (193/211) and Elagabalus (218/222)

A single large complex was built called PALATIUM (the Palace) from the name of the hill and not viceversa

It was the seat of Gothic kings (as Theodoric), Byzantines exarchs, popes and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, until Otto III (983/1002)

Then there was complete abandonment and reuse of churches, convents, houses, towers and fortresses (Frangipane family)

 
In 1542 most of the hill was transformed by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) by order of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in the VILLA DEGLI ORTI FANESIANI (Villa Farnese Gardens) which was a botanical garden, with new plants such as the acacia farnesiana

LA VIGNA BOCCAPADULI LITTLE HOUSE

CASINO LA VIGNOLA BOCCAPADULI

Piazzale di Porta Capena

Built in 1538 for Prospero Boccapaduli

It was originally built in a vineyard popularly known as VIGNOLA

It was formerly located on the opposite side of the square

It was reconstructed here in 1911 by Pietro Guidi with modifications to enhance the archaeological walk ordered by the Minister of Education Guido Baccelli

It is the home of the Roman Institute for Italian history from Fascism to Resistance