CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE SAXON DISTRICT

S. SPIRITO IN SASSIA
Via dei Penitenzieri 12/Via Borgo S. Spirito

Church inside the SCHOLA SAXONUM, the complex built in the year 727 for Ina king of the Saxons in order to assist his compatriots pilgrims, the English of Wessex, the south west of England

Rebuilt in 1198 when it took the name of S. Spirito (Holy Spirit) for Innocent III Conti di Segni (1198/1216)

It was rebuilt again in the years 1471/75 for the Jubilee of 1475 when it was united to the nearby hospital of S. Spirito at the behest of Pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

After the destruction for the sack of Rome in 1527, new reconstruction and FAÇADE 1538/45 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (1483/1546) for Pope Paul III (1534/49)

“Sangallo was able to operate an organic synthesis between the fifteenth-century architectural culture and the changing needs for urban quality and representational appearance typical of his century and beyond. It is also remarkable this sort of timelessness that hovers in the entire building and that often makes one underestimate the architectural choices and confuses the visitor accustomed to recognize the same architectural choices in many churches of the second half of the sixteenth century” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

COAT OF ARMS, STAIRCASE AND PLASTERING OF THE FAÇADE
1588/90 by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

BELL TOWER
1471 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92). It is unique among the Romans bell towers for its robustness that makes it look like a watchtower for the Vatican citadel

“The decoration of S. Spirito in Sassia represents a significant evolution in the field of contemporary visual arts, especially the works of Jacopo Zucchi showing an attempt to give to the ideologies of the counterreformation a strong structure. The evolution of the sixteenth-century artistic tools here has three phases: in the time of Paul III there is still the Renaissance language assigned to the school of Perin del Vaga. A second phase (1544/77) in which Livio Agresti operates with the interventions of Pompeo Cesura and Giuseppe Valeriano; a third and more important phase, with Jacopo Zucchi eventually replaced by Cesare Nebbia” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

CEILING
Wooden lacunar ceiling of 1547, restored in the mid-1700s and in 1856

COUNTER FAÇADE
“Coming of the Holy Spirit” about 1930 by Antonino Calcagnadoro (1876/1935)
“Angels”, “St. Peter”, “St. Paul” and “Sibyls” about 1583 by Cesare Conti (about 1550/1622)
On the left “Visitation” 1545, the first Roman work of Marco Pino aka Marco da Siena (about 1525/87)
On the right “Conversion of St. Paul” begun in 1545 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63) and finished by his pupil Pedro de Rubiales

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF PENTECOST
Above the altar “Pentecost” 1588, on the right “Prophet Joel”, on the left “St. John the Baptist”, frescoes on the walls and vault by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96)

“The Pentecost theme that in the apse he had painted a few years before had exploded in a clear willingness to involve the whole ecclesial community encompassing the whole church with the miracle action, here is more intimate and exclusive. It becomes an event that qualifies as an example and witness of grace, understood as reward and encouragement that God offers to those who have done well in life. The means employed by Zucchi to express these concepts are very different from those used in the complex machinery of the apse. The medium is no longer the allure of perspective but the emotion of light, whose presence is capable of upsetting and suggest sensations, even to the point to reduce the viewer in a state of feverish excitement” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION
Above the altar “Assumption” 1576 maybe by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79) but more likely by his pupil Litardo Piccioli
On the right “Circumcision” by Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601) and on the left “Nativity of the Virgin Mary” by G.B. Lombardelli (about 1538/92)
Decorations in the basin “Life of the Virgin Mary” by Livio Agresti

ORGAN WITH BALCONY
Fixed here in 1547, according to Arnaldo Bruschi, by Andrea Palladio (1508/80)
Paintings by artists under the organ by artists of the school of Livio Agresti

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND S. FILIPPO NERI
Devotional image “Merciful Jesus” 1994 by the Polish painter Piotr Moskal, which has replaced the lost “Trinity” by Livio Agresti
On the sides “Healing of the blind man and the paralytic” by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79)

4^th RIGHT - TRANSFIGURATION CHAPEL
Above the altar “Ascension” 1570, vault “Pentecost”, on the right “St. Augustine”, on the left “St. Paul” by Giuseppe Valeriano (1542/96)

APSE
In the upper part “God the Father”, in the basin “Jesus between St. Peter and St. John the Baptist”, in the lower part “Pentecost”, on the sides “Stories of Sts. Peter and Paul” 1582/83 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96) with his brother Francesco Zucchi (about 1562/1622) with iconographic program designed by father Egnazio Danti (1536/86), the mastermind of the phantasmagoric Gallery of the Geographical Maps in the Vatican Museums

“The use of a perspective structure open on a fictitious space that simultaneously engages, with an effect of redundancy, on a real space is a bold artistic idea that is unparalleled in its time. Although similar expedients, but on a smaller scale, had already been tested by artists in the High Renaissance (Mantegna, Correggio), it is surprising to see this sudden revival of thematic perspective that Mannerism had made obsolete and especially their application on such a scale. In fact, after the difficult years of religious crisis, the Catholic Church feels now strong enough to regain the initiative and felt the inadequacy of the artistic language tools devised by Mannerism” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

MAIN ALTAR
Relics of Sts. Tryphon, Respicius, Nymph, Agapitus and Severa
On the floor in front of the altar “Commemorative plaque of the physician Giovanni Maria Lancisi” d. 1720

5^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE EVANGELIST AND OF THE VIRGIN MARY
Above the altar “St. John the Evangelist” 1834 by Antonio Giorgini
“Stories of the Old Testament” and on the right “Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist” attributed by Vasari to Marcello Venusti, but in reality by artists of the school of Perin del Vaga

4^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS OR GONZAGA
Above the altar “Deposition” and oil paintings on the wall “Saints and stories of the Old Testament”, on the sides “Adoration of the Shepherds” and “Resurrection” 1554/57 the first major works of Livio Agresti (about 1508/79)

“This chapel opened a new chapter in the history of Roman Mannerism anticipating that devout and pious feeling that would characterize the second half of the century” (Sivigliano Alloisi)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX
On the altar “Crucifix” of the sixteenth century
Frescoes “Stories of the Passion of Christ” maybe by Livio Agresti or Pedro de Rubiales

On the right “Tomb of Antonio Foderato” 1549 containing small relief with “Pietà” by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604), maybe from a design by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) with a very controversial subject at the time, for which Michelangelo was described as an inventor of garbage by an anonymous author of a contemporary document

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. AUGUSTINE
Above the altar “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” (moved here from the first chapel on the left) about 1595 by Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)
Frescoes in the basin with “Stories of St. Augustine”, on the sides “St. Augustine” and “St. Monica” begun by Pompeo Cesura (?/1571) and maybe finished by his pupils

1^st LEFT - BAPTISTERY
Statue of “St. Aloysius Gonzaga and a young man” by Ignazio Jacometti (1819/83)
Frescoes “Saints” by Cesare Nebbia and pupils

SACRISTY
Above the altar “St. Helena, relics of the Passion of Christ, the risen Christ and saints” by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96)

St. Helena in this painting has maybe the appearance of Clelia Farnese, daughter of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese and lover of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici
Vault and walls with “Stories of the Schola Saxonum with popes and allegorical figures” 1648/50 masterpiece by Guidobaldo Abbatini (1600/56) the painter favorited as collaborator by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

RUSPOLI PALACE

PALAZZO RUSPOLI

Via del Corso - Via Fontanella Borghese 56

Begun in 1556 by Giovanni Lippi aka Nanni di Baccio Bigio (about 1513/68)

Continued 1583/86 by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511/92) for the Rucellai family from Florence who sold it in 1629 to the Caetani family

Completed 1633/37 by Bartolomeo Breccioli (?/1639)

Incorporates the former CINEMA ETOILE

Since 1713 it became property of the Ruspoli family who possess it still

It is the seat of the Fondazione Memmo and it hosts temporary exhibitions

STAIRCASE also known as Caetani Staircase 1640 by Martino Longhi the Younger (1602/60) with 120 steps each carved from a single piece of antique marble

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was considered one of the four wonders of Rome along with Palazzo Farnese, Palazzo Borghese and the entrance to Palazzo Sciarra

GALLERY ON THE SECOND FLOOR

Frescoes “Genealogy of the triumphs with deities and allegorical figures” 1589/92 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96) and busts

PALACE OF FLORENCE

PALAZZO DI FIRENZE

Piazza Firenze 27

1516/30 for Jacopo Cardelli as a Palatium, the representative and ceremonial palace of their real home, the Domus Magna i.e. the nearby Palazzo Cardelli

On the death of Balduino Cardelli in 1561 the palace passed to Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and it became the Roman residence of the Medici family

When the Medici became extinct in 1737 it became property of the Lorena family

Since 1870 it belongs to the Italian state and it has been the headquarters of the Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia (Ministry of Justice) before the construction of the Palace on Via Arenula

Since 1929 is home to the SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI founded in 1889 with the aim, as stated in its articles of association, “to protect and promote the Italian language and culture in the world, reviving the spiritual ties of compatriots abroad to Italy and feeding among foreigners love and worship for Italian culture”

COURTYARD and FAÇADE FACING THE GARDEN

Designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511/92) for Julius III Ciocchi Del Monte (1550/55) who gave it in 1550 to his brother Balduino Ciocchi Del Monte

ATRIUM

Paintings by Prospero Fontana (1512/97), father of Lavinia Fontana

Frescoes and stucco in the loggia 1553/55 and frescoes in DRESSING ROOM and in the room of the GRAND DUKE by Prospero Fontana

ROOM OF THE ELEMENTS

Fresco in the ceiling “Demogorgon and the separation of the elements” 1574/75 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96)

ROOM OF THE SEASONS

Fresco in the ceiling “Chariot of the Sun and Aurora” 1574/75 also by Jacopo Zucchi

“The first of the two rooms was influenced by the Room of the Elements by Vasari in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence only with regard to the main idea. Neither the representation of the literary program, nor the decorative arrangement show other affinities with the decoration of the room painted by Vasari. The second room has the Seasons as theme but it is not representing it in paintings rich of figures, but in isolated figures, sat in round medallions. Both the first room, so rich, and the second, simpler, reveal in the fine execution and in the wealth of decorative detail, especially of flowers and festoons of fruit, the miniaturist painter” (Hermann Voss)

HOSPITAL HOLY SPIRIT IN SAXIA - PALACE OF THE COMMANDER

Palazzo del Commendatore

Begun in 1567, maybe by Giovanni Lippi aka Nanni di Baccio Bigio (about 1513/68), finished in 1571 maybe by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606)

It was the seat of the president of the hospital who had the title of Commander

Since 1941 the palace housed the Lancisiana Academy, founded in 1715 by Giovanni Maria Lancisi, doctor of Innocent XI Odescalchi (1676/89), to promote scientific progress in the medical field

In the upper gallery of the courtyard frescoes “Landscapes, weapons and grotesque” 1576/80 by the Sicilian Ercole Perillo

LANCISIANA LIBRARY

About 17,000 books about the history of medicine

LARGE HALL

Frescos “Scenes of the hospital institution” by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96) and his brother Francesco Zucchi (about 1562/1622)

In the vault fresco “Science who subdues ignorance” by Tommaso Cozza

Behind a wall of the library a small window opened up to the frescoes of the Sistine Ward allowing the Commanders to scrutiny the staff caring for the sick