St. ANTHONY OF THE PORTOGUESE

S. ANTONIO DEI PORTOGHESI

Via dei Portoghesi 2

In 1439 a hospice for Portuguese pilgrims was founded here with the financial contribution of Cardinal Antonio Martinez de Chaves

In 1539 the church of the hospice was dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua (1195/1231). In Portugal, where he was born and raised, he is known as St. Anthony of Lisbon

It was rebuilt in the years 1630/38 by Martino Longhi the Younger (1602/60) who designed the FAÇADE, the first job he ever did. He directed the works until 1657

The reconstruction continued in the years 1674/76 with Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) who finished the DOME

The works were completed in 1696 by Cristoforo Schor (1655/1701) who finished Longhi's façade

It is the Portuguese national church

The outer gate of 1869 was designed by Francesco Vespignani (1842/99)

“We don't have documentary sources that allow us to understand the character of the ancient church before the seventeenth century renovation also because, with the sack of Rome in 1527, the archives of the church were devastated. However, an engraving by Girolamo Francino reproduces the fifteenth century façade showing decorative simplicity. (...) A map of Rome in 1551, designed by Leonardo Bufalini, shows the church plant. The building had a semicircular apse, no transept and the space of the nave was marked by two rows of columns. During 2005, on the initiative of the members of the Portuguese Institute, the right side of the church was studied and, under the plaster of the new construction, walls of the fifteenth century church were revealed. Due to these findings, it was demonstrated that the changes undergone by the church over time did not affect the structure of the perimeter wall of the nave, but took on from the previously existing building” (Agnese Iori - Web site of S. Antonio dei Portoghesi - www.ipsar.org)

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