St. PHILIP NERI

S. FILIPPO NERI

Via Giulia 134 - Deconsecrated

First half of the seventeenth century

Commonly known as S. FILIPPINO

Completely renovated in 1728 maybe by Filippo Raguzzini (1680/1771) for Benedict XIII Orsini (1724/30)

FAÇADE

1767/68 by the Roman Giovanni Francesco Fiori (1709/84)

Restoration in 1853 after a disastrous flood of the River Tiber

Left abandoned and in ruin since 1940

The door is now walled to prevent homeless people to use the building as a temporary home as they used to do in the past

MASSIMO AT THE COLUMNS PALACE

PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE COLONNE

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 145

1159, formerly known as Palazzo del Portico (Palace of the Portico) and part of the houses of the Massimo family

It was built over the ruins of the auditorium of the ODEON OF DOMITIAN (81/96), theater with 10,000 seats south of the Stadium of Domitian (Piazza Navona) used for music competitions that were part of the Certamen Capitolinum

1532/36 rebuilt by Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481/1536) of whom is the architectural masterpiece

The building is still owned by the Massimo family one of the oldest in Rome, legendarily connected to Quintus Fabius Maximus the delayer, but historically documented “only” from the year 999

PORTICO

Beautiful ceiling with wonderful portal that leads into the VESTIBULE with stuccos

Two narrow courtyards that allow light to reach even the lower floors, with sculptures and archaeological finds, including a “Venus Anadyomene”

LOGGIA

Wooden ceiling with stuccos maybe by Baldassarre Peruzzi or Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47)

ENTRANCE HALL

Frieze “Stories of Fabius Maximus” by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66)

TAPESTRY ROOM

Flemish tapestries and frieze of Baldassarre Peruzzi

RED SALON

Frieze painted with scenes of the “Foundation of Rome” by Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546)

In addition heavenly hall and reception room

CHAPEL OF St. PHILIP NERI

On the second floor

Here St. Philip Neri (1515/95) on the 16^th of March 1583 resurrected for a short time the fourteen year old Paolo son of Fabrizio Massimo. After he confessed, he asked to die to join her sister who had died a few days before, so St. Philip Neri blessed him and Paul died again

Every March 16^th a religious ceremony takes place here and the building is open to all

“Miracle of St. Philip” by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio (1552/1626)

PALACE OF THE FOLLOWERS OF St. PHILIP NERI

PALAZZO DEI FILIPPINI

Piazza della Chiesa Nuova

Construction begun in 1621 on the site of the destroyed church of St. Cecilia

1637/43 by the brilliant Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) with Paolo Marucelli (1594/1649), who later quit, for the Congregation of St. Philip Neri (1515/95)

“At the request of the congregation, the façade was not covered in stone, so that it was not in competition with the nearby church. Borromini therefore developed a new and extremely subtle technique that allowed the finer graduations and an absolute precision of detail” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“The main façade, originally facing a measured triangular piazza, arises from afar as a replica of the façade of the church built by Rughesi. But as one approaches it, the analogy turns out to be false appearance and the attempt (...) to distinguish hierarchically the oratory from the church, making it less ornate, turns out to be totally frustrated by an extraordinary density and intensity of images that immediately makes Borromini's building the real star of the surrounding space” (Paolo Portoghesi)

1650/56 wings toward Via di Monte Giordano and Via della Chiesa Nuova by Camillo Arcucci (active from 1646/d. 1667)

ORATORY (or Sala Borromini)

1637/40 by Francesco Borromini

It was here that the musical form known as Oratorio (an opera with a sacred theme, little action and limited drama) which was adopted by the congregation of St. Philip Neri as a liturgical instrument

At the center of the stucco decoration of the vault “Divine Wisdom” 1788 by Pietro Angeletti (about 1737/98)

Altar “St. Cecilia and St. Philip Neri in contemplation of the Madonna in Glory” in 1665 by the Sienese Raffaello Vanni (1587/1673)

REFECTORY with two marble washstand by Borromini

“Borromini conceived the distribution of the various rooms based on the already tested functionality criteria and representative consistency: there is in fact, says Paolo Portoghesi, a courtly tone in communal areas and a resigned and friendly one in the rooms for the private residence” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

CLOCK TOWER

1647/49 by Francesco Borromini

Aedicula below the clock in mosaic 1657 maybe by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

“The urban layout, as background of Via dei Banchi (Benches Street), a road that was familiar to him, because it was where Carlo Maderno lived, suggested the idea of ​​a tower, designed to accommodate a large public clock. Vertical volume of the tower is continuity in the facade below to display the powerful vertical bands which provide a first grand rhythm of partitions. Borromini within this frame designs mirrors repeated grouping using different elements and, on the effect of mild graduated shots surface, set the silver chiaroscuro bending the system of the Mannerist order in swaddling clothes, laid in front of the Collegio Romano, a new rhythmic combinations” (Paolo Portoghesi)

ROMAN NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINES LIBRARY

COLLECTION OF ROMAN NEWSPAPERS

HISTORICAL CAPITOLINE ARCHIVE

“Miracle of St. Agnes” in stucco by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)

ROMAN LIBRARY

“Encounter of S. Leo the Great with Attila” 1648 in stucco by Alessandro Algardi, model in actual size of the masterpiece in the Chapel of the Column of the Basilica of St. Peter

VALLICELLIANA LIBRARY

The oldest olibrary pen to the public in Rome with 118,000 volumes and 2500 manuscripts

Hall dating back to the years 1642/44 by Francesco Borromini

“Divine Wisdom surrounded by stars and emblems of the Doctors of the Church” by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

ROMAN SOCIETY OF ITALIAN HISTORY