Borrominiin Rome

A tour around the sightsof Rome to discoverthe Masterpieces ofFrancesco Borromini

1. SAN GIOVANNI DEIFIORENTINI

2. FALCONIERI PALACE

3. SANTA MARIA DEI SETTEDOLORI

4. SPADA PALACE

5. SAN GIROLAMO DELLACARITÀ

6. ORATORIO DEI FILIPPINI

7. PAMPHILIJ PALACE

8. SANT’AGNESE IN AGONE

9. SANT’IVO ALLA SAPIENZA

10. PROPAGANDA FIDE

11. SANT’ANDREA DELLEFRATTE

12. CARPEGNA PALACE

13. ST. CARLO ALLEQUATTRO FONTANE (St.Carlino)

14. BARBERINI PALACE

15. ST. JOHN IN LATERAN

16. SAN GIOVANNI IN OLEO

tourism

Roma for youCollection of information by the Roma City Council

Published by Cosmofilm s.p.a. - Elio de Rosa, EditorEditorial director: Paolo GaleottiText: Sofia BarchiesiEditor: Emanuela BosiLayout: Antonio D’AlessandroGraphics: Marco C. MastrolorenziTranslations by: Protos Translations & Communication (Naples - Italy)

Photos:Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro Archives: 29, 30, 31, 32Roma Sacra Archives: 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25Artistic and Historical Treasures Service of Roma (SBAS): 6, 7, 8, 9, 15, 20Maria Teresa Natali: 24Claudia Primangeli/Soriani f.c.v:Francesca Sinagra/Soriani f.c.v.:Paolo Soriani: 12, 13, 14, 20, 26, 27, 28, 33

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A series of specialistic guides aim to prolong one’s

stay in Rome; a suggestion for people who have

“a few extra” days and desire to deepen the

knowledge of our city.

Carefully studied itineraries to accompany the visitor in the

discovery of the great patrimony of the Renaissance in Ro-

me through the testimonies of great artists such as Cara-

vaggio, Raffaello, Michelangelo.

Walks through baroque art, to admire the splendid architec-

tures by Bernini and Borromini.

Advice for everyone, alike tourists and Romans, in order to

quietly discover and enjoy the testimonies of ages that

played a major part in constructing the extraordinary pre-

sent image of our city.

Tourism OfficeMunicipality of Rome

The M

ap

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1. SAN GIOVANNI DEI FIORENTINI

2. FALCONIERI PALACE

3. SANTA MARIA DEI SETTE DOLORI

4. SPADA PALACE

5. SAN GIROLAMO DELLA CARITÀ

6. ORATORIO DEI FILIPPINI

7. PAMPHILIJ PALACE

8. SANT’AGNESE IN AGONE

9. SANT’IVO ALLA SAPIENZA

10. PROPAGANDA FIDE

11. SANT’ANDREA DELLE FRATTE

12. CARPEGNA PALACE

13. ST. CARLO ALLE QUATTRO FONTANE(St. Carlino)

14. BARBERINI PALACE

15. ST. JOHN IN LATERAN

16. SAN GIOVANNI IN OLEO

CastelSant’Angelo

Piazza delRisorgimento

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The Map

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PiazzaNavona

PiazzaVenezia

Villa Borghese

Piazzadi Spagna

Pantheon

Colosseo

PiazzaFarnese

PiazzaleNuma Pompilio

PiazzaBarberini

StazioneTermini

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San Giovannidei Fiorentini

It is the Florentines’ church in Roma. PopeLeo X, of the Medici Family, gave the com-mission to build it to various architects in-

cluding Michelangelo and Raphael; it was, how-ever, Jacopo Sansovino who began it in 1519,but was forced to abandon the work because ofan accident on the building site. The work wascontinued by others and completed towards theend of the century by Giacomo Della Porta. The dome is by Carlo Maderno while the façadeis from the 18th century. The interior of thechurch, in the shape of a Latin cross with sideaisles divided by pillars, houses sculptures byGianlorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardiand paintings by Lanfranco. Carlo Maderno andFrancesco Borromini were buried in the church.

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6 Façade

The High Altar is the result of the workof two great Baroque protagonists,Borromini and the artist and architect,

Pietro da Cortona. It was he who first re-ceived the commission from Orazio Fal-conieri, who was part of the noble familyowners of the famous palace in Via Giulia. In1634, Cortona created a wooden model,which was left on exhibition for a goodtwenty years, influencing artists like Algardi,Bernini and Borromini himself. In 1656, thearchitect from Ticino lent a hand in thearrangement of the altar carrying out severalmodifications that, however, did not cancelCortona’s mark.The funeral monuments of the Falconieri onthe sidewalls of the presbytery were begunby Borromini and completed by Ciro Ferri.The former created the shape of theaedicule; the latter, the design of the corona-tion after the style of Cortona.The Falconieri family crypt is under the highaltar, and is reached by way of a small stair-case placed behind the altar itself. It was notused because the nearness of the Tiber fre-quently caused the intrusion of water. Borro-mini designed this room. It is oval with alowered vault and a run of ribs which, start-ing from the wooden frame, they convergeon an oval enclosing a stucco relief with twopalm branches, ribbon and garland. Theframe juts out linking the eight half columnswhich frame the four doors which in turnhave oval windows above them. Despite thesmall size, the design of the whole emits asense of great energy and lightness. The en-tire chapel has recently been restored andpainted white.

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The crypt

The High Altar

Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Via Acciaioli, 200168 Roma • Phone 06 68892059Times of opening: every day from 7.30 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to

7 pm.Services: The church has a ramp for handicapped people

FalconieriPalace

The building faces onto Via Giulia,the first straight road in Roma,opened by Donato Bramante

through the interest of Pope Julius II atthe beginning of the 16th century. It runsparallel to Via della Lungara on the otherbank of the Tiber. The two roads werejoined by the Sixtus Bridge; there shouldhave been another bridge in front of theSanto Spirito Hospital, but it was neverbuilt – according to a very clear plan thatreached the basilica of St. Peter’s. Splendid noble palaces, like the Sacchet-ti Palace, and important churches faceonto the road, characterised today byAntique shops. The churches include theRenaissance church of S. Eligio degli Or-efici (attributed to Raphael), S. Giovannidei Fiorentini and S. Maria dell’Orazionee Morte. These last benefited from thepatronage of the Falconieri. Their palaceis, today, the headquarters of the Acade-my of Hungary.

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8 Façade

Orazio Falconieri gave Borromini,around 1645, the task of enlarging andrestoring the building in Via Giulia that

he had acquired in 1638 from the Farnesefamily. The work concerned, in particular, thefaçade overlooking the Tiber. The architectadded a new wing creating an “L” shape witha three-arched gallery, in palladium style andtopped by a balustrade with masks. Thefaçade on Via Giulia was extended but re-spected the original design of the 16th centurypalace, except for the original Hermes withfalcon’s head – a clear allusion to the familyname – placed in the corners. Inside, histwelve ceilings are famous, decorated withcomplex stucco floral friezes.

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Falconieri Palace, Academy of Hungary, Via Giulia, 100186 Roma • Phone 06 6889671 • Fax 06 68805252www.magyarintezet.hu – accadung@tin.itTimes of opening: every day except Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm

and 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm.

Services: The building does not have a ramp for handicapped people

Side facing the Lungotevere

Santa Mariadei Sette Dolori

Camilla Virginia Savelli (1602-1668) had the build-ing of Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori constructed.She was the wife of Pietro Farnese, duke of Latera.

The woman, without children, had met several youngpeople, who wanted to follow a religious life, in thesmall centre. After moving to Roma, the noblewoman,after having overcome some economic difficulties, pur-chased some land for the purposes of founding amonastery that, still today, houses the Augustinianoblates. The construction of the building was delayedbecause of financial problems and was completed onlyin the 18th century. During the Roman Republic (1849),the convent was the home of the military hospital and in1870, it was damaged by the cannonade of Nino Bixio.

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10 Façade

The church, planned by Francesco Bor-romini, is enclosed by the convent, builtin various periods between 1643 and

1667. The façade with its brick curtain is bor-dered by two projecting wings that emphasisethe angularity of the angel. The architectseems to search for an effect of enclosure, al-most alluding to the secluded life of the nuns. The main door opens onto a vestibule shapethe shape of which reveals knowledge andstudy of classic architecture. The church, par-allel to the façade, is rectangular with a verydynamic interior. The pairs of columns, in fact,with a high cornice, emphasise the sidechapels and the high altar. The interior wascompletely repainted in 1845, altering Borro-mini’s wishes to keep it white. The originalfloor, in brickwork, where smooth bricks alter-nated rose-coloured and clear, has been lost. The construction of the church was not com-pleted by the architect because of the pressingcommitments for the jubilee restoration of theLateran Basilica.

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Church of Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori Via Garibaldi, 2700153 Roma – Phone 06 5897327The church is not visitable

The main door

SpadaPalace

The palace was built and decoratedwith splendid paintings and stuccoeshalfway through the 16tth century by

Cardinal Girolamo Capodiferro. Purchasedin 1632 by Cardinal Bernadino Spada, thebuilding was immediately transformed tohouse the residence of the importantprelate. New decorations were done, evenin view of the setting up of the Picturegallery, where it is still possible to admirethe rich furnishings, the sculptures and twoworld maps, emphasising the many inter-est of the householder. Since 1926, the building has been the seatof the Council of State, but it is still possibleto visit, in four rooms, the gallery of the cul-tured prelate, with paintings by famousartists, including Titian and Guido Reni.

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12 Façade

Borromini be-gan work onthe restora-

tion of the SpadaPalace around 1635.He transformed thegrand interior stair-case and built thetwo spiral staircas-es in the façade fac-ing the garden. Themost importantwork, however, wasthe surprisingGallery in Per-spective, the wishof Cardinal Bernadi-no Spada, impas-sioned by thosebaroque virtuosities. The gallery was built ina year, from 1652 to 1653, in collaborationwith the Augustinian mathematician, Gio-vanni Maria da Bitonto. The virtual depth ofthe gallery is about 35 metres, but the realmeasurement is 8.82 metres! The optical il-lusion was made through the convergenceof the planes of the colonnade towards thevanishing point and the upward slope of themosaic floor. At the end of the recently re-stored gallery, on the end wall, is the cast fora small statue of a warrior of the Roman pe-riod placed there halfway through the 1800s.

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Spada Palace, Piazza Capodiferro, 1300186 Rome • Phone 06 6874896 • Fax 06 6861158Times of opening: every day except Mondays, 25th December, 1st

January, 1st May from 8.30 am to 7.30

Entrance: Complete e 5,00, reduced e 2,50, under 18s and over 65sfree of charge

Services: The museum has facilities for handicapped people

For bookings of guided tours with art historians in foreign languagesand for groups of a maximum of 25 people, Phone 06 8555952 (e80,00 in Italian, reduced e 104,00 in a foreign language), booking e1,03

Gallery in perspective

San Girolamodella Carità

It rises over the site of a smaller church, dedicated to the samesaint who, according to tradition, was a guest of the matron Paolahere. In 1524, Clement VII assigned it to the Company of Charity,

formed by him for the purposes of helping the poor. Filippo Neri wasfundamental in the history of the pious institution. He was ordainedpriest here in 1551 (the rooms where he lived can still be visited).Damaged by a fire in the church, which also included a refectory, theguest room and other rooms, it was restored by Domenico Castelli(1647), probably replaced on his death by Carlo Rainaldi.The interior has a single nave with two chapels on each side and an-other two on either side of the high altar. It still has the old woodenceiling and the copy of the famous “Communion of San Girolamo” byDomenichino, moved after the French invasion, to the Vatican PictureGallery. The splendid Anatamaro Chapel dedicated to St. Filippo Neri,the work of Filippo Juvarra (1707) is worthy of note.

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14 Interior

In the first chapel onthe right, belongingto the Spada family

since 1595, is enteredthrough a baroque device,moving, that is, the wingsof the angel on the left.Little is known of the earlyworks, but those begun in1q654 are documentedthrough the interest of fa-ther Virgilio Spada, aclose friend of the archi-tect, even after the closecollaboration in the Valli-celli complex. The question of whetherthe decoration of thechapel was by Borrominior not is controversial; it isprobable that the architect and the religiousman were both concerned, even if the workis a long way from the later style of Borromi-ni. The chapel is rectangular and the wallsare completely covered in polychroma mar-ble creating a special scenic and picturesqueeffect; the veining of the stone, in fact, re-semble a damask cloth. On the rich surfacesmarble tondos with profiles, in relief, of themore important personalities of the family.The two large sepulchres on the sidewallscomplete the decoration. Statues of the twomembers of the family are placed abovethem, the work of students of GianlorenzoBernini.

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Church of San Girolamo della Carità, Via Monserrato, 62/a00186 Roma • Phone 06 6879786Times of opening: Sundays 10.30 am and 11.30 am; Wednesdays for

request

Services: The museum does not have a ramp for handicapped peo-ple

Spada Chapel

The Oratorioof the Filippini

T he birth of the Congregation of the Oratorio isdue to St. Filippo Neri who, born in Florence(1515) lived and worked in Roma from 1533 to

the year of his death in 1595. He began, as a laic, a fruit-ful activity as apostolate and of prayer. He restored theold visit to the Seven Churches, helped the infirm andfounded the brotherhood of the Holy Trinity of the Pil-grims for the reception of the pilgrims (1548). He became priest and gave life to the oratorio: a com-mon form of prayer that included the use of music andsong, but especially, the active involvement of the par-ticipants. As original and joyous forms Filippo and hisfollowers knew how to draw people near to God, ob-taining agreement not only amongst the humblerclasses of the people, but also among the nobles andthe ecclesiastic hierarchy. With the official institution by Gregory XIII, 1575, thecongregation had its home in the church of St. Maria inVallicella, which was rebuilt in the present form andembellished by artists such as Barocci, Caravaggio,Rubens and Pietro da Cortona, becoming one of themain pastoral and cultural centres of the city.

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16 Façade

The first documentthat speaks of theworks of the ar-

chitect from Ticino forthe Filippini is from1636, when he, still notknown by anyone, wasemployed in the re-working of the altar inthe sacristy of the New Church. Very soon, Borro-mini was appointed “house architect”, working inthe so-called room of St. Filippo Neri, rebuilt anddecorated inside the convent (1638).Later, he occupied himself with the constructionof the oratorio, overcoming a series of technicaldifficulties that ensued from the anticipated sitenext to the church. These difficulties were bril-liantly resolved by the architect who was awardedthe commission, making a façade scanned by theasymmetry of the windows. The constructionwas, incredibly, completed in only two years(1638-40). The Façade was conceived by the ar-chitect as “daughter” to that of the church, it issmaller, it is constructed with “inferior but noblematerials”, bricks in contrast to the luminoustravertine of the church. Inside, there are variousrooms like the oratorio (today used as a confer-ence room), the porter’s lodge with the cardi-nals’ residence above, the Vallicelli Library,the Vallicelli Refectory and the RecreationRoom with the famous Borromini Fireplace. Thebuilding also contains the Capitoline Archiveswith the annexed Roman library and the head-quarters of the Roman Society for Native History.

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Oratorio of the Filippini, Piazza della Chiesa Nuova, 1800186 Roma • Phone 06 6882662Services: The oratorio has facilities for handicapped peopleVallicelli Library, Piazza della Chiesa Nuova, 1800186 Roma • Phone 06 6869237Times of opening: from Monday to Thursday: from 8.15 pm to 7.15

pm, Fridays and Saturdays: from 8.15 am to 1.30 pm.Historical Archives and Roman Library, Piazza della Chiesa

Nuova, 18 • 00186 Roma • Phone 0667108100/8130

Times of opening: Monday and Friday: from 9 am to 1 pm, tuesday,wednesday and thursday from 9 am to 4 pm.

Home of literature, Piazza dell’Orologio, 3 • 00186 RomaPhone 06 68134697 • Fax 06 68216951

Times of opening: from Monday to Friday: from 9 am to 7 pm; sat-urday: from 9 am to 1 pm.

Recreation Room in an old print

PamphiljPalace

The Pamphilj Palace in Piazza Navona, todaythe Brasilian Embassy, was built by Girolamoand Carlo Rainaldi, but Innocent X, who had

the family home at heart, called on Francesco Bor-romini to take part. The work by the man from Tici-no (1645 – 50) was documented by some designsthat illustrate the splendour of the project. The dec-oration of the Great Gallery is by Borromini – thensplendidly frescoed with the Stories of Aeneas byPietro da Cortona – and of his head outside, withthe “Serlian” window, also repeated on the oppo-site side of the church of St. Agnes, and the barrelvaulted ceiling in the great room called Palestine,placed between the two internal courtyards.

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Façade

Pamphilj Palace, Brasilian Embassy, Piazza Navona, 14

00186 Roma • Phone 06 68398213 • Fax 06 6867858

Times of opening: closed, only visit for booking

Services: The building has a ramp for handicapped people

Sant’Agnesein Agone

The church is built on the place where, according to tradition, St.Agnes, one of the more popular Roman virgins was put to the pillo-ry and displayed in all her nudity: her hair miraculously grew and

covered her. The church, of medieval origins, was rebuilt halfway throughthe 1600s through the interest of Pope Innocent X. At first, the Pontiffcommissioned Girolamo and Carlo Rainaldi (1652) to carry out the plan,but was not satisfied. The following year, the two were replaced byFrancesco Borromini, who accepted for the most part, the ideas of his pre-decessors with regard to the plan and the arrangement of the interior (on-ly the altars between the main pillars and the balconies, the plan of thesacristy and the doors flanking the altar of it are by Borromini), radicallychanging, however, the design of the façade, conceived with a large con-cave front, that reconnects to the shape of the square which is the focalpoint. The two side campaniles frame the dome with the high tambour.

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Façade

Church of Santa Agnese in Agone, Piazza Navona00186 Roma • Phone 06 3292326 - 06 68192134Times of opening: every day from 9 am to 12 am and from 4 pm to 7

pm.

Services: The church does not have a ramp for handicapped people

Sant’Ivo allaSapienza

The University of Roma, The Studium Urbis, was instituted byBoniface VIII in 1303. It first seat was, probably, in Transte-vere but with the bull of 1431 by Eugenius IV, it was moved

to the St. Eustachio district. Over the centuries, many popes wereconcerned in giving the university a decorous home. Alexander VI,Borgia, at the end of the 1400s, financed the construction of a newbuilding (situated on the site of the present complex of the Sapien-za). It was later enlarged by Leo X and renovated by Pius IV in 1561.Giacomo della Porta followed Guidetto Guidetti and Pirro Ligorioin the events of the building and it was onto his plan that Borromi-ni added his work.. St. Ivo is remembered with the altarpiece forwhich Pietro da Cortona was commissioned, but which was fin-ished by one of his students. In 1936, the faculties were moved tothe University City, immediately outside the old city centre. Today,the ancient seat houses the State Archives and some offices of theSenate of the Republic.

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20 Façade

The church is placed in acourtyard setting, it is one ofthe masterpieces of the archi-

tect from Ticino. The commission tocomplete the construction of thebuilding was given to Borromini byUrban VIII on the advice of Gian-lorenzo Bernini in 1632. In the fol-lowing years, the architect plannedthe church, or the university chapel,which was dedicated to St. Ivo, pro-tector of the consistorial lawyersand generous helper of the poor. The façade coincides with the exe-dra by Della Porta. Borromini addedthe attic to this with the mounts, theemblems of Alexander VII, the pon-tiff who consecrated the church.The façade is characterised by thefamous lantern finishing in a spiralthat seemed to want to screw intothe sky. Both the exterior and the in-terior are completely white. Thecentral plan, in the form of a hexag-onal star, is created by the interpen-etration of two equilateral triangles.The walls are decorated with archi-tectonic items alternating with nich-es that were originally aimed atholding statues. The dome dividedinto segments, is decorated with rows ofstars, cherubs, Chigi mountains, and laurelwreaths, culminating in the dove of the HolySpirit. The entire decoration, interior and ex-terior, exalts the theme of divine knowledge.

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Church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, Corso Rinascimento, 4000186 Roma • Phone 06 6864987 • 06 3612562e-mail: santivo.ccu@usa.netTimes of opening: from monday to friday from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm, on

saturday from 10 am to 1 pm, on sunday fron 9 am to 12 amServices: The church does not have a ramp for handicapped people.

Interior

Lantern

PropagandaFide

F ollowing the spread of the Reformation in Eu-rope, the Church of Roma found itself under-takes a new task of evangelisation and de-

fence of the Catholic faith. In order to confront theundertaking, it needed priests coming from the vari-ous nations in the hands of the protestants, whowere, however, adequately prepared. An indispens-able instrument was found in the institution of col-leges aimed at teaching the clergy. In particular,Gregory XIII spent lavishly in order to set up manyinstitutions – the Armenian, Maronite, Greek, Eng-lish, and Irish colleges – strengthened the universitywith Jesuits, the Roman College and protected theGermanic-Hungarian one. Clement VIII founded theScottish College at the end of the 1500s. Inspired by his predecessors, Gregory XV instituted theCongregation “pro Propaganda fide” in 1622. The col-lege was born as a place forthe education of youngpriests of various nationali-ties, to send, once ready, toevangelise distant people.The Congregation soon be-came one of the strongestinstruments of the church.

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22Entrance

In 1626, a Spanish priest, JuanBaptiste Vives, gave the ex-Fer-ratini palace to the Congrega-

tion. It is situated on the south sideof Piazza di Spagna. The followingyear, cardinal Antonio Barberini se-nior, set up the Alunnato here, forthe young of six nations (called Ur-ban College in honour of the reign-ing pope). An early work on thebuilding, in 1634, is down to Gian-lorenzo Bernini, who planned an in-ternal chapel, dedicated to theThree Kings, and having an inde-pendent entrance from the street.Later, the congregation decided toacquire the whole block (1644) andthe façade in the square was built.In 1646, Francesco Borromini was commis-sioned to plan the new wing in Via dellaMercede. At first, the architect thought ofadapting the existing chapel to the interiorof the new building, but later (1650), he de-cided to rebuild, making it bigger, causingcontrasts with Bernini. The rectangular planof the room was lightened thanks to themany sources of light and the great dy-namism suggested by the design, with inter-laced arched in the vault and large windowsin the walls.

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Propaganda Fide, Via Propaganda Fide 1/c00186 Roma • Phone 06 69879299 - 06 69880118Times of opening: visitable on request (fax. 06 69880246)

Services: The building has a ramp for handicapped people

Vault

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Sant’Andreadelle FratteT he church is called “delle fratte” because, during

the Middle Ages, it was located outside the residen-tial area. After having been, during the Middle

Ages, the headquarters of the Scots, the church was givenby Pope Sixtus V (1585), to the Minimum Brothers of St.Francis of Paola. Rebuilt at the beginning of the 1600sthrough the interest of the Marquis Paolo Del Bufalo,based on the plans by Gaspare Guerra, the church has ataste of the late 1500s. The interior has a single nave withbarrel vaulting and three chapels on each side. There arealso two of the famous marble angels by Bernini for the St.Angelo bridge (regarded by Clement XI as too fine to beleft exposed to the elements, remained in the artist’s stu-dio and were donated by the nephew in 1729). The chapel of St. Francis of Paola is also very beautiful, itwas built in 1726 by Filippo Barigioni. The Stations of theCross created by various Italian and foreign artists tied tothe ring of the Nazarenes who frequented the area at thebeginning of the 1800s, can also be seen.

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24 Interior

In 1653, Borromini was commissioned bythe Marquis Paolo del Bufalo to completethe church of St. Andrea delle Fratte, at

that time, still without the choir and thetransept. After having suggested an ovaldome, refused by the client, Borromini de-signed another but set in a high square tam-bour with rounded corners. The design ofthe campanile is bizarre and spectacular. It issquare, taken from the tambour, culminatingwith cherubs with folded wings to act asherms and with the four scrolls supportingthe emblems of the saint and of the family.

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The Church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, Via S. Andrea delleFratte, 1 • 00186 Roma • Phone 06 6780752Times of opening: every day from 6.30 am to 12.30 am and from 4 pm to 7

pm; Saturday and Sundays from 6.30 am to 12.30 am and from 4pm to 8 pm.

Services: The museum has special access facilities for handicapped people.

The campanile

The CarpegnaPalace

The construction of the palace near theTrevi Fountain, has been dated to theend of the 16th century and attributed

to the followers of the famous Giacomo DellaPorta. The building, commissioned by theVaini family wasn’t sufficiently prestigioussince, as is said in the documents, when theCarpegna’s acquired it in the 1630s, they im-mediately decided to change and enlarge it.Since 1932, the building has been the head-quarters of the National Academy of St. Luke,established in 1577. The old institutionmoved the works that form the Gallery of theAcademy of St. Luke from the demolishedsite of Saints Luke and Martina. The works in-clude paintings by Raphael, Jacopo Bassano,Guido Reni, Pietro da Cortona and Baciccia.

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26 Façade

The reconstruc-tion of thepalace can be

dated to the periodbetween 1638 and1647. From the de-signs that have re-mained, it can beunderstood that,unfortunately, verylittle of the Borro-mini project wascarried out. Theworks done by Bor-romini, on the re-quest of Count Am-brogio Carpegna,shortly after he be-came the owner ofthe property, arethe curved greatstaircase, the in-ternal portico, thecourtyard and es-pecially the surpris-ing internal main door. The latter is charac-terised by two columns supporting over-turned cornucopias whose winged oval endis, with the face of Medusa, a classic motifthat was said to keep away evil spirits. A fes-toon of laurel leaves and flowers hang fromthe capitals and together with the upper dec-oration forms an original oval.

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Gallery of the Academy of San Luca, Piazza Accademia di SanLuca, 77 • 00187 Rome • Phone 06 6798850 - 06 6790324Fax 06 6789243www.accademiasanluca.itTimes of opening: From Monday to Saturday 10 am and 12.30 am.Entrance: Free of chargeServices: The museum has special access facilities for handi-

capped people.

The main door

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St. Carlo alleQuattro Fontane

(S. Carlino)

T he religious order of the Trinitari was found-ed in Paris by Giovanni di Matha and Felicedi Valois at the end of the 12th century.

The main purpose of the institution was the re-demption of slaves to which help for the poor wasthen added. The first activity was connected to there-conquest of the Holy Land, after the fall ofJerusalem into the hands of the ferocious Saladin(1187). It was, in fact, during the course of the bat-tles that many Christians were captured and en-slaved by Moslems. The order received the approvalof Pope Innocent III -colleague and closefriend of Giovannidi Matha at the uni-versity of Paris – inRoma in 1198.

Façade

13 thVisit

The church stands on thesite of the small chapeldedicated to the Trinity

and to St. Carlo Borromao. Itwas built in 1611 by the Spanishbarefoot Trinitari fathers. On thealtar of the chapel, there was analtarpiece by Orazio Borgianni,friend of Caravaggio, it is now in the sacristy.With the passing of time, the importance of theorder grew so much that, in very few year, the fa-thers acquired surrounding land for the purpos-es of enlarging the holy building. The projectwas given to Borromini who built the convent intwo years (1634 – 6), which was later enlargedduring the course of the 18th century. The worksfor the church began some years later and it wasconsecrated only in 1646, despite the lack of afaçade. The façade was begun in 1664, but threeyears later, when the architect died, it still hadn’tbeen completed.The church, called S. Carlino because of its smallsize, is thus the first and also last work of the ar-chitect from Ticino, who didn’t want to be paid.The façade in travertine, is distinguished by thewavy surface and is enriched by columns, thebalcony, the great oval bowl held up by angels,and the statues of Borromao and the twofounders of the Trinitari. The Interior has a par-ticular form resulting from the insertion of an oc-tagon into an oval. The dome is oval with cais-sons of various shapes, octagonal, hexagonaland cross-shaped. In the centre is the symbol ofthe Trinity, the emblem of the order. The smallcloister is gained from the convent, it is parallelto the main axis of the church –of squashed ovalshape and with two orders of galleries.

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Vault

Church of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Via del Quirinale, 2300187 Roma • Phone 06 4883261 • Fax 06 4817301www.sancarlino.borromini.it • sancarlino@tiscalinet.itTimes of opening: Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 1 pmServices: The museum does not have special access facilities for

handicapped people

14th

Visit

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BarberiniPalace

The palace was firstplanned by Carlo Mader-no, the construction of

which was continued with thehelp of Borromini, hisnephew. On the death ofMaderno (1629), GianlorenzoBernini became manager ofthe building site; he continuedto use the help of the youngman from Ticino until 1632.The great winding staircase(based on the classic model ofthe Caprarola Palace), thedoors to the main room (evenif limited by the Bernini plan),the side windows next to thegallery in the façade - important in the devel-opment of the baroque style in Roma andcopied from those of his uncle in the façade ofSt. Peter’s, and those on the opposite sideclearly influenced by Michelangelo but with abizarre anthropomorphic connotation whichmake them look like masks, can be attributedto Francesco Borromini.

Window

National Gallery of Classic Art, via Barberini, 18• 00184 RomaPhone 06 4814591 • Fax 06 32651329 • info@galleriaborgh-ese.it www.galleriaborghese.it/barberini/it

Time of opening: From tuesday to sunday except Mondays, 1st Januaryand 25th December, from 8.30 am to 7 pm.

Entrance: complete e 5,00, reduced e 2,50, free of charge for under 18’sand over 65’s

Services: The museum has special access facilities for handicappedpeople.

For bookings of guided tours with art historians in foreign languages andfor groups of a maximum of 25 people, Phone 06 8555952 (e 80 in Ital-ian, e e 104 in a foreign language)

St. Johnin Lateran

The basilica – or more correctly Holy Saviour, and the saints Johnthe Baptist and John the Evangelist – is the cathedral of Roma. Itwas built in the form of a basilica with five aisles like the original

St. Peter’s’ on old constructions; the horse-guards’ barracks of the em-peror, through the interest of Constantine, who gave it to the AfricanPope, Melchiades. When it was inaugurated in 327, it was dedicatedonly to the Holy Saviour. Damaged and restored several time, thebasilica was always subject of important artistic operations. Afterthose of the Middle Ages, among others there were the lost frescoesby Gentile da Fabriano and Pisanello. The works undertaken underSixtus V were decisive, the nearby Lateran Palace, residence of Pontif-fs up to the period of the Avignon captivity is also interesting. Apartfrom the restoration by Borromini, the basilica is noted for the splen-did Façade, built on the design by Alessandro Galilei (finished in1735). Inside, under the tabernacle is the papal altar (where only thePontiffs may celebrate mass) where the old wooden altar is preserved.Besides the many works preserved, the cloister of the Vassalletto andthe nearby octagonal baptistery also erected by Constantine over abaths building of the 2nd century AD., are of particular importance.

15 thVisit

31Façade

15th

Visit

The restoration of the basilica was with-out doubt the most important commis-sion given to Borromini. It was Innocent

X, Pamphilj, who ordered the restoration of thebuilding that had gone into a state of decay forthe Jubilee of 1650. The pope, however, limitedthe ingenious solutions presented by the archi-tect, since he intended to preserve as much aspossible of the previous works. The most dras-tic decision concerned the renunciation of theconstruction of the vault in the main nave,planned in barrel vaulting of rounded caissonarches, and, instead, stayed with the previouswooden ceiling from halfway through the1500s. The main nave has pillars with twelveaedicules decorated in the tympanum by thepapal dove, in which colossal statues wereplaced in the 18th century. The architectarranged the sepulchral fragments from earlierperiods of the basilica in a completely originalmanner, in the side aisles. He placed them inaedicules carved into the wall and embellishingthem with decorative items invented by him.

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Basilica of St. John in Lateran, Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano00184 Roma • Phone 06 69886433 • Fax 06 69886535Segr. 0669886452Times of opening: every day from 7 am to 7 pm.

Services: The basilica has a ramp for handicapped people.

Interior

San Giovanniin Oleo

The origins of Via Latinaare remote and alreadyformed by Nature. The

road was used by the Etruscansto colonise Campania and wasdefinitely traced back to the 4thand 3rd centuries BC. It repre-sented an alternative to the ViaAppia, since, like the “ReginaViarum”, Via Latina reached Ca-pua, touching the valleys of theLiri and of the Sacco. The pre-sent route follows the Romanone. Along the way there wereto be found funeral monuments,patrician villas and catacombs

almost completely lost because of the heavy ur-ban expansion undertaken during the 14th cen-tury, in the tract that joined Roma to Anagni.The city gate at the start of the road retains theoriginal architectonic features.

16 thVisit

33

The small chapel near the Latina Gate dates back to the 5thcentury AD. And was built on the site where tradition has itthat St. John the Evangelist was immersed in a container of

boiling oil, a terrible trial that miraculously did not kill the saint. Thebuilding was renovated by Baldassare Peruzzi or Antonio da San-gallo at the beginning of the 1500s. Borromini’s work, commis-sioned by Cardinal Francesco Paulucci was carried out in 1658 andwas limited to the tambour to which the artist added a high frieze.There is a Gothic-style motif with palms and rose windows in pairson the conical cap. In 1716, the interior was decorated by LazzaroBaldi, a student of Pietro da Cortona.

Chapel

The chapel situated on Via Appia, is visitable on request.(Apply to the church of S. Giovanni at Porta Latina, Phone 06 70491777)

Services: The chapel does not have a ramp for handicapped people

The l

ife

The life of the Artist.

Francesco Castelli, who, from 1628 signed himself as Borromini– from “Bromino” or “Brumino”, a nickname used by his fami-ly and coming from the name of an ancient locality or from the

ties with the Borromaos – was born in Bissone, near Lugano on the27th September 1599. He was the first-born of four children and wasthe son of art. Both the paternal family and that of the mother, a Gar-vo, had in their lines, architects, engineers, stonecutters and sculp-tors. It is no wonder since there were numerous families of stonecut-ters and architects coming from the Ticino Canton that were activeall over Europe. Francesco left the town at the age of only nine, in1608, to go to Milan “to learn the art of stone cutter”. After his ap-prenticeship, he took part, among other things, in the building sitefor the Cathedral.In 1619, “he got in with some young people of his own age”, He wentto Roma where he was guest of his cousin Leone Garvo, who is theacquired nephew of Carlo Maderno. It was the latter, noted architect,who introduced Borromini to the St. Peter’s building site. Again, itwas Maderno, having noticed the passion with which the youngFrancesco carried out the assignments given to him, “gave him workand trace clean designs”, a task that Borromini took to heart: “Thedesigns were his children”. After the accidental death of his cousinon the St. Peter’s building site, Francesco acquired some goods fromthe unfortunate relative (marble and work tools) and replaced him insociety with another two Ticino tablets. Leone Garvo, probably, livedin the same house where Borromini could have lived, in Via dell’Ag-nello, 3, not far from the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. WithMaderno, Borromini also worked on the building sites of the churchof Sant’Andrea delle Valle (decorations of the lantern) and the Bar-berini Palace, then under Gianlorenzo Bernini. With the latter, he col-laborated in the construction of the canopy in the Vatican basilica(1631- 33). The great rivalry between the two artists had already be-gun. On one side, Borromini, saturnine and melancholic with greatmoral sensitivity proud and intransigent in his profession so muchas to be the subject to neurosis. On the other, Bernini, astute and ca-sual in moving among the high papal hierarchies of Roma. Under Ur-ban VIII, the architect from Ticino had only one official commission,and what is more, under the indication of Bernini: the appointmentas architect for the university of the Sapienza (1632). The works for

34

Borromini

La vita

the university church, St. Ivo, began,nevertheless, only ten years later.Between 1634 and 1641, he was oc-cupied with his first work as an inde-pendent architect. The church andconvent of the Spanish Trinitari ofSt. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane. Evi-dently, the commissions from the re-ligious orders were more suited to Borromini, who in those yearsworked mainly for the Oratorians of St. Filippo Neri (until 1650).The astonishing design for St. Carlino, impressed the NeapolitanArchbishop Ascanio Filomarino, who gave him the work on the altarin the chapel of the Annunciation in the church of the Apostle inNaples. In the Parthenopean city he also did the lost decoration forthe apse and ciborium of St. Maria a Cappella Nuova (1639 – 42).He did not abandon the craft of stonecutter because he designed andmade the Merlini monument in St. Maria Maggiore in 1642.After the election of Pope Innocent X, Pamphilj, a period of great suc-cess began for Borromini, to the detriment of Bernini who had tem-porarily fallen into disgrace. He worked on the palace in PiazzaNavona and on the church of St. Agnes for the papal family, heplanned the hunting lodge for the Pamphilj villa near the St. Pancrasgate and worked at St. Martino al Cimino (the Roman gate, perhapsthe design for the city wall and the winding stairway in the familypalace). On the commission of Innocent X, he took charge of therestoration of the basilica of St. John in Lateran, for the Jubilee of1650. During the same period, he worked on the church and conventof Santa Maria dei Sette Dolori and also for the noble families of theSpada’s, the Carpegna’s and the Falconieri’s.In the meanwhile, between 1645 and 1648, he worked for the Spagnapalace and in 1646 was appointed Architect of the Streets and theCongregation of the Propaganda Fide. He also worked on the Gius-tiniani Palace and in Sant’Andrea delle Fratte and, outside Roma, heplanned the high altar and ciborium in St. Paul’s in Bologna. In 1652,he received the appointment of Cavalier of the Order of Christ fromthe Pamphilj pope, but, after the death of the pontiff in 1655, a periodof serious crisis began, where his creativity interweaved psychologi-cal torment and pain. There is clear evidence of this in the suicide bythe architect during the night of 2nd August, 1667.

35

Portrait of Francesco Borromini

Work

s

• Monte di Pietà campanile

• Merlin tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore

• Works in the Giustiniani Palace

• St. Peter’s in Vatican City:Decoration of the gallery of the dome of the Holy Face;Pedestal of the Pietà by Michelangelo;Chapel of the Holy Sacrament;Altar of St. Leo;Arrangement of the navicula by Giotto, entrance wall;Fontana delle Api [fountain of the bees], entrance to St.Ann’s;

• Convent of St. Agostino

• Ceva tomb, Baptistery of St. John in Lateran

• Works on the Quirinal Place

• Works on the Palazzo di Spagna

• Church of St. Lucia in Selci

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Other works byFrancesco Borrominiin Rome