Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo
The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo (Italian: Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo) is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in between Porta del Popolo (the ancient Porta Flaminia) and the Pincian Hill. Porta Flaminia was one of the gates in the Aurelian Wall as well as the starting point of Via Flaminia, the most important route to the north. The church contains works by several famous artists, such as Raphael, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Alessandro Algardi, Pinturicchio, Andrea Bregno, Guillaume de Marcillat and Donato Bramante.
The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo (Italian: Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo) is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in between Porta del Popolo (the ancient Porta Flaminia) and the Pincian Hill. Porta Flaminia was one of the gates in the Aurelian Wall as well as the starting point of Via Flaminia, the most important route to the north. The church contains works by several famous artists, such as Raphael, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Alessandro Algardi, Pinturicchio, Andrea Bregno, Guillaume de Marcillat and Donato Bramante.
Foundation legend
The well-known foundation legend of Santa Maria del Popolo revolves around the evil memory of Emperor Nero and Pope Paschal II cleansing the area from this malicious legacy. As the story goes the emperor was buried after his demise at the foot of the Pincian Hill in the mausoleum of his paternal family, the Domitii Ahenobarbi. The sepulchre was later buried under a landslide and a huge walnut tree grew on the ruins that ″was so tall and sublime that no other plant exceeded it in any ways.″ The towering walnut soon became the haunt of a multitude of vicious demons harassing the inhabitants of the area and also the travelers arriving in the city from the north through Porta Flaminia: ″some were being frightened, possessed, cruelly beaten and injured, others almost strangled, or miserably killed.″ The actions of the demonic crowd endangered an important access of the city and also upset the entire population, causing serious concern to the newly elected pontiff, Paschal II who ″saw the flock of Christ committed to his watch, becoming prey to the infernal wolves.″
The Pope fasted and prayed for three days and at the end of that period, exhausted, he received a vision in his dream from the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave him detailed instructions to free the city from that scourge. On the Thursday after the third Sunday of Lent in 1099, the Pope summoned the whole clergy and all the inhabitants of Rome and set up an impressive procession that, with the crucifix at its head, went along the urban stretch of Via Flaminia until it reached the infested place. There the Pope performed the rite of exorcism and then struck a determined blow at the root of the walnut tree. The infernal creatures erupted from their haunt madly screaming. When the whole tree was removed the remains of the emperor were discovered among the ruins and the Pope ordered to throw them into the waves of the Tiber.
Finally liberated from the malevolent presence, that corner of Rome could be devoted to Christian worship and the Pontiff, at the sound of praise songs, placed the first stone of an altar on the site of the horrible tree. This was incorporated into a simple chapel which was completed in three days. The construction was celebrated with particular solemnity: the Pope consecrated the small sanctuary in the presence of a large crowd, accompanied by ten cardinals, four archbishops, ten bishops and other prelates. He also granted the chapel many relics and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin.
Origins
The legend was recounted by an Augustinian friar, Giacomo Alberici in his treatise about the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo which was published in Rome in 1599 and translated into Italian the next year. Another Augustinian, Ambrogio Landucci rehashed the same story in his book about the origins of the basilica in 1646. The legend has been retold several times ever since with slight changes in collections of Roman curiosities, scientific literature and guidebooks. An example of the variations could be found in Ottavio Panciroli's book which claimed that the demons inhabiting the tree took the form of black crows. It is not known how far back the tradition goes but in 1726 it still existed in the archive of Santa Maria del Popolo a catalogue of the holy relics of the church written in 1426 which contained a (lost) version of the ″miracle of the walnut tree″. This was allegedly copied from an even more more ancient tabella at the main altar. In the 15th century the story was already popular enough to be recounted by various German sources like Nikolaus Muffel's Description of Rome (1452) or The Pilgrimage of Arnold Von Harff (1497).
The factual basis of the legend is weak. Nero was indeed buried in the mausoleum of his paternal family but Suetonius in his Life of Nero says that ″the family tomb of the Domitii [was] on the summit of the Hill of Gardens, which is visible from the Campus Martius.″ The location of the mausoleum was therefore somewhere on the higher north-west slopes of the Pincian Hill and certainly not at the foot of it where the church stands.
The foundation of the chapel by Pope Paschal II was maybe part of an effort to restore the safety of the area around Porta Flaminia which was ouside the inhabited core of medieval Rome and certainly infested with bandits. Another possible source of inspiration for the legend could have been the well-documented revenge of Pope Paschal II on the body of his opponent, Antipope Clement III. The pope seized the city of Civita Castellana, had Clement’s cadaver exhumed from his tomb, and ordered to thrown it into the Tiber. Clement III was the protégée of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV who was often called "Nero" by the papal party.
Name
The name del Popolo ("of the people") was most probably derived from populus meaning large rural parish in medieval Latin. In this case the name refers to the first suburban settlement around Via Flaminia that was formed after the chapel had been built in this previously deserted part of Campus Martius.. Others think the denomination implied that the people of Rome were saved from the demonic scourge or it came from the Latin word pōpulus, meaning poplar. The demonic tree was a huge walnut but there might have been poplar trees growing on ancient tombs in the locality. The name S. Maria ad Flaminiam appeared in some 15th-century documents.
Early history
The name of Santa Maria del Popolo is still missing in the catalogue of the churches of Rome which was written by Cencio Camerario in 1192. Later tradition held that the miraculous image of Our Lady, painted by St. Luke himself, was moved to the church by Pope Gregory IX from the Sancta Sanctorum in the Lateran. This happened after a flood of the Tiber - probably the great flood in 1230 - caused a horrible plague in the city. The pope convoked the cardinals, the whole clergy and the people of Rome and the icon was transferred with a solemn procession to Santa Maria del Popolo. After that the plague ceased and the tranquility of the city was restored. The Madonna del Popolo has certainly remained one of the most popular Marian icons through the centuries, attracted many pilgrims and assured a greater role to the geographically remote church.
The early history of Santa Maria del Popolo is almost unknown because the archives of the church were dispersed during the Napoleonic era and few documents survived from before 1500. The first references in archival sources are from the 13th century. The Catalogue of Paris (compiled around 1230 or 1272-76) listing the churches of Rome already contains the name of Santa Maria de Populo. There may have been a small Franciscan community by the church until around 1250 but it is possible that they stayed there only temporarily.
Santa Maria del Popolo was reconstructed by Baccio Pontelli and Andrea Bregno in 1472-1477 on the orders of Pope Sixtus IV and was given to the congregation of Lombard friars in Rome. The result of the reconstruction was an early and excellent example of Italian Renaissance architecture. In 1655-60 the façade was modified by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was asked by Pope Alexander VII to update the Renaissance church to a more modern Baroque style.
Façade
The façade was built in early Renaissance style in the 1470s when the medieval church was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus IV. It was later reworked by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 17th century but pictorial sources preserved its original form, for example a woodcut in Girolamo Franzini's guide in 1588, and a veduta by Giovanni Maggi in 1625. The alterations included the addition of gables at the sides on the upper level, pediments above the side entrances, and the decoration of the high pediment with torch finials and stylized mountains. Originally there were tracery panels in the windows and spokes in the central rose window, and the building was free-standing with a clear view of the bell tower and the row of identical side chapels on the right.
The architecture is often attributed to Andrea Bregno but without definitive evidence. According to Ulrich Fürst the architect aimed at perfect proportioning and also at masterful restraint in the detail. "In this way he succeeded in designing the best church façade in early-Renaissance Rome."
The façade was built of bright Roman travertine, and it is of two storeys high. The three entrances are accessed by a flight of stairs giving a feel of monumentality. The architecture is simple and dignified with four shallow pilasters on the lower level and two pilasters flanking the upper part with the rose window. The pilasters have irregular Corinthian capitals with ovolo moulding and floral decoration on the lower level while those on the upper story feature more simple capitals with acanthus leaves and palmettes. The side doors are surmounted by triangular pediments and their lintels have dedicatory inscriptions referring to Pope Sixtus IV. There is a pair of large arched windows above them. The main door is larger that the other two. In the middle of the pediment there is a relief of the Madonna and the child set in a shell, surrounded by cherubs. The lintel is decorated with foliage and putti who are holding torches and oak leaves. The coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus IV is placed above the door, it is encircled by oak branches.
Bernini added the two halves of a broken segmental pediment on the sides of the upper level, and the curved connecting element with the rich garlands. Another Baroque addition is the two flaming torches on the top and the six mountains, the family symbols of the Chigi dynasty.
Inscriptions
There are two lengthy inscriptions on the two sides of the main entrance quoting the bulls of Pope Sixtus IV in regard to the church. The first one, dated on 7 September 1472, begins with the words Ineffabilia Gloriosae Virginis Dei Genitricis, he granted plenary indulgence and remission of all sins to the faithful of both sexes who, truly repented and confessed, attend this church on the days of the Immaculate Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, Visitation, Purification, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The second one, dated on 12 October 1472, begins with the words A Sede Apostolica sunt illa benigno favore concedenda, in which he confirmed the perpetual plenary indulgence that can be earned on the earlier indicated feastdays of the Virgin, and more, commemorating the indulgences granted to the church by the former popes.
The inscriptions are famous examples of the so-called 'Sistine' style of all'antica capital lettering, a revived form of ancient Roman monumental inscriptional writing adapted to create a uniquely Renaissance idiom. The main source of this style was Bregno himself who used it on the inscriptions on his tombs.
Bell tower
The 15th-century bell tower is placed at the end of the right transept. The structure was later incorporated into the monastery that covers the larger part of its body. The tall, rectangular brick tower was built in Northern Italian style which was unusual at the time in Rome but probably suited the taste of the Lombard congregation. The conical spire is surrounded on the corners with four cylindrical pinnacles with conical caps. Only damaged traces of the original stone mullions survived in the arched windows. The octagonal brick dome is another typically Northern Italian feature which was the first of its kind in Rome at the time. It is covered with lead sheets and capped with a globe and a cross.
Counterfaçade
The decoration of the counterfaçade was part of the Berninian reconstruction of the church in the 17th century. The architecture is simple with a marble frame around the monumental door, a dentilled cornice, a segmental arched pediment and a dedicatory inscription commemorating the thorough rebuilding of the ancient church that Pope Alexander VII initiated as Fabio Chigi, Cardinal Priest of the basilica, and its consecration in 1655 as newly elected Pope:
ALEXANDER · VII · P · M / FABII · CHISII · OLIM · CARD / TITULARI · AEDE · ORNATA / SUI · PONTIF · PRIMORDIA / ANTIQAE · PIETATI / IN · BEATAM · VIRGINEM / CONSECR ·A · D · MDCLV.
The rose window is supported by two stucco angels sculpted by Ercole Ferrata in 1655-58 under the guidance of Bernini. The one on the left holds a wreath in her hand. On the lower part of the counterfaçade there are various funeral monuments.
Nave
The church of Santa Maria del Popolo is a Renaissance basilica with a nave and two aisles, and a transept with a central dome. The nave and the aisles have four bays, and they are covered with cross-vaults. There are four piers on each side that support the arches separating the nave from the aisles. Each pillar has four travertine semi-columns, three of them supporting the arches and the aisles vaulting while the taller fourth supports the nave vaults. The semi-columns have Composite capitals with a palmette ornament between the volutes.
The original 15th-century archtecture was preserved by Bernini who only embellished the arches with pairs of white stucco statues portraying saints sitting on the cornices. The cross-vaults remained undecorated. The intrados of the first and the last arches of the nave are decorated with the escutcheon of Pope Sixtus IV. These stone carvings were gilt and painted. The nave is lit by two rows of large segmental arched clerestory windows with a simple Baroque stone molding and bracketed cornice. Before the Berninian rebuilding the clerestory windows were the same mullioned arched openings like those on the facade and the bell tower.
The apse was designed by Donato Bramante. The oldest stained glass window in Rome can be found here, made by French artist Guillaume de Marcillat. Pinturicchio decorated the vault with frescoes, including the Coronation of the Virgin. The tombs of Cardinals Ascanio Sforza and Girolamo Basso della Rovere, both made by Andrea Sansovino, can also be found in the apse.
1. Della Rovere Chapel
The Della Rovere (or Nativity) Chapel is the first side chapel on the right aisle. It was built by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere from 1471 to 1484 after the reconstruction of the church by his relative, Pope Sixtus IV. The pictorial decoration is attributed to Pinturicchio and his school. The main altar-piece, The Adoration of the Child with St Jerome is an exquisite autograph work by Pinturicchio himself. The tomb of Cardinal Cristoforo della Rovere (died in 1487), a work by Andrea Bregno and Mino da Fiesole, was erected by his brother. On the right side the funeral monument of Giovanni de Castro (died 1506) is attributed to Francesco da Sangallo. The chapel is one of the best preserved monuments of quattrocento art in Rome.
2. Cybo Chapel
The Cybo Chapel was radically rebuilt by Cardinal Alderano Cybo (1613-1700) between 1682 and 1687 according to the plans of Carlo Fontana. For the beauty of its paintings, the preciousness of marble revetments covering its walls and the importance of the artists involved in its construction the chapel is regarded one of the most significant sacral monuments erected in Rome in the last quarter of the 17th century.
3. Basso Della Rovere Chapel
The Basso Della Rovere Chapel was built by Girolamo Basso della Rovere in 1471-84. The architecture is similar to the Chapel of the Nativity and the painted decoration is attributed to Pinturicchio and his workshop. The highlights of the chapel are the great fresco of the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Augustine, Francis, Anthony of Padua and a Holy Monk above the altar, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on the first wall and the illusionistic monochrome decoration of the pedestal with painted benches and martyrdom scenes. The original maiolica floor tiles from Deruta also survived.
4. Costa Chapel
The Costa Chapel follows the same plan as the Della Rovere chapels but it was furnished by Portuguese Cardinal Jorge da Costa who purchased it in 1488. The most important works of art are the paintings of the lunettes by the school of Pinturicchio depicting the four Fathers of the Church; the marble altar-piece by Gian Cristoforo Romano (c. 1505); and the funeral monument of Cardinal Costa by the school of Andrea Bregno. The bronze and marble funeral monument of Pietro Foscari from 1480 is preserved here.
5. Montemirabile Chapel
The chapel was built by Giovanni Montemirabile in 1479 and it was transformed to the baptistery of the basilica in 1561. The most valuable works of art in the chapel are the edicules of the baptismal font and the holy oil. They were assembled from the 15th-century fragments of demolished monuments of the church in 1657. The funeral monument of Cardinal Antoniotto Pallavicini on the left wall was also made by the Bregno workshop in 1507.
6. Chigi Chapel
Banker Agostino Chigi commissioned Raphael to design and decorate a funerary chapel for him around 1512-14. The chapel is a treasure trove of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and is considered among the most important monuments in the basilica. The dome of the centralized octagonal chapel is decorated with Raphael's mosaics, the Creation of the World. The statues of Jonah and Elijah were carved by Lorenzetto. The chapel was later completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Fabio Chigi. His additions include the sculptures of Habakkuk and the Angel and Daniel and the Lion.
7. Mellini Chapel
The chapel, which was dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, is one of the original 15th-century hexagonal side chapels of the basilica, but its inner decoration was changed during the later centuries. It has been the funerary chapel of the Mellini family for centuries and contains several funeral monuments among them the works of Alessandro Algardi and Pierre-Étienne Monnot. The frescos of the vault were created by Giovanni da San Giovanni in 1623–24.
8. Cybo-Soderini Chapel
The Chapel of the Crucifixion or the Cybo-Soderini Chapel was remodelled in the Baroque era when a Flemish artist, Pieter van Lint executed its cycle of frescos on the vault and the lunettes which depict Angels with the Symbols of the Passion and Prophets. Two big frescos on the side walls show scenes from The Legend of the True Cross. There is a 15th-century wooden crucifix above the main altar in a Corinthian aedicule. The chapel was restored by Lorenzo Soderini in 1825.
9. Theodoli Chapel
The chapel is a hidden gem of Roman Mannerism and a major work painter and stuccoist Giulio Mazzoni. It was also called Cappella Santa Caterina «del Calice» or «del Cadice» after the classicising marble statue of Saint Catherine on the altar, the stucco chalices on the spandrels and the title of its patron, Girolamo Theodoli, Bishop of Cádiz. The decoration was originally commissioned by the first owner, Traiano Alicorni in 1555, the work was restarted under a new patron, Girolamo Theodoli in 1569 and finished around 1575.
10. Cerasi Chapel
The Cerasi Chapel holds two famous canvases painted by Caravaggio - Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion on the Way to Damascus (1600–01). These are probably the most important works of art in the basilica. Situated between the two works of Caravaggio is the altarpiece Assumption of the Virgin by Annibale Carracci.
11-12. Feoli and Cicada Chapels
The two identical chapels opening in the right transept are relatively insignificant in terms of artistic value in comparison with the other side chapels of the church. Both were built during Bernini's intervention in the 17th century but their present decoration is much later. The most significant work of art is the fragmented sepulchral monument of Odoardo Cicada, the Bishop of Sagona by Guglielmo della Porta which is dated around 1545. The tomb, which was originally bigger and more ornate, is located in the Cicada (or Saint Rita) Chapel.
The church was a favourite burial place for the Roman aristocracy, clergy and literati, especially after Bernini's intervention. Besides the tombs in the side chapels the most notable monuments are:
1. Maria Eleonora Boncompagni Ludovisi
The first monument as you enter the basilica is the wall tomb of Maria Eleonora I Boncompagni, the sovereign Princess of Piombino right by the door on the counterfaçade. The princess died in 1745 after visiting a hospital. Her tomb was designed by Domenico Gregorini in 1749.
The funeral monument is a typical Late Baroque artwork with distinctly macabre details. On the base there is a winged dragon, the symbol of the Boncompagni family. The plaque of the epitaph is made of polished, colored stones in pietre dure. The inscription is surmounted by the personification of Time (a winged skull), the coat-of-arms of the Principality of Piombino and two allegorical figures (Charity and Meekness). The plaque is set in a white marble frame with a conch in the lower part and a gable at the top with a shell, two flaming torches and another winged skull.
2. Giovanni Battista Gisleni
The tomb of Giovanni Battista Gisleni, an Italian Baroque architect and stage designer who worked for the Polish royal court during the years 1630-1668, is probably the most macabre funeral monument in the basilica. It is set between a wooden booth and a stone half-column on the right side of the counterfaçade. The memorial was designed and installed by the architect himself in 1670 two years before his death.
The upper part of the monument is a stone plaque with a long inscription and the portrait of the deceased in a tondo which was painted by a Flemish portraitist, Jacob Ferdinand Voet. There is a painted canopy supported by angels on the wall. The lower part is more interesting: a skeleton is peeping through a window behind an iron grill. The sinister, shrouded figure is facing towards the viewer with his bony hands clutched on his breast. The stone frame of the window is decorated with a coat-of-arms and two bronze medallions. The left one shows a tree with its branches cut but sprouting new shoots and containing a caterpillar spinning its cocoon, while the right one shows the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a moth. These are the symbols of death and resurrection. The inscriptions convey the same message: In nidulo meo moriar ("in my nest I die" i.e. in the city of Rome) and Ut phoenix multiplicabo dies ("as a phoenix I multiply my days"). There are two enigmatic inscriptions on the upper and lower part of the monument: Neque hic vivus and Neque illic mortuus ("Neither living here, nor dead there").
On this tomb the skeleton is not the personification of Death as in other Baroque tombs but a representation of the deceased (the transi image) on his way towards the resurrection and due to this "death became a symbol for life".
3. Maria Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi
The funeral monument of Princess Maria Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi is sometimes dubbed the "last Baroque tomb in Rome". It is probably the most visually stunning, exuberant and theatrical sepulchral monument in the basilica. It was built in 1772 for the young princess, the first wife of Don Sigismondo Chigi Albani della Rovere, the 4th Prince of Farnese, who died in childbirth at the age of 20. It was designed by Paolo Posi, a Baroque architect who was famous for his ephemeral architecture built for celebrations, and executed by Agostino Penna. The tomb is located by the pillar between the Chigi and Montemirabile Chapels.
The monument shows the influence of Bernini's tomb for Maria Raggi in Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Posi used the heraldic symbols of the Chigi and the Odescalchi to celebrate the intertwining of the two princely families. In the lower part of the monument a white marble Odescalchi lion is climbing a mountain of the Chigi; to the right a smoking incense burner alludes to the Odescalchis again. A gnarled bronze oak tree (Chigi) grows from the mountain with a huge red marble robe on its branches. The robe is hemmed with gold and decorated with an epitaph made of golden letters and also the stars of the Chigi and the incense burners of the Odescalchi at the lower part. In the upper part of the tomb a white marble eagle and two angels are carrying the black and white marble portrait of dead which is set in a richly decorated golden medaillon.
In the 19th century the monument was dismissed as tawdry. Stendhal called it an "outburst of the execrable taste of the 18th century" in his 1827 Promenades dans Rome.
4. Giovanni Gerolamo Albani
One of most important Mannerist funeral monuments in the basilica is the tomb of Cardinal Gian Girolamo Albani, an influential politician, jurist, scholar and diplomat in the papal court in the last decades of the 16th century. He died in 1591. The Late Renaissance monument is one of the main works of the Roman sculptor, Giovanni Antonio Paracca. The bust of the Cardinal is a realistic portrait of the old statesman. He is seen praying with his head turned toward the main altar. Facing this monument the cenotaph of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pallavicino (1596) is likewise attributed to Paracca.
5. Ludovico Podocataro
The wall tomb of the Cypriot Cardinal Ludovico Podocataro, secretary and physician of Pope Alexander VI, is a monumental work of Roman Renaissance sculpture. The prominent humanist and papal diplomat was buried on 7 October 1504 with great pomp; the location of the tomb in the right transept was originally close to the funerary chapel of the Borgia family, Podocataro's patrons, but the chapel is no longer extant.
Originally the monument had a dual function as an altar and tomb. It was probably commissioned by the cardinal between 1497, when he made a donation to the Augustinian church and 1504, his death. The master(s) of the monument are unknown but on stylistic grounds it is assumed to be the work of different groups of sculptors. The architectural composition is traditional and somewhat conservative for the beginning of the 16th century, it follows the models set by Andrea Bregno.
6. Bernardino Lonati
The wall tomb of Cardinal Bernardino Lonati is similar to the coeval sepulchre of Ludovico Podocataro, and they both belong to the group of monuments from the age of Pope Alexander VI which made the basilica the shrine of the Borgia dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century. The monument was financed by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza after the death of his protégée on 7 August 1497, not long after Lonati had led an unsuccessful expedition against the Orsini family by order of the Pope. The architectural composition of the monument follows the models set by Andrea Bregno.
The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo (Italian: Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo) is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in between Porta del Popolo (the ancient Porta Flaminia) and the Pincian Hill. Porta Flaminia was one of the gates in the Aurelian Wall as well as the starting point of Via Flaminia, the most important route to the north. The church contains works by several famous artists, such as Raphael, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Alessandro Algardi, Pinturicchio, Andrea Bregno, Guillaume de Marcillat and Donato Bramante.
The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo (Italian: Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo) is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in between Porta del Popolo (the ancient Porta Flaminia) and the Pincian Hill. Porta Flaminia was one of the gates in the Aurelian Wall as well as the starting point of Via Flaminia, the most important route to the north. The church contains works by several famous artists, such as Raphael, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Alessandro Algardi, Pinturicchio, Andrea Bregno, Guillaume de Marcillat and Donato Bramante.
Foundation legend
The well-known foundation legend of Santa Maria del Popolo revolves around the evil memory of Emperor Nero and Pope Paschal II cleansing the area from this malicious legacy. As the story goes the emperor was buried after his demise at the foot of the Pincian Hill in the mausoleum of his paternal family, the Domitii Ahenobarbi. The sepulchre was later buried under a landslide and a huge walnut tree grew on the ruins that ″was so tall and sublime that no other plant exceeded it in any ways.″ The towering walnut soon became the haunt of a multitude of vicious demons harassing the inhabitants of the area and also the travelers arriving in the city from the north through Porta Flaminia: ″some were being frightened, possessed, cruelly beaten and injured, others almost strangled, or miserably killed.″ The actions of the demonic crowd endangered an important access of the city and also upset the entire population, causing serious concern to the newly elected pontiff, Paschal II who ″saw the flock of Christ committed to his watch, becoming prey to the infernal wolves.″
The Pope fasted and prayed for three days and at the end of that period, exhausted, he received a vision in his dream from the Blessed Virgin Mary who gave him detailed instructions to free the city from that scourge. On the Thursday after the third Sunday of Lent in 1099, the Pope summoned the whole clergy and all the inhabitants of Rome and set up an impressive procession that, with the crucifix at its head, went along the urban stretch of Via Flaminia until it reached the infested place. There the Pope performed the rite of exorcism and then struck a determined blow at the root of the walnut tree. The infernal creatures erupted from their haunt madly screaming. When the whole tree was removed the remains of the emperor were discovered among the ruins and the Pope ordered to throw them into the waves of the Tiber.
Finally liberated from the malevolent presence, that corner of Rome could be devoted to Christian worship and the Pontiff, at the sound of praise songs, placed the first stone of an altar on the site of the horrible tree. This was incorporated into a simple chapel which was completed in three days. The construction was celebrated with particular solemnity: the Pope consecrated the small sanctuary in the presence of a large crowd, accompanied by ten cardinals, four archbishops, ten bishops and other prelates. He also granted the chapel many relics and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin.
Origins
The legend was recounted by an Augustinian friar, Giacomo Alberici in his treatise about the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo which was published in Rome in 1599 and translated into Italian the next year. Another Augustinian, Ambrogio Landucci rehashed the same story in his book about the origins of the basilica in 1646. The legend has been retold several times ever since with slight changes in collections of Roman curiosities, scientific literature and guidebooks. An example of the variations could be found in Ottavio Panciroli's book which claimed that the demons inhabiting the tree took the form of black crows. It is not known how far back the tradition goes but in 1726 it still existed in the archive of Santa Maria del Popolo a catalogue of the holy relics of the church written in 1426 which contained a (lost) version of the ″miracle of the walnut tree″. This was allegedly copied from an even more more ancient tabella at the main altar. In the 15th century the story was already popular enough to be recounted by various German sources like Nikolaus Muffel's Description of Rome (1452) or The Pilgrimage of Arnold Von Harff (1497).
The factual basis of the legend is weak. Nero was indeed buried in the mausoleum of his paternal family but Suetonius in his Life of Nero says that ″the family tomb of the Domitii [was] on the summit of the Hill of Gardens, which is visible from the Campus Martius.″ The location of the mausoleum was therefore somewhere on the higher north-west slopes of the Pincian Hill and certainly not at the foot of it where the church stands.
The foundation of the chapel by Pope Paschal II was maybe part of an effort to restore the safety of the area around Porta Flaminia which was ouside the inhabited core of medieval Rome and certainly infested with bandits. Another possible source of inspiration for the legend could have been the well-documented revenge of Pope Paschal II on the body of his opponent, Antipope Clement III. The pope seized the city of Civita Castellana, had Clement’s cadaver exhumed from his tomb, and ordered to thrown it into the Tiber. Clement III was the protégée of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV who was often called "Nero" by the papal party.
Name
The name del Popolo ("of the people") was most probably derived from populus meaning large rural parish in medieval Latin. In this case the name refers to the first suburban settlement around Via Flaminia that was formed after the chapel had been built in this previously deserted part of Campus Martius.. Others think the denomination implied that the people of Rome were saved from the demonic scourge or it came from the Latin word pōpulus, meaning poplar. The demonic tree was a huge walnut but there might have been poplar trees growing on ancient tombs in the locality. The name S. Maria ad Flaminiam appeared in some 15th-century documents.
Early history
The name of Santa Maria del Popolo is still missing in the catalogue of the churches of Rome which was written by Cencio Camerario in 1192. Later tradition held that the miraculous image of Our Lady, painted by St. Luke himself, was moved to the church by Pope Gregory IX from the Sancta Sanctorum in the Lateran. This happened after a flood of the Tiber - probably the great flood in 1230 - caused a horrible plague in the city. The pope convoked the cardinals, the whole clergy and the people of Rome and the icon was transferred with a solemn procession to Santa Maria del Popolo. After that the plague ceased and the tranquility of the city was restored. The Madonna del Popolo has certainly remained one of the most popular Marian icons through the centuries, attracted many pilgrims and assured a greater role to the geographically remote church.
The early history of Santa Maria del Popolo is almost unknown because the archives of the church were dispersed during the Napoleonic era and few documents survived from before 1500. The first references in archival sources are from the 13th century. The Catalogue of Paris (compiled around 1230 or 1272-76) listing the churches of Rome already contains the name of Santa Maria de Populo. There may have been a small Franciscan community by the church until around 1250 but it is possible that they stayed there only temporarily.
Santa Maria del Popolo was reconstructed by Baccio Pontelli and Andrea Bregno in 1472-1477 on the orders of Pope Sixtus IV and was given to the congregation of Lombard friars in Rome. The result of the reconstruction was an early and excellent example of Italian Renaissance architecture. In 1655-60 the façade was modified by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who was asked by Pope Alexander VII to update the Renaissance church to a more modern Baroque style.
Façade
The façade was built in early Renaissance style in the 1470s when the medieval church was rebuilt by Pope Sixtus IV. It was later reworked by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 17th century but pictorial sources preserved its original form, for example a woodcut in Girolamo Franzini's guide in 1588, and a veduta by Giovanni Maggi in 1625. The alterations included the addition of gables at the sides on the upper level, pediments above the side entrances, and the decoration of the high pediment with torch finials and stylized mountains. Originally there were tracery panels in the windows and spokes in the central rose window, and the building was free-standing with a clear view of the bell tower and the row of identical side chapels on the right.
The architecture is often attributed to Andrea Bregno but without definitive evidence. According to Ulrich Fürst the architect aimed at perfect proportioning and also at masterful restraint in the detail. "In this way he succeeded in designing the best church façade in early-Renaissance Rome."
The façade was built of bright Roman travertine, and it is of two storeys high. The three entrances are accessed by a flight of stairs giving a feel of monumentality. The architecture is simple and dignified with four shallow pilasters on the lower level and two pilasters flanking the upper part with the rose window. The pilasters have irregular Corinthian capitals with ovolo moulding and floral decoration on the lower level while those on the upper story feature more simple capitals with acanthus leaves and palmettes. The side doors are surmounted by triangular pediments and their lintels have dedicatory inscriptions referring to Pope Sixtus IV. There is a pair of large arched windows above them. The main door is larger that the other two. In the middle of the pediment there is a relief of the Madonna and the child set in a shell, surrounded by cherubs. The lintel is decorated with foliage and putti who are holding torches and oak leaves. The coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus IV is placed above the door, it is encircled by oak branches.
Bernini added the two halves of a broken segmental pediment on the sides of the upper level, and the curved connecting element with the rich garlands. Another Baroque addition is the two flaming torches on the top and the six mountains, the family symbols of the Chigi dynasty.
Inscriptions
There are two lengthy inscriptions on the two sides of the main entrance quoting the bulls of Pope Sixtus IV in regard to the church. The first one, dated on 7 September 1472, begins with the words Ineffabilia Gloriosae Virginis Dei Genitricis, he granted plenary indulgence and remission of all sins to the faithful of both sexes who, truly repented and confessed, attend this church on the days of the Immaculate Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, Visitation, Purification, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The second one, dated on 12 October 1472, begins with the words A Sede Apostolica sunt illa benigno favore concedenda, in which he confirmed the perpetual plenary indulgence that can be earned on the earlier indicated feastdays of the Virgin, and more, commemorating the indulgences granted to the church by the former popes.
The inscriptions are famous examples of the so-called 'Sistine' style of all'antica capital lettering, a revived form of ancient Roman monumental inscriptional writing adapted to create a uniquely Renaissance idiom. The main source of this style was Bregno himself who used it on the inscriptions on his tombs.
Bell tower
The 15th-century bell tower is placed at the end of the right transept. The structure was later incorporated into the monastery that covers the larger part of its body. The tall, rectangular brick tower was built in Northern Italian style which was unusual at the time in Rome but probably suited the taste of the Lombard congregation. The conical spire is surrounded on the corners with four cylindrical pinnacles with conical caps. Only damaged traces of the original stone mullions survived in the arched windows. The octagonal brick dome is another typically Northern Italian feature which was the first of its kind in Rome at the time. It is covered with lead sheets and capped with a globe and a cross.
Counterfaçade
The decoration of the counterfaçade was part of the Berninian reconstruction of the church in the 17th century. The architecture is simple with a marble frame around the monumental door, a dentilled cornice, a segmental arched pediment and a dedicatory inscription commemorating the thorough rebuilding of the ancient church that Pope Alexander VII initiated as Fabio Chigi, Cardinal Priest of the basilica, and its consecration in 1655 as newly elected Pope:
ALEXANDER · VII · P · M / FABII · CHISII · OLIM · CARD / TITULARI · AEDE · ORNATA / SUI · PONTIF · PRIMORDIA / ANTIQAE · PIETATI / IN · BEATAM · VIRGINEM / CONSECR ·A · D · MDCLV.
The rose window is supported by two stucco angels sculpted by Ercole Ferrata in 1655-58 under the guidance of Bernini. The one on the left holds a wreath in her hand. On the lower part of the counterfaçade there are various funeral monuments.
Nave
The church of Santa Maria del Popolo is a Renaissance basilica with a nave and two aisles, and a transept with a central dome. The nave and the aisles have four bays, and they are covered with cross-vaults. There are four piers on each side that support the arches separating the nave from the aisles. Each pillar has four travertine semi-columns, three of them supporting the arches and the aisles vaulting while the taller fourth supports the nave vaults. The semi-columns have Composite capitals with a palmette ornament between the volutes.
The original 15th-century archtecture was preserved by Bernini who only embellished the arches with pairs of white stucco statues portraying saints sitting on the cornices. The cross-vaults remained undecorated. The intrados of the first and the last arches of the nave are decorated with the escutcheon of Pope Sixtus IV. These stone carvings were gilt and painted. The nave is lit by two rows of large segmental arched clerestory windows with a simple Baroque stone molding and bracketed cornice. Before the Berninian rebuilding the clerestory windows were the same mullioned arched openings like those on the facade and the bell tower.
The apse was designed by Donato Bramante. The oldest stained glass window in Rome can be found here, made by French artist Guillaume de Marcillat. Pinturicchio decorated the vault with frescoes, including the Coronation of the Virgin. The tombs of Cardinals Ascanio Sforza and Girolamo Basso della Rovere, both made by Andrea Sansovino, can also be found in the apse.
1. Della Rovere Chapel
The Della Rovere (or Nativity) Chapel is the first side chapel on the right aisle. It was built by Cardinal Domenico della Rovere from 1471 to 1484 after the reconstruction of the church by his relative, Pope Sixtus IV. The pictorial decoration is attributed to Pinturicchio and his school. The main altar-piece, The Adoration of the Child with St Jerome is an exquisite autograph work by Pinturicchio himself. The tomb of Cardinal Cristoforo della Rovere (died in 1487), a work by Andrea Bregno and Mino da Fiesole, was erected by his brother. On the right side the funeral monument of Giovanni de Castro (died 1506) is attributed to Francesco da Sangallo. The chapel is one of the best preserved monuments of quattrocento art in Rome.
2. Cybo Chapel
The Cybo Chapel was radically rebuilt by Cardinal Alderano Cybo (1613-1700) between 1682 and 1687 according to the plans of Carlo Fontana. For the beauty of its paintings, the preciousness of marble revetments covering its walls and the importance of the artists involved in its construction the chapel is regarded one of the most significant sacral monuments erected in Rome in the last quarter of the 17th century.
3. Basso Della Rovere Chapel
The Basso Della Rovere Chapel was built by Girolamo Basso della Rovere in 1471-84. The architecture is similar to the Chapel of the Nativity and the painted decoration is attributed to Pinturicchio and his workshop. The highlights of the chapel are the great fresco of the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Augustine, Francis, Anthony of Padua and a Holy Monk above the altar, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on the first wall and the illusionistic monochrome decoration of the pedestal with painted benches and martyrdom scenes. The original maiolica floor tiles from Deruta also survived.
4. Costa Chapel
The Costa Chapel follows the same plan as the Della Rovere chapels but it was furnished by Portuguese Cardinal Jorge da Costa who purchased it in 1488. The most important works of art are the paintings of the lunettes by the school of Pinturicchio depicting the four Fathers of the Church; the marble altar-piece by Gian Cristoforo Romano (c. 1505); and the funeral monument of Cardinal Costa by the school of Andrea Bregno. The bronze and marble funeral monument of Pietro Foscari from 1480 is preserved here.
5. Montemirabile Chapel
The chapel was built by Giovanni Montemirabile in 1479 and it was transformed to the baptistery of the basilica in 1561. The most valuable works of art in the chapel are the edicules of the baptismal font and the holy oil. They were assembled from the 15th-century fragments of demolished monuments of the church in 1657. The funeral monument of Cardinal Antoniotto Pallavicini on the left wall was also made by the Bregno workshop in 1507.
6. Chigi Chapel
Banker Agostino Chigi commissioned Raphael to design and decorate a funerary chapel for him around 1512-14. The chapel is a treasure trove of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and is considered among the most important monuments in the basilica. The dome of the centralized octagonal chapel is decorated with Raphael's mosaics, the Creation of the World. The statues of Jonah and Elijah were carved by Lorenzetto. The chapel was later completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Fabio Chigi. His additions include the sculptures of Habakkuk and the Angel and Daniel and the Lion.
7. Mellini Chapel
The chapel, which was dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, is one of the original 15th-century hexagonal side chapels of the basilica, but its inner decoration was changed during the later centuries. It has been the funerary chapel of the Mellini family for centuries and contains several funeral monuments among them the works of Alessandro Algardi and Pierre-Étienne Monnot. The frescos of the vault were created by Giovanni da San Giovanni in 1623–24.
8. Cybo-Soderini Chapel
The Chapel of the Crucifixion or the Cybo-Soderini Chapel was remodelled in the Baroque era when a Flemish artist, Pieter van Lint executed its cycle of frescos on the vault and the lunettes which depict Angels with the Symbols of the Passion and Prophets. Two big frescos on the side walls show scenes from The Legend of the True Cross. There is a 15th-century wooden crucifix above the main altar in a Corinthian aedicule. The chapel was restored by Lorenzo Soderini in 1825.
9. Theodoli Chapel
The chapel is a hidden gem of Roman Mannerism and a major work painter and stuccoist Giulio Mazzoni. It was also called Cappella Santa Caterina «del Calice» or «del Cadice» after the classicising marble statue of Saint Catherine on the altar, the stucco chalices on the spandrels and the title of its patron, Girolamo Theodoli, Bishop of Cádiz. The decoration was originally commissioned by the first owner, Traiano Alicorni in 1555, the work was restarted under a new patron, Girolamo Theodoli in 1569 and finished around 1575.
10. Cerasi Chapel
The Cerasi Chapel holds two famous canvases painted by Caravaggio - Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion on the Way to Damascus (1600–01). These are probably the most important works of art in the basilica. Situated between the two works of Caravaggio is the altarpiece Assumption of the Virgin by Annibale Carracci.
11-12. Feoli and Cicada Chapels
The two identical chapels opening in the right transept are relatively insignificant in terms of artistic value in comparison with the other side chapels of the church. Both were built during Bernini's intervention in the 17th century but their present decoration is much later. The most significant work of art is the fragmented sepulchral monument of Odoardo Cicada, the Bishop of Sagona by Guglielmo della Porta which is dated around 1545. The tomb, which was originally bigger and more ornate, is located in the Cicada (or Saint Rita) Chapel.
The church was a favourite burial place for the Roman aristocracy, clergy and literati, especially after Bernini's intervention. Besides the tombs in the side chapels the most notable monuments are:
1. Maria Eleonora Boncompagni Ludovisi
The first monument as you enter the basilica is the wall tomb of Maria Eleonora I Boncompagni, the sovereign Princess of Piombino right by the door on the counterfaçade. The princess died in 1745 after visiting a hospital. Her tomb was designed by Domenico Gregorini in 1749.
The funeral monument is a typical Late Baroque artwork with distinctly macabre details. On the base there is a winged dragon, the symbol of the Boncompagni family. The plaque of the epitaph is made of polished, colored stones in pietre dure. The inscription is surmounted by the personification of Time (a winged skull), the coat-of-arms of the Principality of Piombino and two allegorical figures (Charity and Meekness). The plaque is set in a white marble frame with a conch in the lower part and a gable at the top with a shell, two flaming torches and another winged skull.
2. Giovanni Battista Gisleni
The tomb of Giovanni Battista Gisleni, an Italian Baroque architect and stage designer who worked for the Polish royal court during the years 1630-1668, is probably the most macabre funeral monument in the basilica. It is set between a wooden booth and a stone half-column on the right side of the counterfaçade. The memorial was designed and installed by the architect himself in 1670 two years before his death.
The upper part of the monument is a stone plaque with a long inscription and the portrait of the deceased in a tondo which was painted by a Flemish portraitist, Jacob Ferdinand Voet. There is a painted canopy supported by angels on the wall. The lower part is more interesting: a skeleton is peeping through a window behind an iron grill. The sinister, shrouded figure is facing towards the viewer with his bony hands clutched on his breast. The stone frame of the window is decorated with a coat-of-arms and two bronze medallions. The left one shows a tree with its branches cut but sprouting new shoots and containing a caterpillar spinning its cocoon, while the right one shows the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a moth. These are the symbols of death and resurrection. The inscriptions convey the same message: In nidulo meo moriar ("in my nest I die" i.e. in the city of Rome) and Ut phoenix multiplicabo dies ("as a phoenix I multiply my days"). There are two enigmatic inscriptions on the upper and lower part of the monument: Neque hic vivus and Neque illic mortuus ("Neither living here, nor dead there").
On this tomb the skeleton is not the personification of Death as in other Baroque tombs but a representation of the deceased (the transi image) on his way towards the resurrection and due to this "death became a symbol for life".
3. Maria Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi
The funeral monument of Princess Maria Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi is sometimes dubbed the "last Baroque tomb in Rome". It is probably the most visually stunning, exuberant and theatrical sepulchral monument in the basilica. It was built in 1772 for the young princess, the first wife of Don Sigismondo Chigi Albani della Rovere, the 4th Prince of Farnese, who died in childbirth at the age of 20. It was designed by Paolo Posi, a Baroque architect who was famous for his ephemeral architecture built for celebrations, and executed by Agostino Penna. The tomb is located by the pillar between the Chigi and Montemirabile Chapels.
The monument shows the influence of Bernini's tomb for Maria Raggi in Santa Maria sopra Minerva. Posi used the heraldic symbols of the Chigi and the Odescalchi to celebrate the intertwining of the two princely families. In the lower part of the monument a white marble Odescalchi lion is climbing a mountain of the Chigi; to the right a smoking incense burner alludes to the Odescalchis again. A gnarled bronze oak tree (Chigi) grows from the mountain with a huge red marble robe on its branches. The robe is hemmed with gold and decorated with an epitaph made of golden letters and also the stars of the Chigi and the incense burners of the Odescalchi at the lower part. In the upper part of the tomb a white marble eagle and two angels are carrying the black and white marble portrait of dead which is set in a richly decorated golden medaillon.
In the 19th century the monument was dismissed as tawdry. Stendhal called it an "outburst of the execrable taste of the 18th century" in his 1827 Promenades dans Rome.
4. Giovanni Gerolamo Albani
One of most important Mannerist funeral monuments in the basilica is the tomb of Cardinal Gian Girolamo Albani, an influential politician, jurist, scholar and diplomat in the papal court in the last decades of the 16th century. He died in 1591. The Late Renaissance monument is one of the main works of the Roman sculptor, Giovanni Antonio Paracca. The bust of the Cardinal is a realistic portrait of the old statesman. He is seen praying with his head turned toward the main altar. Facing this monument the cenotaph of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pallavicino (1596) is likewise attributed to Paracca.
5. Ludovico Podocataro
The wall tomb of the Cypriot Cardinal Ludovico Podocataro, secretary and physician of Pope Alexander VI, is a monumental work of Roman Renaissance sculpture. The prominent humanist and papal diplomat was buried on 7 October 1504 with great pomp; the location of the tomb in the right transept was originally close to the funerary chapel of the Borgia family, Podocataro's patrons, but the chapel is no longer extant.
Originally the monument had a dual function as an altar and tomb. It was probably commissioned by the cardinal between 1497, when he made a donation to the Augustinian church and 1504, his death. The master(s) of the monument are unknown but on stylistic grounds it is assumed to be the work of different groups of sculptors. The architectural composition is traditional and somewhat conservative for the beginning of the 16th century, it follows the models set by Andrea Bregno.
6. Bernardino Lonati
The wall tomb of Cardinal Bernardino Lonati is similar to the coeval sepulchre of Ludovico Podocataro, and they both belong to the group of monuments from the age of Pope Alexander VI which made the basilica the shrine of the Borgia dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century. The monument was financed by Cardinal Ascanio Sforza after the death of his protégée on 7 August 1497, not long after Lonati had led an unsuccessful expedition against the Orsini family by order of the Pope. The architectural composition of the monument follows the models set by Andrea Bregno.
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