The church was
founded on the site of a small chapel built by Pasquale
11 at the expense of the Roman people, the reason for
the later name. Completely re-built halfway through the
15th century by an unknown architect, the church was
fitted out with a splendid choir made by Donato Bramante
at the beginning of the 1500's. The simple far;;ade in
travertine stone, erected on the wishes on Sextus IV
della Rovere, was installed by Gianlorenzo Bernini. The
three nave interior has side chapels which hold some
exceptional works, among which are the funeral monuments
by Andrea Sansovino, the frescoes by Pinturicchio and
the precious fire-glazed stain-glass windows, the only
ones in Rome, by Guillaume de Marcillat.
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The Chigi Chapel, the second on
the left, was reconstructed beg i nning in 1513, following
the design by Raphael, for the banker Agostino Chigi who
wanted to create a mausoleum for his family. The work
stopped, however, only through the intervention of
Gianlorenzo Bernini between 1652 and 1656, th roug h the
wishes of Pope Alexander VII Chigi. The interior is square
with the corners rounded by four angular pillars with arched
niches on which the tambours rest. There are eight square
windows and a hemispheric dome. The roof of the votive
chapel is clearly visible even from the outside (from
Piazzale Flaminio) and is inspired by older models; a
similar design was adapted by Raphael in the project for the
small domes of St. Peter's.
Raphael supplied the cartoons for the mosaics in the dome (God
the Father,
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Creator of the Firmament and the
Symbols of the sun and of the seven planets), made by Luigi
Pace in 1516. In the tambour and the pendent ives, the
scenes of the Creation and the Original Sin and the
allegories of the seasons are, instead, by Francesco
Salviati (between 1552 and 1557). Raphael is also credited
with the design for the pyramid tomb of
Agostino Chigi and his brother Sigismund, built by
Lorenzetto, Raffaello da Montelupo and Bernini with
important modifications. Among the statues in the niches and
following Sanzio's design there is Jonah leaving the Whale,
by Lorenzetto who was also the sculptor of Elijah (1522),
completed by Raffaello da Montelupo (1552).The altar-piece
is by Sebastiano del Piombo (1533) and Salviati (1554);
Abacuc and the angel and Daniel in the Lion's Den by Bernini.
The Chigi chapel can be considered a complete work of art;
architecture, sculpture, painting and mosaic form a strongly
united whole. The plan of the chapel also brings to mind the
plans of Donato Bramante, Raphael's friend from Urbino, for
the new St. Peter's wanted by Pope Julius 11. |
