Page 127 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

PIAZZA NA VONA  125

of St. Andrew around the apse, 3rd century BC, and their
and altar. In the Strozzi Chapel, coat of arms is borne by an
built in the style of Michelangelo, infant Hercules. Over the
the altar has copies of Leah and years the family produced many
Rachel by Michelangelo in San great Humanists, and in the
Pietro in Vincoli (see p172). 19th century, it was a Massimo
who negotiated peace with
Napoleon. On March 16 each
year, the family chapel opens
to the public to commemorate
young Paolo Massimo’s re -
surrection from the dead by
San Filippo Neri in 1538.
w Palazzo Braschi
Dome of Sant’Andrea della Valle
Piazza San Pantaleo 10. Map 4 E4 & 11
0 Sant’Andrea C3. Tel 06-6710 8303. @ 40, 46, 62,
della Valle 64, 70, 81, 87, 116, 186, 492, 628. Open
10am–7pm Tue–Sun (ticket office
Piazza Sant’Andrea della Valle. Map 4 closes at 6pm). 7 8 9 = -
E4 & 12 D4. Tel 06-686 1339. @ H, 40,
46, 62, 64, 70, 81, 87, 116, 186, 492, On one side of Piazza San
628. v 8. Open 7:30am–12:30pm & Pantaleo is the last Roman
4:30–7:30pm daily. 5 Roman column, Palazzo Massimo palazzo to be built for the family
q Palazzo Massimo of a pope. Palazzo Braschi was
The church is the scene of the built in the late 18th century for
first act of Puccini’s opera alle Colonne Pope Pius VI Braschi’s nephews
Tosca, though opera fans will Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 141. by the architect Cosimo Morelli.
not find the Attavanti chapel Map 4 F4 & 11 C3. @ 40, 46, 62, He gave the building its
a poetic invention. The real 64, 70, 81, 87, 116, 186, 492, 628. imposing facade, which
church has much to recom- Chapel: Open 7am–1pm Mar 16. looks out on to the piazza.
mend it – the impressive The palazzo now houses
facade shows the flamboyant During the last two years of his the municipal Museo di Roma.
Baroque style at its best. Inside, life, Baldassarre Peruzzi built It holds collections of pictures,
a golden light filters through this palazzo for the Massimo drawings, and every day objects
high windows, showing off family, whose home had been illustrating life in
the gilded interior. Here lie the destroyed in the 1527 Sack of Rome from medieval
two popes of the Sienese Rome. Peruzzi displayed great times to the
Piccolomini family: on the left ingenuity in dealing with an 19th century.
of the central nave is the tomb awkwardly shaped site. The
of Pius II, the first Humanist previous building had stood on
pope (reigned 1458–64); the ruined Theater of Domitian,
Pope Pius III lies opposite – which created a curve in the
he reigned for less than a great processional Via Papalis.
month in 1503. Peruzzi’s convex colonnaded
The church is famous for its facade follows the line of the
beautiful dome, the largest in street. His originality is also
Rome after St. Peter’s. It was evident in the small square
built by Carlo Maderno in upper windows, the
1622–5 and was painted courtyard, and the
with splendid frescoes by stuccoed vestibule.
Domenichino and Giovanni The Piazza de’ Massimi
Lanfranco. The latter’s entrance has a
extravagant style, to be seen Renaissance-style,
in the dome fresco Glory of frescoed facade. A
Paradise, won him most of the single column from
commission, and the jealous the theater has been
Domenichino is said to have set up in the piazza.
tried to kill his colleague. He The Massimo family
failed, but Domenichino’s traced its origins
jealousy was unnecessary, to Quintus Fabius
as shown by his two beautiful Maximus, conqueror Angel with raised wing by Ercole Ferrata, flanking
paintings of scenes from the life of Hannibal in the the facade of Sant’Andrea della Valle

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