Page 259 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

VIA VENE T O  257

from the 13th to the 16th Santa Susanna is the Catholic
centuries, part of the Galleria church for Americans in Rome.
Nazionale d’Arte Antica, with It is closed for restoration; see
notable works by Filippo Lippi, website for latest information
El Greco, and Caravaggio. There and alternative services.
is also a Holbein portrait of King
Henry VIII of England dressed for 8 Santa Maria
his wedding to Anne of Cleves.
Of greater local significance are della Vittoria
Guido Reni’s Beatrice Cenci, Via XX Settembre 17. Map 5 C2.
the young woman accused of Tel 06-4274 0571. @ 60, 61, 62, 492,
and executed for planning her 910. q Repubblica. Open 8:30am–
father’s murder (see p154), noon & 3:30–6pm daily. 5 ^
and La Fornarina, traditionally
identified as a portrait of This intimate Baroque church
Raphael’s mistress (see p212), has a lavishly decorated candle lit
although not necessarily interior. It contains one of
painted by him. Bernini’s most ambitious
The Triton and his conch shell in Bernini’s sculptural works, Ecstasy of
Fontana del Tritone St. Teresa (1646), centerpiece
of the Cornaro Chapel, built to
their tails together to support resemble a miniature theater. It
a huge scallop shell on which even has an audience: sculptures
the sea god Triton kneels, of the chapel’s benefactor,
blowing a spindly column of Cardinal Federico Cornaro, and
water up into the air through his ancestors sit in boxes, as if
a conch shell. Entwined artis- watching and discussing the
tically among the dolphins’ scene occurring in front of them.
tails are the papal tiara, the Visitors may be shocked or
keys of St. Peter, and the thrilled by the apparently
Barberini coat of arms. physical nature of St. Teresa’s
ecstasy. She lies on a cloud, her
mouth half open, and her eye-
6 Palazzo Barberini lids closed, with rippling drapery
Facade of Santa Susanna covering her body. Looking over
Via delle Quattro Fontane 13. Map 5
B3. Tel 06-482 4184. @ 52, 53, 61, 62, 7 Santa Susanna her with a smile, which from dif-
63, 80, 116, 492, 590. q Barberini. ferent angles can appear either
Open 8:30am–7pm Tue–Sun (last Via XX Settembre 14. Map 5 C2. tender or cruel, is a curly-haired
adm: 6pm). Closed Jan 1, Dec 25. Tel 06-4201 4554. @ 60, 61, 62, 492, angel holding an arrow with
& 8 = d e 7 ^ 910. q Repubblica. Closed for which he is about to pierce the
∑ galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it restoration. 5∑ santasusanna.it saint’s body for a second time.
The marble figures are framed
When Maffeo Barberini became Santa Susanna’s most striking and illuminated by rays of divine
Pope Urban VIII in 1623, he feature is its vigorous light materialized in bronze.
decided to build a grand palace Baroque facade by Carlo
for his family on the fringes of Maderno, finished in
the city, overlooking a ruined 1603. Christians have
temple. The architect, Carlo worshipped on the site
Maderno, designed it as a since at least the 4th
typical rural villa, with wings century. In the nave,
extending into the surrounding there are four huge
gardens. Maderno died in 1629 frescoes by Baldassarre
and Bernini took over, assisted Croce (1558–1628), painted
by Borromini. The peculiar to resemble tapestries.
pediments on some of the top These depict scenes from
floor windows, and the oval the life of Susanna, an
staircase inside, are almost obscure Roman saint who
certainly by Borromini. was martyred here, and
Of the many sumptuously the rather better-known
decorated rooms, the most life of the Old Testament
striking is the Gran Salone, with Susanna, who was
a dazzling illusionistic ceiling spotted bathing in her
fresco by Pietro da Cortona. The husband’s garden by
palazzo also houses paintings two lecherous judges. Bernini’s astonishing Ecstasy of St. Teresa

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