1588
designed by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino
(1524/1606) for Cardinal Prospero Santacroce as a modification of previous
buildings belonging to the family Santacroce
Headquarters
since 1603 of the ISTITUTO DEL MONTE DI PIETÀ (Institute of Pawnshop) at the
behest of Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)
It was
founded in 1539 with headquarters originally in Via dei Banchi Vecchi to lend
money to the poor at low interest against usury
Expanded in
the years 1603/29 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629)
who had as collaborator the then young Francesco
Borromini (1599/1667)
Works
continued in the years 1629/37 by Bartolomeo Breccioli
(?/1639) and Francesco Peparelli (active since
1626/d. 1641)
REAR FAÇADE on Via S. Paolo alla Regola 1735/40 by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751)
It is now a
branch of the Unicredit Bank and they continue to make loans in exchange
for pledges, an activity carried on here without interruption for almost 500
years
Chapel
of the Mountain of Mercy
1618 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629), rebuilt 1639/41 by Francesco Peparelli (active since 1626/d. 1641) and
continued in the years 1660/70 in the decorations by his pupil Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616/95): he transformed
the plan from rectangular to elliptical
Decoration
continued 1696/1725 with marble and stuccos by Francesco
Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)
It was
consecrated in 1730
VESTIBULE
Oval panel
in the vault “Eternal God Surrounded by Angels” 1701 maybe by Michel Maille aka Michele Maglia (active in Rome the
second half of the seventeenth century)
“Bust of
St. Charles Borromeo” 1657 by Domenico Guidi
(1625/1701). St. Charles Borromeo in 1564 was protector of the Monte and wrote
its statutes
Four oval
panels with “History of the Monte di Pietà” and central oval panel “Holy Spirit
in glory” decoration began in 1696 by Francesco Carlo
Bizzaccheri who coordinated Lorenzo Ottoni
(1648/1736), Simone Giorgini (active in Rome
1677/1712), Michel Maille, Andrea Bertoni and Andrea
Berrettoni
“While
referring to the examples of Bernini's S. Andrea al Quirinale and St. Thomas of
Villanova, the dome sunken-shaped, doesn't have similar monumentality, but it
appears lighter as ornamental elements have no structural function” (Susanna
Misiano)
STATUES IN
THE NICHES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ENTRANCE
On the
right “Faith” 1724 by Francesco Moderati (about
1680/after 1724)
“One of his
best works in which the Baroque vehemence is contained in a subdued elegance,
infusing lightness and painterly effects in the stone” (Susanna Misiano)
“His best
work is the life-size figure of Hope in the chapel of the Monte di Pietà. The
body moves with the slight wave of Rome 'Barocchetto' as it is crossed, in an
almost musical counterpoint, by the folds of the wet drapery gathered brightly
which also serves to reveal the soft underlying shapes” (Robet Engass -
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
RELIEFS
ABOVE THE SIDE DOORS
On the
right “Tobias lends money to Gabelo” 1704 by Pierre
Legros (1666/1719)
On the left
“Joseph lends the grain to the Egyptians” 1702 by Jean-Baptiste
Théodon (1646/1713)
MAIN ALTAR
“Guidi was
largely responsible for the change from the Roman Baroque to the new Late
Baroque idiom: this composition, which rises in a curve from the Magdalene at
the bottom on the right to the Figure of God the Father at the top, is not
without merit, but there isn't discrimination between the degrees of spiritual
importance of the sacred characters, nor the individual figures are
sufficiently articulated to put the viewer in a position to discern exactly the
movements and even to decide whether the drapery belongs to a figure or
another: the result is a lively jumble of plastic form” (Rudolf Wittkower)
STATUES IN
THE NICHES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE MAIN ALTAR
On the
right “Begging” 1724 by Bernardino Cametti (1669/1736)
On the left
“Charity” 1721/24 by Giuseppe
Mazzuoli (1644/1725) who maybe coordinated the other sculptors
“Very
similar to the Bernini's group of the tomb of Alexander VII in St. Peter, the
work, marked by a great dynamism, reveals the artist's effort to show, in a
complex and redundant form, his virtuous ability even in his very old age”
(Susanna Misiano)
Chapel
of S. Mary of the Rescue
1759, in
Via Arco del Monte with three paintings by an unknown
artist of the eighteenth century:
ON THE
RIGHT “Adoration of the Magi”
MAIN ALTAR “Virgin
and Child bowing to St. John”
ON THE
LEFT “Presentation in the Temple”
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