Piazza del Popolo - Liceo Plinio Seniore

At the center of the square there is the famous
Fountain of Barcaccia, dating to th early Baroque,
sculpted by Pietro Bernini and his son, the most
famous Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
At the right site of the stairs there is the home of
the English poet jhon Keats, who lived there and
died
in
1821,
now
converted
into
a
museumdedicated in his memory and that of his
friend Percy Shelley, full of books of English
Romanticism. At the left corner there is, instead,
Babigton’s Tea Room founded in 1893. From the
side of Via Frattina there is the Palazzo di
Propaganda Fidei, owned by “Santa Sede”. In front
of the facade, designed by Bernini (while the front
side is of Borromini), stands the Colums of
Immaculate Conception, which was built two
years later the proclamation of the Dogma (1856)
The Stairway
• The monumental stairway of 135 steps was
inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII on the occasion of
the Jubilee of 1725, it was realized (thanks to the
funding of the French from 1721 to 1725) to link the
Bourbon Spanish Embassy (that gave the name to the
square) to church of Trinità dei Monti.It was
designed by Alexander Mirrors and by Francesco De
Sanctis after generations of discussions about how
the steep slope on the side of the Pincio should be
urbanized to connect it to the church. The final
solution chosen was that of Francesco De Sanctis, a
big
staircase decorated with numerous garden
terraces, which in spring and summer is beautifully
decorated with many flowers. The sumptuous,
aristocratic stairs, located at the apex of a long road
that led to the Tiber, was designed so that as they
approached the stage effects would increase
gradually. Typical of the great Baroque architecture
was in fact the creation of long, deep perspectives
culminating
with
scenes
or
backgrounds
monumental character. The staircase was restored in
The Column of Immaculate
Conception
Keats and Shelley Museum
The Obelisk Sallustiano
• The Obelisk Sallustiano is 13.91 meters high, was
built in roman time, copying hieroglyphs of the
pharaon Seti I and Ramses II, it decorated the
garden of Sallustio. Donated to Pope Clement XII
by Ludovisi, was later erected in frot of Church
of Trinità dei Monti at the top of the stairs
leading up from Piazza di Spagna.
The fountain
of Barcaccia
The fountain was built between 1626 and 1629 by Pietro Bernini, appointed architect
of the Virgin Water by Barberini Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644); some scholars
attribute it to his son Gian Lorenzo, but it is more likely that these limited itself to
conclude work on the death of his father. Its implementation resulted in
overcoming some technical difficulties , due to low pressure aqueduct Virgin
Water in that particular place, on that allowed the creation of jets or waterfalls.
The Bernini, however, solved the problem by designing the fountain in the shape of
a sinking boat in oval bathtub mail slightly below street level, with bow and stern,
identical shape, very elevated with respect to the lateral edges lower, just above
the level the basin. At the center of the boat a short baluster supports a small tub
oblong, the lower end of the bow and stern, from which emerges a gush of water
that filled the tub, falls inside the boat pre overflow then, from the side edges
lower and flared, into the basin below. The water flows from the other six points
(three to three and bow and stern): two sculptures shaped like a sun with a human
face, throwing water to as many hollows inside the boat, and four circular holes
(two for part) facing outwards, similar to the mouths of cannon. In addition to the
two suns, two coats of arms decorations complement the papal tiara and the bees
with the heraldic symbol of the pope's family (the Barberini), at the outside of the
boat, between the two mouths of cannon. In the internal part there are only two
with a human face, from whose mouths out of the water, collected by volutes that
the funnel to the outside. At the center, a tank, leaving a big gush of water. The
symbolism of the fountain, with the bees and the only, refer to the founder of the
monument Urban VIII. The term " Old Boat" refers to second-hand boats on the
Tiber in the nearby port of Ripetta. Other inspirations for luck are to be found,
probably, in the news depending on which existed in the area a naval battleoutdoor building where he instituted games and battles with naval warships in
miniature and in the floods of the Tiber, which dragged the boats to the foot of the
Trinità de’ Monti.
The church
Trinità dei
Monti
of
• In 1494, Saint Francis of Paola, a hermit from Calabria, bought a
vineyard from the papal scholar and former patriarch of Aquileia,
Ermolao Barbaro, and then obtained the authorization from Pope
Alexander VI to establish a monastery for the Minimite Friars. In
1502,Louis XII of France began construction of the church of the
Trinità dei Monti next to this monastery, to celebrate his
successful invasion of Naples. Building work began in a French
style with pointed late Gothic arches, but construction lagged.
• The present Italian Renaissance church was eventually built in its
place and finally consecrated in 1585 by the great urbanized Pope
Sixtus V, whose via Sistina connected the Piazza della Trinità dei
Monti (outside the church) to the Piazza Barberini across the city.
The architect of the facade is not known for certain, but Wolfgang
Lotz suggests that it may have originated in a design by Giacomo
della Porta, who had built the church of San Anastasio dei Greci,
which has similarities, a little earlier.The double staircase in
front of the church was by Domenico Fontana. In front of the
church stands the Obelisco Sallustiano, one of the many obelisks
in Rome, moved here in 1789. It is a Roman obelisk in imitation of
Egyptian ones, originally constructed in the early years of the
Roman Empire for the Gardens of Sallust near the Porta Salaria.
The hieroglyphic inscription was copied from that on the obelisk
in the Piazza del Popolo. During the Napoleonic occupation of
Rome, the church, like many others, was despoiled of its art and
decorations. In 1816, after theBourbon restoration, the church
was restored at the expense of Louis XVIII.
The Nave
The High Altar
• In the first chapel to the right is a Baptism of Christ and
other scenes of the life of John the Baptist by the
Florentine Mannerist painter Giambattista Naldini. In the
third chapel on the right is an Assumption of the Virgin by
a pupil of Michelangelo, Daniele da Volterra. In the fourth
chapel, the Cappella Orsini, are scenes of the Passion of
Christ by Paris Nogari and the funeral monument of
Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi by Leonardo Sormani.In a
chapel near the high altar is a canvas of the Crucifixion
painted by Cesar Nebbia. In the Cappella Pucci, on the left,
are frescoes (1537) by Perino del Vaga finished by Federico
and Taddeo Zuccari in 1589. The second chapel on the left
has a well-known canvas of the Deposition in grisaille, by
Daniele da Volterra, which imitates in trompe l'oeil a work
of sculpture; flanking it are frescoes by Paolo Céspedes and
Cesar Arbasia. The first chapel on the left has frescoes by
Nebbia. In the sacristy anteroom are more frescoes by
Taddeo Zuccari: a Coronation of the Virgin, an
Annunciation, and a Visitation.
The SHAPE of the square assumes the conformation present only at the end of
the nineteenth century. Previously it was a small square, trapezoidal, which
widened to Trident. At the time of Napoleon's, in fact, the architectural and
urban planning of the square was revised neoclassical architect Giuseppe
Valadier, who already in 1793 had presented a plan according to which two
cavalry barracks were to be placed on the sides of the square .
But with the first invasion by Napoleon, the French imposed a Valadier a new
project, but it could not be done because it did not take into account the uneven
ground between the Pincio and the square below.
After a second project that had the same problem, the work of arrangement was
entrusted to Berthault, but as soon as the French were gone away from Rome was
again Valadier in the project's final transformation.
Thanks to his intervention, the square acquired its present elliptical shape in the
center, complete with a double exedra, decorated with numerous fountains and
statues, which stretches out to the terrace of the Pincio.
The Valadier continued his work of renewal arranging also the area of the
slopes of the Pincio, joining Piazza del Popolo and the hill with wide ramps,
adorned with trees.
The terrace of the Pincio became one of the most famous meeting places of
the people.
The Pincio is a hill in Rome. The hill lies to the north of the Quirinal, and
overlooking the Campus Martius.
Several villas and gardens occupy the hill, including Villa Borghese. On top of
the hill, there is a wide view of the Piazza del Popolo.
Obelisk and lions fountains
An Egyptian obelisk of Sety I (later erected by Rameses
II) from Heliopolis stands in the centre of the Piazza.
Three sides of the obelisk were carved during the reign of
Sety I and the fourth side, under Rameses II. The obelisk,
known as the obelisco Flaminio or the Popolo Obelisk, is
the second oldest and one of the tallest obelisks in Rome
(some 24 m high, or 36 m including its plinth). The obelisk
was brought to Rome in 10 BC by order of Augustus and
originally set up in the Circus Maximus. It was re-erected
here in the piazza by the architect-engineer Domenico
Fontana in 1589 as part of the urban plan of Sixtus V. The
piazza also formerly contained a central fountain, which
was moved to the Piazza Nicosia in 1818, when
fountains, in the form of Egyptian-style lions, were added
around the base of the obelisk.
Fontana del Nettuno in Piazza del
Popolo
•
Author: Giuseppe Valadier, John Ceccarini
Dating: 1814-1823
Materials: marble, travertine
Original supply: acquedottoVergine
The fountain of Neptune, built in the hemicycle left, was
completed in 1823. Placed exactly opposite to that of the
goddess Rome hemicycle opposite, it consists of a large
semicircular travertine basin above which a large shell of a
shell, also of travertine, collects water poured from a small cup
placed a little higher.
The fountain is adorned with an impressive group of sculptures
designed by Giuseppe Valadier and sculpted by John Ceccarini
(c. 1790-1861), in which the main element is represented by a
statue of Neptune with trident in his right hand, at the foot of
which hosts two statues of tritons resting on dolphins.
In the original project by Valadier at the base of the two
semicircles were also two small lakes at ground level that were
never realized.
Fontana della Dea Roma in Piazza del
Popolo
Author: Giuseppe Valadier, John Ceccarini
Dating: 1814-1823
Materials: marble, travertine
Original supply: acquedotto Vergine
The fountain of the Goddess Roma located in the center of the
hemicycle east, below the slopes of the Pincio exactly opposite to
that of the hemicycle opposite Neptune, was completed in 1823. It
derives its name from the large group of sculptures placed above
the tank consists of a huge statue of the goddess Roma armed and
flanked by two seated statues representing two rivers of Rome, the
Tiber and Aniene. At the foot of the goddess is placed the she-wolf
suckling the twins, representation that celebrates the legendary
origins of the city.
The impressive group was designed by the architect Giuseppe
Valadier and sculpted by John Ceccarini (1790-1861).
The initial project involved the training of Valadier, in the center of
the two semicircles, at ground level, including two small lakes ever
made.
The supremacy of Piazza del Popolo is emphased by the TWIN CHURCHES.
The origin of the two churches traces back to the 17th-century restoration of
what was the main entrance to the Middle Ages and Renaissance Rome, from the
Via Flaminia (known as Via Lata and Via del Corso in its urban trait).
Though initiated by the architect Carlo Rainaldi ,under the commission of Pope
Alexander VII, they were completed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini with the
collaboration of Carlo Fontana.
Rainaldi
invested the best of his abilities into the design and
construction of Santa Maria dei Miracoli.
His task was to both inspire and impress travellers entering the city,
drawing them across the square to the beauty of the churches
beyond.
As well as being elevated from the level of the square, the two
churches emphasized the elegant lines of the Trident, Via del
Babbuino, Via del Corso and Via di Ripetta, radiating out beyond,
adding depth and perspective to the overall picture.
He also used an element of illusion, as the churches, which appear so
similar from a distance, are in fact charmingly individual.
Piazza del popolo around 1750 by incision of
Giovanni Battista Piranesi.
These are the maps of the Twin Churches in the 1700
Santa Maria in Montesanto, erected over a church with the same name that
lay at the beginning of Via del Babuino, and was occupied by Carmelite monks.
The name Montesanto (Holy Mountain) referred to Mount Carmel in Israel.
The patron was Cardinal Gerolamo Gastaldi, and construction of the present
church was begun on July 15, 1662, and finished in 1675, with other
additions by 1679.
Originally by Carlo Rainaldi, the plans were revised by Gian Lorenzo Bernini,
and ultimately completed by Carlo Fontana. A belfry was added in the 18th
century. The statues of saints on the exterior have been attributed to
Bernini's design. The interior has an elliptical plan, with a dodecagonal
cupola.
In 1825, the church was made a minor basilica.
In 1951, the Monsignor established a tradition of the Mass of the Artists,
where on the last Sunday of October till June 29, a mass is held every
Sunday with reading by an artist, and animated by music. At the end of the
mass, a prayer for the artists is read.
INTERIOR DECORATION
The first chapel to the left is, the cappella of Santa Lucia (Saint Lucy).
The second chapel is dedicated to Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzi,
designed by Carlo Rainaldi to honor the Carmelite nun canonized by Pope
Clemente XI in 1669. The ceiling and the altarpiece of the Miracle of
the saint (c. 1685) was painted by Ludovico Gimignani.
The third chapel is the cappella Montioni. The Montioni family
commissioned Tommaso Mattei , pupil of Carlo Fontana, for the design.
The altarpiece of the Madonna with Child and Saints Francis and Jacob
(c. 1687) was completed by Carlo Maratta. The Assumption fresco was
painted by Giuseppe Chiari. Upon the altar is a modern statue of the
Angel for the artists by Guelfo (1937–1997). At one time, the sacristy
held frescoes by Baciccia.
The presbytery is stuccoed with angels by Filippo Carcani and houses the
miraculous 15th century altarpiece of Virgin of Montesanto, which
tradition holds was painted by an 11 year old girl. The sacristy has a
frescoed vault with angels and the instruments of passion, the altarpiece
of the Deposition (c. 1600) is attributed to Biagio Puccini.
Santa Maria dei Miracoli was begun in 1675 and finished in 1681.
With a circular plan, it has an elegant 18th century bell tower by Girolamo
Theodoli and an octagonal cupola.
The interior has a rich stucco decoration by Antonio Raggi, Bernini's pupil.
The monuments for Cardinals Benedetto and Gastaldi were designed by
Carlo Fontana, who also provided design for the cupola and the lamp.
The busts in bronze were completed by Girolamo Lucenti.
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight who, after a
debilitating injury, had a long recuperation period. It was
during this time that he did a lot of reading and
determined that if he could no longer be a warrior, then
he would dedicate his life to God and be a soldier for
Him. Loyola is the founder of the Society of Jesus,
known as the Jesuits, who were instrumental in
enforcing the dictates of the Catholic Church’s Counter
Reformation period – and not always in a good way. But
equally important, the Jesuits believed that people, no
matter how poor, should have the opportunity to learn
and they taught reading, which helped increase literacy
rates and the lives of many people. Even today, the
Jesuits run many universities under the name of Loyola,
determined to continue their belief in education.
The original project for the façade of S. Ignazio
was modified during its construction; the
height was raised by some 15 feet thus making
the façade even more out of proportion in
relationship to the small square which lay in
front of it.The buildings surrounding the
square were regarded as examples of bad taste
by Francesco Milizia, a neoclassic art historian,
but they still retain their elaborate decoration
and their original size.
Detail of the façade; the inscription celebrates the role of Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi
In 1562-66 a church was built on the site of today's S. Ignazio; it was dedicated to S. Maria
Annunziata and its façade can be seen in a 1588 Guide to Rome. The church however did not meet
the requirements of Collegio Romano which was attended by some 2,000 students and in 1626 it
was pulled down to make room for a larger church. The construction was financed by Cardinal
Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV ; the new church was dedicated to St. Ignatius of
Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, who was canonized in 1622.
Orazio Grassi, who taught mathematics at Collegio Romano, designed the new building and his
project was endorsed by a commission which included Carlo Maderno. The church was completed
in 1685 except for the dome.
The design of S. Ignazio included a dome at the intersection between the main nave and the transept, but at a certain point
the Jesuits realized that the dome was no longer consistent with the already built parts of the church. As an interim solution
they asked a Jesuit painter, Andrea Pozzo to cover the ceiling above the intersection between nave and transept with an
apparent dome.
Pozzo was expected to show again his illusionistic skills and he fully met these expectations. The entablature of the
cornice, i.e. the framing of the ceiling among painted columns and architraves was not unusual, but Pozzo designed a
sort of open ancient temple framing the sky with a myriad of figures, including allegories of the four continents. The
subject of the painting - St. Ignatius' glory - is just a scene at the center of the ceiling. The illusion is perfect from any
point in the nave, but the viewer is impressed by the skill, not by the drama, and ends by looking at the details, by
testing the view of columns and arches from different angles. Pozzo wrote a book on perspective laws Perspectiva
pictorum and architectorum which had a lasting influence on scenographers throughout the XVIIIth century
Altare di S. Luigi Gonzaga - ceiling by Andrea Pozzo
Because a lavishly decorated altar to St. Ignatius already existed at il Gesù, a similarly
impressive altar was dedicated to St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a Jesuit who died in 1591 at the
age of 23 while caring for the sick during a pestilence; he was canonized in 1605, before
the founder of his order. Pozzo painted the illusory ceiling above this altar and also that
for Chiesa del Gesù at Frascati; in 1703 he went to Vienna where he decorated
Jesuitenkirche and the interior of Liechtenstein Palace.
(left) Altare di S. Luigi Gonzaga; (right) Annunciazione, relief by Filippo Della Valle on the
opposite altar
Pope Gregory XV and his nephew Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi were buried in the church;
the image shown in the background of this page shows a detail of their monument.
The dome
(left) Model of the dome; (right) painted dome by Andrea Pozzo seen from the nave
The initial design of the church included a dome, but when in 1685 the rest of of the building was completed,
the Jesuits had no money left for the construction of the dome. At this point Andrea Pozzo suggested to
temporarily complete the interior of the church by painting an illusory view of the dome on canvas. His
knowledge of perspective led to a very successful result and the matter was settled for good. In the nave a
circular slab of yellow marble indicates the point selected by Pozzo to develop his calculations; moving away
from there, one gradually notices that the church has a rather unusual dome.
ORATORIO DEL CARAVITA
(left) Oratorio del Caravita; (right) detail of the façade with dedicatory inscription to St.
Francis Xavier
The oratory was built in 1630-33 at the initiative of Father Pietro Gravita, a Jesuit in
charge of Missione Urbanai.e. of preaching to the farm labourers of the Roman Campagna,
especially to those who worked on a seasonal basis. The oratory became known as Oratorio
del Caravita, a corruption of Father Gravita's surname; the building was used for musical
performances and educational plays; it also housed a famous Macchina delle Quarant'Ore.
Piazza S. Ignazio
Central building
The houses which stood opposite the church were redesigned in 1727-28 by Filippo
Raguzzini, the preferred architect of Pope Benedict XIII; they did not belong to
important families and they were split into flats. Raguzzini arranged them in a way that
they resemble the stage of a theatre.
Pantheon
• Francesco Roscia
• Dumitrita Bobeica
What is the
Pantheon
1
Hadrian in
118 A.D. In the
The Pantheon is same place
there was the
an ancient
circular temple Agrippa’s
to all the gods Pantheon but
it was
in Rome
commissioned destroyed by
. the fire of 80
by Emperor
A.D.
2
Where is the
Pantheon
Chamber of
The Pantheon
Deputies and
is in Rome’s
Senate of
Centro Storico,
Pantheon
Republic.
in Piazza della
Rotonda, near
Italian
3
4
4
Structure
• •Portico
Portico
• •Forepart
Rotunda
• •Rotunda
Interior
5
6
Marcus
Agrippa, son
The portico is
of Lucius,
made by gable
made this
roof on three
lines of columns. building when
In frieze there is was consul for
an inscription: the third time
Portico
M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIUM·
FECIT
that means:
7
8
Portico
The portico is
made by three
lines of
Corinthian
columns: in the
first line there
are eight grey
columns, in the
9
second and in
the third lines
there are four
red columns.
The columns
are high 13
metres.
10
Urban VIII
ordered to
The portico’s
remove it to
gable roof is
make St.
supported by
wooden trusses. Peter's
Originally the Baldachin and
Castel
trusses were
made by bronze Sant’Angelo’s
but in 1625 pope . cannons
Portico
11
12
Forepart
The forepart links
the portico with
the rotunda. This
parallelepiped is
made by opus
latericium. In the
middle part there
is a bronze door.
13
14
Rotunda
The rotunda is
composed by a
large room
covered by an
awesome dome.
In the rotunda is
possible to
inscribe a
15
43.3 mdiameter
sphere. The
wall is thick
6.2 m.
16
Rotunda
niches are
made by
In the rotunda
yellow marble.
there are seven
There are
niches (four
rectangular and decorations
with
three
Pavonazzo
semicircular).
The columns and and red
the pilasters of the . Marbles.
17
18
Rotunda
composed by a
square with
The rotunda’s
floor are the same another square
of Hadrian’s age. inside and a
square with a
It is made by
circle inside.
many colors
marbles. It
follows a
checkered pattern
19
20
Rotunda
and internal
niches.
The rotunda’s
wall makes the
temple an
earthquake-proof
Internal
building because
niches
thereDead
are dead
arches
archs
21
22
Rotunda
The dome
The dome, made consists in five
ring of
by opus
caementicium, twenty-eight
lacunars. It
have a 9 m–
diameter oculus was the biggest
which is the only dome until
Brunelleschi’s
light source of
. dome
the temple.
23
24
History
consecrated it
•118-128 A.D.: the to St. Mary
temple was built. and the
Martyrs.
•608: the
•After 1000:
Byzantine
Emperor Phocas the church
gave the Pantheon was renamed
to pope Boniface IV Santa Maria
. Rotunda
•609: The pope
25
26
History
Pantheon, the
•1625: pope Urban historical
VIII removed the home of
bronze elements Pontificia
•Since the 17th Insigne
century, exhibits Accademia di
have often taken Belle Arti e
place beneath the Letteratura
. dei Virtuosi
portico of the
27
al Pantheon.
28
History
Pantheon is
preserved by
•1630: Gian
Lorenzo Bernini Ministry of
Cultural
built two clock
towers nicknamed Heritage and
Activities but
“donkey ears”.
is still a
They was
destroyed in 1883. church.
•Now: the
29
30
•Flaminio
•Annibale Carracci Vacca
•Arcangelo Corelli •Taddeo
Zuccari
•Giovanni da
•King Vittorio
Udine
Emanuele II
•Perin del Vaga
•Queen
•Baldassarre
Margherita
Peruzzi
•Raffaello Sanzio • King
31
Umberto I
People buried
32
INGORTP
1870 to look
for the king’s
When Vittorio
Emanuele II died tomb. The
association
(1878), the
changed name
veterans of
Indipendence War many times,
today is
formed the
Comizio generale named Istituto
dei veterani 1848- . Nazionale
33
34
INGORTP
and King
per la Guardia
Umberto I
d‘Onore alle Reali
Tombe del
Pantheon and
preserves the tombs
of: King Vittorio
Emanuele II,
Queen Margherita
35
36
Piazza della Rotonda
Piazza della Rotonda, also known as Piazza del Pantheon, is a square
situated between Via della Rotonda by the Pantheon in Rome, wards,
Column, Saint Eustace and Pigna
Dominated by the presence of the Pantheon, the name derives from the
popular name given by the Romans to the great monument arrived
intact from ancient Rome: the Rotonna.
At the center of the square stands a Renaissance fountain designed
around 1575 by Giacomo della Porta in place since the days of Pope
Eugenius IV (first half of the fifteenth century) was occupied by a
basin of porphyry and two stone lions.
In the eighteenth century the fountain was designed by Filippo
modified du Barigioni and surmounted by the so-called "Macuteo
obelisk", a small monolith at the time of Ramesses II found in the
fourteenth century in Piazza San Macuto.
The square, up to 1847, was used, despite repeated prohibitions of the
papal authorities, such as the fish market and the vegetable.
In the center of piazza della Rotonda there’s a fountain, the Fontana del
Pantheon, surmounted by an Egyptian obelisk. The fountain was
constructed by Giacomo Della Porta under Pope Gregory XIII in 1575, and
the obelisk was added to it in 1711 under Pope Clement XI.
The Aqua Virgo, one of the
eleven
aqueducts
that
supplied ancient Rome with
drinking water, served the
area of the Campus Martius,
but had fallen into disrepair
and disuse by the late Middle
Ages. It was reconstructed
under Pope Nicholas V and
consecrated in 1453 as the
Acqua Vergine. In 1570,
Giacomo della Porta was
commissioned under Pope
Gregory XIII to oversee a
major project to extend the
distribution of water from
the Vergine to eighteen new
public fountains.
Construction of the fountain in
the Piazza della Rotonda was
authorized on September 25,
together with a fountain for
Piazza Colonna, and two more
for Piazza Navona; the fountain
for the Rotonda, completed in
1575, was of a chalice-type
design, around 3.5 to 4 meters
in height, and fed with the
Vergine water through a terracotta conduit. Della Porta
designed the fountain, and
Leonardo Sormani executed it.
Due to the slope of the piazza,
the fountain is approached by
five steps on the south side, and
only two on the north.
Under the pontificate of
Alexander VII Chigi, projects
were set afoot to systematize
the piazza and its setting,
grading and enlarging it and
widening
the
incident
streets, in which Gian
Lorenzo Bernini participated.
An engraving by Giovanni
Battista Falda records the
work
that
had
been
completed at the time of
Alexander's death in 1667.
In 1711 the fountain was given its current appearance when Pope
Clement XI had the Late Baroque sculptor Filippo Barigioni top it with
a 20-foot red marble Egyptian obelisk. The obelisk, originally
constructed by Pharaoh Ramses II for the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis,
had been brought to Rome in ancient times where it was reused in the
Iseum Campense, a shrine to the Egyptian god Isis that stood to the
southeast of the Pantheon. It was rediscovered in 1374 underneath the
apse of the nearby Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. In the mid1400s the obelisk had been erected in the small Piazza di San Macuto
some 200 meters east of the Pantheon, where it remained until its 1711
move to the Piazza della Rotonda. It is still called the Obelisco
Macutèo after its previous location.