Home

Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
What's New!

Detailed Sitemap

All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
To the Italian visitors of my web site

Collegio di Propaganda Fide (Book 9) (Map B2) (Day 3) (View C6) (Rione Colonna)

In this page:
 The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
 Today's view
 Borromini's Façade
 The Chapel of the Magi
 The House of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Plate (No. 164 - ii)

Colegio di Propaganda Fide

The College was founded by Pope Urbanus VIII for the training of missionaries. The main façade by Bernini is in Piazza di Spagna.  Vasi shows the south side with the façade by Borromini built during the pontificate of Pope Alexander VII, whose gigantic coat of arms you can see on the corner. The west side is also shown in plate 146. The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below. The map shows also 1) Façade by Francesco Borromini; 2) West side of the building; 3) Cappella dei re Magi; 4) House of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Small View

Today

The view today

The palace is still devoted to its original purpose, but the ground floor has been converted to shopping. The coat of arms of Alexander VII is lost, but his symbols are still on the first floor large windows, whilst the bee of Urbanus VIII tops the shop windows. The building was recently repainted with lighter colours.

Coats of arms


Borromini's Facade

Borromini

The ingenuity of Borromini and his typical way of combining curve lines can be fully appreciated in the details of the entrance to the Palace.

Cappella dei Magi

The Chapel of the Magi

Bernini had built for Urbanus VIII a little chapel inside the palace. With the death of the Pope the fortunes of Bernini fell and Borromini was asked to pull down the chapel and build a new one which was completed under Alexander VII (see his coat of arms at the entrance of the chapel). As Bernini lived opposite to Palazzo di Propaganda Fide he had to endure seeing his work cancelled by his rival. It's a pity we lost the elliptical chapel of  Bernini (which inspired his later work in S. Andrea al Quirinale), but Borromini's chapel does compensate for it. At first sight everything seems so neat and simple, but this result is achieved in a very sophisticated way. Six busts represent cardinals who protected the missions (below the bust of Cardinal Antonio Barberini): the statues are generally ascribed to pupils of Alessandro Algardi, but the tall black bases were designed by Borromini.

The statue of Cardinal Barberini

House of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

House of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Pietro Bernini, the father of Gian Lorenzo, moved to Rome in 1606 and settled in a house opposite to S. Maria Maggiore where his son continued to live for many years, although at that time S. Maria Maggiore was a rather remote location. The favour of Urbanus VIII who commissioned to Bernini palaces, churches and the decoration of St Peter's, made Gian Lorenzo Bernini a very wealthy man and led him to move to a more central location. In 1642 he bought two buildings in Via della Mercede: in one (the reddish one in the picture) he established his residence and his workshop, while the other one was rented. Bernini lived in this house until his death in 1680. He left a fortune and his heirs later on moved to a more sought after building in Via del Corso opposite to Palazzo Ruspoli and which is known as Palazzo Bernini. The late XIXth century inscription makes reference to the fact that popes and princes knelt to him. Bernini had a very likeable personality and to use today's words he had great marketing skills, nevertheless he was conscious of the autonomous value of art and of his own value as an artist. When Queen Christina of Sweden visited him he met her in his workshop, still dressed in his work clothes, by this indicating that his activity as an artist took precedence over the rules of protocol.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Collegio di Propaganda Fide
Corrisponde medesimamente sulla detta piazza questo gran Collegio, il quale ebbe principio l'anno 1622. Gregorio XV. per provvedere ai bisogni e dilatazione della Fede Cattolica, e però nel Pontificato di Urbano VIII. fu eretto qui il collegio col disegno del Bernini, e vi furono collocati delli studenti di varie nazioni orientali, a fine di imparare le scienze, e poi propagate in quelle parti la Fede. Fu dipoi terminata la fabbrica dal Borromino; la chiesa però corrisponde nella strada a sinistra, ove si vede il capriccioso prospetto fatto dal medesimo Borromino: ma però entro il collegio, e vi sono delle buone pitture. La conversione di s. Paolo nella prima cappella a destra è di Carlo Pellegrini, ma col disegno del Bernini; il s. Filippo Neri nella seconda è di Carlo Cesi, e i Re Magi nell'altare maggiore sono del Geminiani; le pitture di sopra sono di Lazzaro Baldi. Il ss. Crocifisso dall'altra parte è del suddetto Geminiani; i santi Apostoli colle reti sono copie del Vasari, e le pitture nella superiore cappella del Collegio sono di Gio. Ventura Borghesi.

Next plate in Book 9: Seminario Romano
Next step in Day 3 itinerary: Convento di S. Giuseppe
Next step in your tour of Rione Colonna: Convento di S. Giuseppe