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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Page revised in January 2010.
To the Italian visitors of my web site

Palazzo Altieri (Book 4) (Map B3) (Day 1) (View C7) (Rione Pigna)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Palazzo Altieri
Palazzo Simonetti e Guerra
Convento dei Silvestrini

The Plate (No. 79)

Giuseppe Vasi regarded himself as first of all an architect, although he was not commissioned the design of any major building; his etchings are influenced by his interest in architecture: in this plate in particular he wanted to show all the details of Palazzo Altieri and to do this he disregarded the actual size of the streets and of Piazza del Gesù, the small square in front of the building; the background of the plate shows the Quirinale hill which cannot be seen from the square. Palazzo Altieri is also shown in plate 39.
The view is taken from the green dot in the small 1748 map here below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Chiesa del Gesù; 2) Palazzo Venezia; 3) Palazzo Panfilio; 4) Palazzo d'Aste; 5) Giardino Colonna; 6) Palazzo del Quirinale; 7) Palazzo Rospigliosi. All these buildings are shown in more details in other pages. The small map shows also: 8) Palazzo Simonetti e Guerra; 9) Convento dei Silvestrini; 10) Palazzo Altieri.

Small ViewSmall map

Today

The view today
(left) The view in July 2009; (right) closeup image showing in the foreground (right) Palazzo Venezia, centre front Palazzo d'Aste (with the covered green balcony); behind this Palazzo Colonna. and visible behind and above Palazzo Colonna a section of Giardino Colonnese. The palace with a large loggia on the left at the end of the street is a 1936 building designed by Armando Brasini.

Piazza del Gesù was not affected by the changes made in the late XIXth century to allow an easier flow of carriages between Piazza Venezia and the Vatican; the space between Palazzo Altieri and il Gesù was not that much, but town planners did not dare to touch the two historical buildings.

Palazzo Altieri

Palazzo Altieri
Main façade

The Altieri were a Roman family which owned several buildings in Rione Pigna, including those which were pulled down for the construction of il Gesù. In 1643 Giambattista Altieri was appointed cardinal by Pope Urban VIII; he felt his house was not good enough for his new social role and in 1650 he commissioned Giovanni Antonio De Rossi the redesign of the family properties in Piazza del Gesù; Berta, a widow who lived in a small house to the right of the entrance refused to leave and De Rossi found a way to incorporate her home into the design of the new palace (this explains the two small windows above the main ones).
The palace was completed by 1655 when Cardinal Giambattista Altieri died; it did not include the courtyard and it was limited to the section in the square. The façade, when compared to that designed by Bernini for Palazzo Barberini, looks rather plain, but De Rossi avoided monotony by slightly projecting forward its central part.

The coat of arms
(left) Balcony with the coat of arms of Pope Clement X; (right) courtyard


In 1679 Emilio Altieri, a brother of Giambattista, was appointed cardinal by Pope Clement IX and in the following year he was elected pope with the name of Pope Clement X; he was then aged 80, but he lived long enough to finance the enlargement of the family palace.
De Rossi built two major additions: one to the right of the original palace and the other behind it, but he retained as main façade that of his earlier project; he also designed an elegant courtyard.
Today a portion of Palazzo Altieri is owned by Associazione Bancaria Italiana: the following external link shows some of its decorated interior.

Sarcophagus
Fountain making use of an ancient sarcophagus which once was in the courtyard of Palazzo Altieri and now is located in the street behind it; in addition to traditional subjects it shows two squirrels eating fruit

Palazzo Simonetti e Guerra

Palazzo Simonetti
(left) Renaissance relief at Palazzo Simonetti; (right) a nearby "madonnella"

The entablature of Palazzo Simonetti e Guerra in nearby Via del Gesù was thought to belong to an ancient temple, but it is a fine Renaissance work which elaborated upon a classical theme, which can also be seen on the entablature of Tempio di Antonino e Faustina. At the beginning of the street there is an XVIIIth century madonnella.

Convento dei Silvestrini

Convento dei Silvestrini
(left) Façade along Via del Piè di Marmo; (right) detail of the windows in Via del Gesù

The Silvestrini belong to a Benedictine order founded in 1231 by S. Silvestro Guzzolini. They were given by Pope Pius IV the church of S. Stefano del Cacco and the adjoining building. In 1734 they enlarged their monastery by adding a new building designed by Ludovico Rusconi Sassi.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Palazzo Altieri
E’ quello per la sua estensione uno de' più grandi, e principali di Roma, edificato dal Card. Gio. Batista Altieri, e poi accresciuto e compito dal Card. Paluzzo Altieri nel Pontificato di Clemente X col disegno di Gio. Antonio de' Rossi. Fra gli ornamenti, che adornano gli appartamenti, sono notabili le pitture di Guido Reni, di Paolo Veronese, del Pussino, del Correggio, del Miniano, di Carlo Maratti, e li stucchi di Ercole Ferrata nel pianterreno.

Next plate in Book 4: Palazzi di Campidoglio
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Chiesa del Gesù
Next step in tour of Rione Pigna: Chiesa delle Stimmate di S. Francesco