Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

Links to this page can be found in Book 9, Day 1 and Day 4, View C7, Rione Pigna and Rione Colonna.

The page covers:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Seminario Romano and S. Macuto
Monastero Dominicano della Minerva
   - Biblioteca Casanatense
Palazzo Serlupi Crescenzi
Warning Inscriptions

The Plate (No. 165)

In this etching Giuseppe Vasi gave rather more relevance to Dominican Monastero della Minerva than to Seminario Romano which belonged to the Jesuits and which was almost an appendage to their nearby Collegio Romano. He probably did so because the street where Seminario Romano is located is very narrow and it does not allow a proper view of the building. Jesuits and Dominicans belonged to orders having great influence on the decisions of the popes; they apparently cooperated, but they also competed for increasing their power. In 1759, when Vasi published this etching, the Jesuits had a major role in the education of the upper classes, but many European monarchs resented their indirect influence on state matters. Seminario Romano was closed in 1772 and the Jesuit Order was suppressed in the following year by Pope Clement XIV.
The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Buildings opposite S. Ignazio; 2) S. Macuto; 3) Seminario Romano; 4) Dominican Monastery adjoining S. Maria sopra Minerva. The small map shows also: 5) Palazzo Serlupi. 1) is shown in another page. The dotted line in the small map delineates the border between Rione Colonna (upper part) and Rione Pigna (lower part).

Today

The view in June 2009

The section of the Dominican Monastery shown in the plate was confiscated after the 1870 annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy and it was slightly modified. Via del Seminario, the street leading to Piazza della Rotonda is as narrow as it was at Vasi's time.

Seminario Romano and S. Macuto

(left) Palazzo del Seminario Romano; (centre) coat of arms of Pope Leo XII; (right) S. Macuto

The institution of a seminary for the education of priests was promoted by Pope Pius IV and by Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, his nephew; the institution was housed in several buildings until in 1607 it was moved to an existing palace belonging to the Gabrielli family; the location was very convenient because students attended lessons at Collegio Romano. In 1824 Pope Leo XII assigned the building to the reconstituted Jesuit Order to which it still belongs; it is now known as Collegio S. Roberto Bellarmino, after a Jesuit cardinal who played a major role in the trial of Giordano Bruno, a Dominican monk, in 1600. It is currently used as a residence for Jesuit priests and brothers studying for advanced academic degrees.

S. Macuto: (left) interior; (right) Michelangelo Cerruti: John Nepomuk, patron saint of the teachers, and Aloysius Gonzaga, patron saint of the pupils, worship the Sacred Heart of Jesus (painted after 1726)

Macuto is the Italian name for St. Malo, a VIth century saint from Wales who founded a monastic settlement on the northern coast of Brittany which eventually became the town of Saint-Malo. In 1539 the small medieval church dedicated to St. Malo was assigned to the brotherhood of the inhabitants of Bergamo, a town in northern Italy; it was then dedicated to Bartholomew and Alexander, the patron saints of Bergamo; the church was rebuilt in the second half of the XVIth century (you may wish to see it in a 1588 Guide to Rome). In 1726 the brotherhood was assigned another church in Piazza Colonna and the original dedication was restored by the Jesuits who used the building as the oratory for the nearby seminary.
The façade of the church is embellished with small obelisks in memory of the obelisks found in this area, where Iseo Campense, a Temple to Isis, the Egyptian goddess, was located.

Louvre Museum in Paris: statue of the River Tiber from Iseo Campense. It was seized from the Vatican Museums by Napoleon, but eventually Pope Pius VII agreed to donate it to King Louis XVIII of France

The statue of the Tiber most likely stood opposite one depicting the Nile which has the same size.
The statues of the two rivers represented a sort of alliance between Rome and Egypt. The Roman religion was very much based on religio loci (religious sanctity of a wood, mountain, river, etc.) and thus the Romans built gigantic statues depicting river gods (you may wish to see those at Palazzo Senatorio and Marforio). These statues provided Gian Lorenzo Bernini with a pattern for Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, in particular for the statue of the River Ganges.

Musei Capitolini: basalt statues from Iseo Campense; see also the basalt lion of Pharaoh Nectanebo II

Invenit eadem Aegyptus in Aethiopia quem vocant basaniten, ferrei coloris atque duritiae, unde et nomen ei dedit. (The Egyptians also discovered in Ethiopia what is called "basanites", a stone which in colour and hardness resembles iron). Pliny the Elder - Historia Naturalis - Book XXXVI.
The Romans wanted their "Egyptian" statues to be made with a stone which was quarried in that country (see the Egyptian statues which decorated Villa Adriana). Occasionally they used dark stones for other subjects, but they were unhappy with the results.

Monastero Dominicano della Minerva

(left) A section of Monastero Domenicano della Minerva; (right) coat of arms of Pope Urban VIII and the Sun of the Barberini above it

This section of the Dominican monastery is now known as Palazzo S. Macuto and it houses offices of the Italian Camera dei Deputati, the Lower House of the Italian Parliament; it was built in 1641 by Paolo Maruscelli at the expense of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, Protector of the Dominican Order. A small section of the monastery with the cloister was returned to the Dominicans in 1930.

Biblioteca Casanatense

Western side of Via di S. Ignazio between Monastero Dominicano and Collegio Romano: (left) monumental inscription; (right) 1890s entrance to the library

The Biblioteca Casanatense was established at the behest of Cardinal Girolamo Casanate (Naples 1620 - Rome 1700), Librarian of the Holy Roman Church from December 2, 1693 until his death, who in 1698 made a donation to the Dominican fathers for the opening of a public library. Work was interrupted several times due to a litigation promoted by the Jesuits of Collegio Romano over the size of the building, which was completed in 1725. The monumental inscription is decorated with the Cardinal's heraldic symbols (tower and star) and with those of the Dominicans, i.e. a dog holding a torch (Dominicanus = Dominus Canis, Dog of the Lord). Because the library was accessed through the cloister of the monastery, the inscription had the sole purpose to signal the Dominican presence in the Jesuit area.

Main hall of the library

In November 1701 the main hall of the library, designed by architect Antonio Maria Borioni perhaps on a preliminary project by Carlo Fontana, the leading architect of the time, was inaugurated. It contained the Cardinal's private library, a collection of over 25,000 volumes, including manuscripts, incunabula and rare editions from the XVIth and XVIIth centuries, which he donated to the Dominicans on the condition that its public use was guaranteed. As early as 1717, the curators realized that the hall could no longer contain the substantial bibliographic holdings, which had been increased through a wise policy of acquisitions; they therefore called upon the architect Borioni once again, who presented a plan for an extension. The new hall was inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII (a Dominican) in 1729. It has a length 60.30 m and a width of 15.60 m and it contains 60,000 volumes arranged on a double row of wooden shelving, surmounted by cartouches - interrupted by a gallery to facilitate the taking of books.

Books on Ascetism, Dogmatic Theology and Moral Theology

The Biblioteca Casanatense is one of the most celebrated in Rome: it contains upwards of 120,000 printed books and 4500 MSS. The most ancient of the latter is a Pontifical on parchment of the ninth century, illuminated with miniatures. (..) Two unpublished treatises by S. Thomas Aquinas have been recently found here. (..) A large Bible on parchment, stamped by hand with wooden characters, is interesting in the history of printing. The collection of the prints published by the Calcografia Camerale is one of the finest collections known, and already amounts to many thousands. This library is richer in printed books than any other in Rome, and is only surpassed by the Vatican in manuscripts.
John Murray - Handbook for travellers in Central Italy - 1843
Biblioteca Gregoriana, Biblioteca Alessandrina, Biblioteca Angelica, Biblioteca Vallicelliana and Biblioteca Corsini were other historical libraries of Rome.

Poetry books at the western end of the main hall

The books, ordered by subject (27 classes), reflect the variety and plurality of interests of the time: thirteen classes are dedicated to religious disciplines: sacred scripture, patristics, history of councils and synods, provincial chapters of religious orders, ecclesiastical history, sacred history, hagiography, rhetoric, treatises on preaching, biblical exegesis, theology, religious and liturgical literature in languages other than Western, such as Hebrew, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Chinese and Japanese. Alongside the theological sciences, there is also a section devoted to canon and civil law, followed by literature, history, philosophy, medicine, mathematics and the natural sciences.

Monumental (eastern) end of the library

Antonin Cloche, Master of the Order of the Preachers (the Dominican Order) in 1686-1720 was a close friend of Cardinal Casanate and at the same time he was eager to promote the status of the Dominicans by means of art. A complex wooden architectural structure was erected at the eastern end of the enlarged hall to house a statue of Cardinal Casanate by Pierre Legros, a French sculptor who settled in Rome in 1690 and mainly worked for the Jesuits after having sculpted Religion crushes the Heresy at il Gesù. The upper part of the structure housed a sort of funerary monument to St. Thomas Aquinas, very similar to other monuments of that period.

Statue of Cardinal Girolamo Casanate by Pierre Legros

The statue was made in 1708, before the enlargement of the main hall and it was placed on top of the staircase leading up from Santa Maria sopra Minerva to the library's old entrance. The original concept was that the Cardinal should greet the visitor on his way out of the library, ready to accompany him for a while to discuss what he learned with the help of his books. This explains the posture of the statue which is not consistent with its current location. Legros showed all his technical skills in treating a delicate layer of lace, beneath the great expanse of the Cardinal's robe (see busts by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi which show their technical skills).

Stanza del Cardinale, a small hall adjoining the main one; fresco on the ceiling depicting the Glory of St. Thomas Aquinas by Giovanni Mezzetti (1736)

During his Roman stay in 1265-1268 St. Thomas Aquinas resided at S. Sabina and he therefore never preached at S. Maria sopra Minerva because the church and the convent were founded in 1275. Yet it was at S. Maria sopra Minerva that his books were studied in depth. At Biblioteca Casanatense two theologians were in charge of teaching his theology and the meaning of his words to both monks and laymen during morning and evening sessions. This explains why the saint is portrayed in two halls of the library.

Structure at the eastern end of the main hall: armillary globe and monument to St. Thomas Aquinas by Bernardino Cametti (see a similar monument by this sculptor)

The inscription on a fake cloth says: Mille libros hospes quid quaeris cernere? Thomam suspice maior enim bibliotheca fuit. (Visitor why are you searching among a thousand books? Look at Thomas who was en even bigger library). Yet the armillary globe which Antonin Cloche bought in 1703 for the library shows the Dominican interest in scientific developments. Cloche himself ordered that the globe should be designed so that it would make more intelligible the systems of Tycho Brahe and Copernicus. Brahe, a Danish astronomer, worked to combine the Copernican heliocentrism with the Ptolemaic system, and devised the Tychonic system, his own version of a model of the Universe, which was accepted by the Catholic Church.

Earth globe: (left) New Holland (Western Australia); (right) Antonin Cloche

In 1715 Cloche approved the making of two globes, terrestrial and celestial, works drawn and painted on paper by cartographer Silvestro Amanzio Moroncelli, Abbot of the Sylvestrine congregation of S. Stefano del Cacco. The globes testified to the interest with which advances in the field of cartography and cosmology were followed, which were well complemented by the valuable astronomical and geographical funds that were being established in the Casanatense.
A detail shows the coasts of Australia which had been discovered by Abel Tasman and other Dutch explorers. They did not make attempts to establish permanent settlements because they felt that the lack of water and of fertile soil made the region unsuitable for colonization. It was known as New Holland well into the XIXth century.

Celestial globe (see a 1620 globe at Palazzo Spada): (left) Aquila (Eagle) a constellation on the celestial equator; (right) Argo Navis (The Ship Argo) the largest constellation of the southern sky and the coat of arms of Cardinal Casanate; the constellation was eventually split by astronomers into three modern constellations that occupy much of the same area: Carina (the keel), Puppis (the poop deck or stern), and Vela (the sails)

Girolamo Casanate is one of the few cardinals of the XVIIth century who did not belong to an important noble family and was not a relative of another cardinal or important member of the Papal Court. His father worked at the court of the Spanish Viceroy of Naples and occasionally he had some diplomatic tasks. Girolamo was an excellent law student and during a mission to Rome with his father he was noted by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Pamphilj who invited him to embrace the ecclesiastical career. Cardinal Pamphilj became Pope Innocent X and Casanate was soon given important posts: governor of Fabriano (1652), Camerino (1653), Ancona (1656), inquisitor on Malta (1658), governor of Borgo (1665). In 1673 he was made a cardinal by Pope Clement X. He was highly praised for his knowledge of law matters and more in general for his vast erudition. He did not promote the career of his relatives and he bequeathed to the Dominicans also his collection of works of art which was sold to finance the construction of the library.

Sulphur casts of ancient gems and medals

Gems, Etruscan Intagli, Pastas, and Sulphur Casts. - Thomas Cadés, 456, in the Corso, the most complete and systematic collection in Rome. Bartolommeo Paoletti, Piazza di Spagna. Murray
Casts of ancient gems and medals were among the most popular souvenirs which Grand Tour travellers bought during their stay in Rome. The Casanatense Library has a collection of red sulfur imprints of ancient gems of the year 1769. There are 875 casts which are stored inside fifteen wooden tops, stacked together to make up a small cabinet. The collection was bought from Gerolamo Gioni who had a shop in Via del Corso, in the block between Via Frattina and Via della Vite, in a very convenient position near the Strangers' quarter. The records of the purchase contain information about the presumed provenance of the original gemstone from which the cast was made, about the engravers and the material itself. A subject-based list is divided into six major groups: "Figures, portraits of gods and goddesses," "History," "Philosophers, poets and orators," "Kings of Macedonia and Egypt," "Roman consuls, emperors and empresses," and "Miscellany."

Palazzo Serlupi Crescenzi

(left) Palazzo Serlupi Crescenzi; (right-above) cornice; (right-below) detail of the portal

The palace was built in 1585 by Giacomo Della Porta for the Crescenzi. In 1768 it was inherited by Francesco Serlupi who added Crescenzi to his surname. The Crescenzi were a most powerful family in the XIth century when they could greatly influence papal elections.

Palazzo Serlupi Crescenzi: (left) courtyard; (centre) detail of the steps; (right) coat of arms on the first floor with a wolf (It. lupo) above the heraldic symbols, because the Serlupi claim to descend from the Lupi, a medieval noble family of north-western Italy

The palace is decorated with the crescent moon of the Crescenzi, but the heraldic symbol of the Serlupi appears in later additions, such as the richly decorated coat of arms shown above. The Serlupi had a palace in Piazza di S. Maria in Campitelli. They inherited large estates near Corneto (Tarquinia) which they sold in 1812, during the French Annexation of Rome.

(left) Cappella Serlupi at the Pantheon; (centre) busts of members of the family; (right) coat of arms

The Serlupi had family chapels at the Pantheon, S. Maria in Aracoeli and S. Maria in Campitelli.

Madonnelle (sacred images): (left-above) at Palazzo Serlupi; (left-below) enlargement of the frame showing the heraldic symbols of the Serlupi (fleurs-de-lis) and of the Crescenzi (crescents); (centre) in Via delle Paste; (right) in Via degli Orfani

The image used as background for this page shows a detail of the "madonnella" at Palazzo Serlupi.

Warning Inscriptions

(above) Inscription at Palazzo Serlupi (1745); (below-left) inscription in Piazza Crescenzi (1717); (below-right) inscription near Via del Pellegrino (1733)

Palazzo Serlupi has an inscription forbidding "il mondezzaro" (the accumulation of garbage) below the windows of the building. The papal government was worried about the appearance and the cleanliness of the streets of Rome and many decrees were issued in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries; they established responsibilities, fines and corporal punishment.
Most of the inscriptions were placed during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758). He was known for walking incognito outside the papal palaces to get first-hand knowledge of what was going on in town; his repeated attempts to improve the cleanliness of the streets, show that he was not happy with what he saw.

Next plate in Book 9: Seminario di S. Pietro in Vaticano.
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Chiesa di S. Marcello.
Next step in Day 4 itinerary: Piazza della Rotonda.
Next step in your tour of Rione Pigna: Sant'Ignazio.
Next step in your tour of Rione Colonna: San Silvestro in Capite.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:

Chiesa di S. Macuto A sinistra della divisata chiesa, è quella di s. Macuto, già posseduta da' Bergamaschi, la quale fu molto celebre, non tanto per la sua antichità, quanto per gli obelischi egizj, che furono presso di essa. In oggi è unita al Seminario Romano Fu questo eretto l'anno 1560. da Pio IV., e fu il primo, che fosse fondato secondo il Concilio di Trento, per istituirvi la gioventù Romana, che volesse eleggere lo stato ecclesiastico. Fu dato in cura a padri Gesuiti, colla facoltà di educare anche in esso cento convittori nobili, e di qualunque nazione. Dopo essere stato in vari luoghi di Roma, fu per ultimo quivi stabilito con architettura dell'Ammannato, e li fu unita la piccola chiesa di san Macuto, celebre per l'obelisco, che stava eretto nella piazzetta, ed ora sta in mezzo alla fontana nella piazza della Rotonda, ed altri a giacere ne' suoi contorni, creduti del tempio di Iside. Corrisponde quivi il convento de' frati Domenicani.