Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

Links to this page can be found in Book 2, Map B2, Day 2 and Day 3, View C6, Rione Campo Marzio and Rione Colonna.

This page covers:
Interior of SS. Trinità dei Monti
Convento della Trinità dei Monti
The first page covers
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
SS. Trinità dei Monti (exterior)
Obelisco Sallustiano
Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti (Spanish Steps)
Fontana della Barcaccia
Palazzo di Propaganda Fide
Palazzo di Spagna
Colonna dell'Immacolata
Vasi's Second Plate for Piazza di Spagna
Another page covers:
The Strangers' Quarter
Caffè Greco and Babington's Tea Rooms
S. Atanasio dei Greci, Via del Babuino and Teatro d'Alibert
Palazzo Boncompagni Cerasi
Via Margutta
Calcogafia di Mariano Vasi

Interior of SS. Trinità dei Monti

(left) Interior; (right) Cappella Orsini Pio di Savoia; the altarpiece is a Flagellation (1817) by Louis Vincent Léon Pallière, a boarding student at the nearby French Academy at Villa Medici (you may wish to see him in his room in a portrait by Jean Alaux - Wrightsman Collection)

In the Church I saw divers good pieces: as the Assumption of our Lady by Zuccari: the picture of the taking down of our Saviour from the Cross, by Raphael: the picture of our Saviour appearing to S. Mary Magdalen, by Julio Romano Raphael's Scholar, and imitating very much in this picture, Raphael's colours.
Richard Lassels - The Voyage to Italy - 1670
The Flagellation, over the altar of the next chapel, is by Mons. Paillieri, a pensioner of the French Academy in 1817; and the two lateral monuments belong to members of the Orsini family.
Rev. Jeremiah Donovan - Rome Ancient and Modern - 1843
In 1798 French troops occupied the monastery and used it as a barracks. They most likely damaged the structures of the church because in 1800 its roof collapsed. This explains why the ceiling of the nave which had been redesigned in 1774 is void of decoration. The chapels were less affected by the French occupation at least in what pertains to their fresco decoration, because some of the altarpieces were either stolen or destroyed. The painting by Giulio Romano is now on display at the Museum of Prado of Madrid.

Chapel of the right transept: (left) Sibyls and Prophets by anonymous painter perhaps, an assistant to Michelangelo; (right) The Vision of the Angel by Pope Gregory the Great

We next enter the transept; and over the door by which we enter is a painting of the procession of Gregory the Great, with the angel appearing on the summit of the tomb of Adrian, by an unknown hand, but interesting as showing the form and condition of the mausoleum in the time of Leo X., whose likeness is seen in the portrait of Gregory the Great. On the vaulted ceiling above are Sibyls and Prophets by a Sicilian artist, a pupil of Michelangelo's. Donovan
The transept retains the original Gothic design of the vault of the church.

Cappella Pucci (left transept): Prophets and Stories of the Genesis by Perin del Vaga

Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci, who had taken over a chapel on the left hand beside the principal chapel in the Trinita, a convent of Calabrian and French Friars who wear the habit of S. Francis of Paola, allotted it to Perino, to the end that he might paint there in fresco the life of Our Lady. Which having begun, Perino finished all the vaulting and a wall under an arch; and on the outer side, also, over an arch of the chapel, he painted two Prophets four braccia and a half in height, representing Isaiah and Daniel, who in their great proportions reveal all the art, excellence of design, and beauty of colouring that can be seen in their perfection only in a picture executed by a great craftsman. This will be clearly evident to one who shall consider the Isaiah, in whom, as he reads, may be perceived the thoughtfulness that study infuses in him, and his eagerness in reading new things, for he has his gaze fixed upon a book, with one hand to his head, exactly as a man often is when he is studying; and Daniel, likewise, is motionless, with his head upraised in celestial contemplation, in order to resolve the doubts of his people. Between these figures are two little boys who are upholding the escutcheon of the Cardinal, a shield of beautiful shape: and these boys, besides being so painted as to seem to be of flesh, also have the appearance of being in relief. (..) He pursued this work no further, illness coming upon him; and when he was well, there began the plague of the year 1523, which raged so violently in Rome, that, if he wished to save his life, it became expedient for him to make up his mind to depart.
Giorgio Vasari - Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors & architects - transl. by Gaston Du C. De Vere

Descent from the Cross by Daniele da Volterra (removed from its original location)

Signora Elena Orsina, hearing the ability of Daniello much extolled, commissioned him to paint her chapel in the Church of the Trinita in Rome. (..) Wherefore Daniello, putting forth all possible effort and diligence, in order to produce a rare work which might make him known as an excellent painter, did not shrink from devoting to it the labour of many years. (..) In the principal altar-piece Daniello painted Jesus Christ taken down from the Cross by Joseph, Nicodemus, and other disciples, and the Virgin Mary in a swoon, supported on the arms of the Magdalene and the other Maries, in all which he showed very great judgment, and gave proof of very rare ability, for the reason that, besides the composition of the figures, which has a very rich effect, the figure of Christ is very fine and most beautifully foreshortened, with the feet coming forward and the rest backwards. Very beautiful and difficult, likewise, are the foreshortenings in the figures of those who, having removed Him from the Cross, support Him with some bands, standing on some ladders and revealing in certain parts the nude flesh, executed with much grace. Vasari
Daniele da Volterra. The Descent from the Cross is a Picture extremely applauded; I cannot tell why; 'tis in my Apprehension a Vile one. Not to insist on the Colouring, which is very Black, and Disagreeable nor the Composition, in which there is an Absolute want of Harmony; there are grievous Improprieties in what is principally Essential to the Goodnes of a History Picture, and especially one of Devotion, that is, in the Thought and Expression. The Blessed Virgin Swoons away, but is flung in an Attitude not only without Dignity, but 'tis even Indecent; and what makes it appear the more so, another Woman comes to her with her Handkerchief not at her Eyes, but at her Nose. The Saint John in the mean time is wholly Unconcern'd, intirely apply'd to the safe Management of the Dead Body of our Lord.
Jonathan and Jonathan Richardson's Account of Some of the Statues, etc. in Italy - 1722
In the second chapel on the left is the Descent from the Cross, the masterpiece of Daniele da Volterra, declared by Nicholas Poussin to be the third picture in the world, but terribly injured by the French in their attempts to remove it.
Augustus J. C. Hare - Walks in Rome - 1875
A thorough restoration and a transfer on canvas has given new life to the very blackened fresco. The posture of the Virgin Mary, so much criticized by Richardson, calls to mind that of Bernini's St. Teresa.

Cappella Marciac: Nativity framed by a fake classical architecture. At the sides St. Peter near the donor Pierre Marciac (left) and St. Paul (right)

The altarpiece of the fifth chapel is the Nativity: on the wall to the right is the Adoration of the Magi; and on that to the left is the Circumcision, all of which, together with the Prophets on the ceiling, are of the school of Sodoma and have suffered from humidity. Donovan
There are not always precise records about the painters who worked at the decoration of the chapels. In some cases art historians have attributed the frescoes to the School of Raphael or Michelangelo, by this meaning not so much that the painters were actually pupils of those great artists, but that they were influenced by their works. As a matter of fact the fake architecture of this fresco calls to mind those by Baldassarre Peruzzi at Villa della Farnesina.
The painters who came after Raffaello and Michelangelo did not enjoy the approval of art historians of the late XIXth and early XXth century: To resume, Raphael was not an artist in the sense that Michelangelo, Leonardo, Velasquez, or even Rembrandt was. He was a great Illustrator and a great Space-Composer. But the success he attained was his ruin; for, obliged in the later years of his brief life, to work hastily, superintending a horde of assistants, seldom with leisure for thought, he felt too pressed to work out his effects either as Illustration or as Space-Composition; so that most of his later work lacks the qualities of either of these arts, over which he was the natural master. And if this were so with him, how much worse with his pupils, his executants, brought up on hurry and turmoil, none of whom had talents either as Illustrators or as Space-Composers! And in truth what more unpalatable than their work? They have none of that feeling for space which pleases even in the worst immediate followers of Perugino; none of that pleasant colour which attracts us to even the meanest Venetian. No wonder that we have given over Giulio Romano, Pierino del Vaga, Giovan Franceschi Penni, Michelangelo Caravaggio, and their ignoble fellows to oblivion. It is all they deserve.
Bernard Berenson - The Central Italian Painters of the Renaissance - 1909

Cappella della Rovere - Daniele da Volterra: Assumption of Mary and detail showing a portrait of Michelangelo; in the foreground St. Peter and St. John are involved in a discussion and do not notice the event

At this same time there was allotted to Daniello by Signora Lucrezia della Rovere a chapel in the Trinità, opposite to that of Signora Elena Orsina. In that chapel, having divided it into compartments with stucco-work, he had the vaulting painted with stories of the Virgin, after his own cartoons. (..) On the altar-front Daniello painted with his own hand the Madonna ascending the steps of the Temple, and on the principal wall the same Virgin ascending into Heaven, borne by many most beautiful Angels in the forms of little boys, and the twelve Apostles below, gazing on her as she ascends. And since the place would not hold so many figures, and he desired to use a new invention in the work, he made it appear as if the altar of that chapel were the sepulchre, and placed the Apostles around it, making their feet rest on the floor of the chapel, where the altar begins; which method of Daniello's has pleased some, but others, who form the greater and better part, not at all. And although Daniello toiled fourteen years over executing that work, it is not a whit better than the first. Vasari
Over the altar of the third chapel is the Assumption by Daniele da Volterra, in which he has introduced the portrait of Michelangelo, which is the last figure to our right, in the act of pointing to the Virgin. Donovan

Cappella della Rovere: (left) Presentation to the Temple; (right) an oak, the heraldic symbol of the della Rovere

Daniele da Volterra began working with Baldassarre Peruzzi and he too was influenced by the his master's fake architectures. Other aspects of his frescoes at SS. Trinità are evocative of Michelangelo (the naked beggars) and of Raphael (St. Peter and St. John resemble savants of the School of Athens (it opens in another window).
Lucrezia della Rovere was a niece of Pope Julius II by whom she was assigned the fiefdom of Frascati.

Cappella Orsini Pio di Savoia: ceiling attributed to Leonardo Sormani

The decoration reflects the horror vacui (fear of empty spaces) which characterized the architecture of the second half of the XVIth century and at the same time the progress made in the use of stucco and of team work. It was a reaction to the artistic principles of the Renaissance. Although artists used naturalistic ornaments, their spirit was attracted to anti classic and anti realistic decor. They developed with great pleasure and creative energy the ornamental theme in incredible and even abnormal comparisons. This approach can be noticed also in jewellery (e.g. Cellini's salt cellar) and other minor arts.

Cappella Orsini Pio di Savoia: funerary monuments to Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi (1500-1564) by Leonardo Sormani and to Cecilia Orsini (1497-1579), the Cardinal's aunt, by a pupil of Sormani

The Pio were a noble family from Carpi, near Bologna and in 1518 Alberto III, Earl of Carpi, married Cecilia Orsini, much younger than him. The Pio eventually set their residence in Rome in a palace which belonged to the Orsini. Leonardo Sormani was one of the the many sculptors from Lombardy who worked in Rome. The funerary monument of the Cardinal calls to mind previous monuments by Giovanni Battista della Porta at S. Maria degli Angeli and S. Pudenziana. The shape of the sarcophagus is based on a pattern developed by Michelangelo and the portrait of the dead inside a medallion became very popular in funerary monuments of the XVIIth century.

Cappella Pucci: (left) Assumption of Mary by Taddeo and Federico Zuccari; (right) detail of the fine stucco and grotesque decoration

The Florentine Lorenzo Pucci had formerly caused a chapel to be built in the Trinita, and all the vaulting to be painted by Perino del Vaga, but the chapel remaining unfinished, with three walls still to be painted, when the Cardinal died, (..) the fathers, sold that chapel to the Archbishop of Corfu; and it was afterwards given by that Archbishop to Taddeo to paint. (..) Having thus so many works on his hands, Taddeo was every day urging Federigo to return from Venice. (..) Taddeo, meanwhile, continuing to paint the Assumption of the Madonna in fresco in the Trinita, appeared to be driven by nature to do in that work, as his last, the utmost in his power. And in truth it proved to be his last, for, having fallen ill of a sickness which at first appeared to be slight enough, and caused by the great heat that there was that year, and which afterwards became very grave, he died in the month of September in the year 1566; having first, like a good Christian, received the Sacraments of the Church, and seen the greater part of his friends, and leaving in his place his brother Federigo, who was also ill at that time. (..) At his death he left the work in the Trinita not yet uncovered (..) and so also the works of Caprarola, but nevertheless these all remained in the hands of his brother Federigo, whom the patrons of the works are content to allow to give them completion, as he will do; and, in truth, Federigo will be heir to the talents of Taddeo no less than to his property. Vasari
Federico Zuccari bought a property near the church and he built there a very unusual small palace.

Upper part of the canopy

Apart from the impact of the French occupation the church is very much as it was at the end of the XVIth century. The only major addition occurred in 1676-1681 with the erection of a very precious canopy for which ancient coloured marbles were utlized (you may wish to see a page on the coloured decoration of the churches of Rome). It was designed by Jean de Champagne (aka Giovanni Rinaldi), a French sculptor who worked with Bernini.

Convento della Trinità dei Monti

(left) Library of the Minims above the roof of the church seen from the cloister of the convent; (right) view of Rome from the convent with S. Carlo al Corso and the dome of S. Pietro

I went streight on to the Convent of the Minims of Trinità di Monte belonging to France and S. Francois of Paula's Order. This Convent is the best seated of any in Rome and one of the noblest, (..) overlooking all Rome and looked upon reciprocally by the best places in Rome. Lassels
The Minims installed a walkway which from the library reached the bell towers; according to them there was not a finest place in all Rome. The library is not visible from Piazza di Spagna or Via de' Condotti, but it can be seen in Vasi's Grand View of Rome. Minims comes from the Italian word "minimo", meaning the smallest, the least, or most insignificant.

Cloister

In 1826 this interesting church passed into the hands of its present occupants, who, besides keeping a boarding school in the annexed convent for tbe daughters of the Nobility, have established a school of gratuitous education for poor female children, and maintain, clothe and educate forty female orphans within their sacred enclosure. Donovan
On the Pincian Hill is the monastery of Trinita di Monte, an institution for nuns, and one of the most towering objects in Rome. (..) We went there to hear the sisters sing, and, for the first time in Rome, I heard something like melody. This is the only church in which the female voice is ever heard, and I recognised with pleasure an air of Mozart. The ladies were hidden behind a trellis near the altar, and it was with difficulty that we could get a peep at the imprisoned doves. They had abjured the world, and I thought in their voices I detected a tone of regret. They sounded to me like the melancholy notes of singing birds, who had been kidnapped from the grove, and imprisoned in a cage, who, if the door had been left open, would have flown back to their native woods.
William Gardiner's Sights in Italy - 1847
The Minims were replaced by French nuns of the Society of the Sacred Heart. In 2016 the monastery was assigned to The Emmanuel Community, an association of the faithful which was founded in 1976 in France.

(left) One of the wings of the cloister; (right) The Canonization of St. Francis of Paola by Giuseppe Cesari (aka il Cavalier d'Arpino), one of his earliest works (ca 1587)

On the wall to the right on entering the convent is the Canonization of S. Francis of Paula, which has been much injured; this and all the other frescos of the cloisters, illustrative of that Saint's life and death, are by the Cav. d'Arpino, Roncalli, Nogari, Massei and Marco di Faenza. The portraits of all the kings of France, between the lunettas, are by A. Nucci. Donovan
The decoration of the cloister was assigned to a team of painters, among whom Giuseppe Cesari who was to become the leading painter of the early XVIIth century especially after he was knighted by Pope Clement VIII in 1600 (in the previous year he was elected Principe dell'Accademia di San Luca).

Cloister: "Charitas" which the Order of Minims bears as emblem by Girolamo Massei

Francis of Paola was a hermit from Calabria became known for his many miracles. In 1482 King Louis XI of France who was gravely ill asked Pope Sixtus IV to send him Francis who reluctantly accepted (he was 68). He did not manage to save the King's life, but his moral virtues were greatly appreciated by Charles VIII, his successor, who promoted the construction of the convent on the Pincian hill. Francis died in France in 1507 and he was canonized in 1519. The headquarters of the Order of the Minims are located in the church and convent of S. Francesco di Paola on the Esquiline hill.

Kings of France: (left) portraits of four kings of the Xth century; (right) Charles X, the last King of France

In 1616, at the time of King Louis XIII the cloister was decorated with portraits of the Kings of France, similar to what had occurred at S. Paolo fuori le Mura with the Popes. Most of the portraits are imaginary. The series ends with Charles X, brother of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII who was forced to abdicate in July 1830. His successor, Louis Philippe I, chose the title of King of the French, rather than of King of France to underline the link between his monarchy and the people.

Western corridor: sundial indicating the hour of Rome and of other locations e.g. Constantinople and Paris

On the same corridor is a meridian executed by Pere Maignan, also a Minim. Donovan
In 1636 Emmanuel Maignan (1601-1676) was called to Rome by the general of the order to teach mathematics at the convent of the Trinità dei Monti. There he lived for fourteen years, engaged in mathematics and in physical experiments, and publishing his work on gnomonics and perspective. In 1638 he realized a catoptric sundial (Catoptricum Astrolabium annis ab hinc fere duodecim accuratissime delineavit). Catoptrics deals with the phenomena of reflected light and image-forming optical systems using mirrors. A small round mirror was placed on the sill of the central window. It reflected the light of the sun on the opposite wall to indicate the hour and day of Rome and of other locations around the world. See a non-catoptric sundial based on a sunbeam at S. Maria degli Angeli.

Sundial: (left) inscription describing the features of the sundial; (right-above) Sagittarius, the zodiacal sign and a reference to the Tupinambá, an ethnic group who during their first contact with the Portuguese, were living along the entire Eastern Atlantic coast of Brazil; (right) The Scales and a reference to the Moluccas, spice islands for the control of which the Portuguese, Dutch, British, and Spanish Empires fought each other and to Cannibales, islands either in the Lesser Antilles or in the Pacific Ocean

The references to locations testify to the degree of knowledge of the Earth in the first half of the XVIIth century, which was based on astronomical measurements made by Catholic missionaries, chiefly Jesuits. In those years Pope Urban VIII built the Collegio di Propaganda Fide to coordinate the missionary activities of the Roman Church.

Anamorphosis (a distorted projection) in the southern wing: St. Francis in prayer under a tree

See in the dormitory of this Convent the curious perspective of S. Francis and a rare sun dial ingeniously contrived. Lassels
On a corridor over the cloisters are two landscapes, which, when seen from certain points of view, seem portraits of S. Francis of Paula aud S. John, by P. Gio. F. Nicerone, a Minim. Donovan
This very unusual depiction of St. Francis is attributed to Father Maignan who put to profit his studies on optics. The painting is not associated with a place of worship, it has not a clear decorative purpose and it is placed along a corridor, all facts which make it a very amazing surprise for the visitor.

Anamorphosis in the southern wing: (left) the body of St. Francis becomes the landscape of the Strait of Messina; (right) St. Francis crossing the Strait on his cloak, a miracle performed also by St. Raymond of Penyafort, a Dominican monk of the XIIIth century

It is likely that Maignan made the anamorphosis as a test of the correctness of his theories and as a tool for professional painters to employ it in their works. In order to be effective however the anamorphosis required a large surface.

Anamorphosis in the northern wing: (left) St. John the Evangelist writing his gospel and in the branches of the tree a dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit protects a small bird from the attack of a snake, symbol of evil; (right-above) the head of the saint becomes a landscape; (right-below) "citra dolum fallimur" (without fraud we are deceived, i.e. there is no evil purpose in this deception)

Jean-François Niceron, a pupil of Maignan (1613-1646), painted a second anamorphosis in another wing. It was damaged during the French occupation and eventually whitewashed. Niceron published in 1638 a richly illustrated manual on "The curious perspective or artificial magic of marvelous effects".

Refectory: the walls depict The Wedding Feast at Cana (1694)

The order of the Minims acquired much of its austere reputation in Catholicity by the observance of severe food deprivations. The Minims observed a strict ascetic lifestyle, living in perpetual abstinence from all meat and dairy products. St. Francis of Paola did not eat meat or animal products such as eggs and milk, and generally ate one meal a day, usually herbs or bread and water. This lifestyle was incorporated into the fourth vow that all Minims profess, which is a perpetual Lent. The vow did not entail rules about the place where the Mimims took their meals and therefore the refectory was entirely decorated with bright paintings depicting a fake loggia where the Wedding Feast of Cana was taking place.

Refectory: central lateral side of the loggia

The design of the fake architecture was commissioned to Andrea Pozzo, a Jesuit father who had brought to perfection the studies on perspective by Maignan, Niceron and many other mathematicians and artists by painting the fake dome and the nave ceiling of S. Ignazio (see another great illusionistic ceiling).

Refectory: lateral side of the loggia: detail which shows how Pozzo mastered perspective (see how he artificially enlarged the rooms where St. Ignatius lived in Rome)

The personages attending the banquet and the fake reliefs depicting events of the life of St. Francis were not painted by Father Pozzo, but his assistants. In order to emphasize the illusionistic effect some figures lean or walk on the balustrade of the loggia. Overall the refectory has a very festive aspect in contrast to the rules of penance and fasting of the minims.

Refectory: barrel vault ceiling

The barrel vault of the refectory as well as those of many churches and palaces (e.g. Palazzo Barberini and Palazzo Colonna) were the perfect surfaces for creating stunning illusionistic effects (quadratura). Father Pozzo travelled to Vienna to decorate a Jesuit church and illusionistic painting became popular in that city (e.g. at Palazzo del Belvedere) and throughout Europe. In 1693 he summarized his studies on perspective in Perspectiva pictorum and architectorum.

Gardens bordering on those of Villa Medici

The image used as background for this page shows the symbol of the Kings of France on a portal leading to the gardens.

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