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WALKING TOURS OF ROME

A Fusion of Renaissance & Baroque Art

4/8/2019

 
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Skeleton holding Chigi coat of arms, Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Skeleton holding Chigi coat of arms

The floor of the Chigi Chapel, in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, sports a curious image of a winged skeleton holding aloft the coat of arms of the Chigi family. The four enlarged letters of the inscription 'Mors aD CaeLos' (Through Death to Heaven) form the date, in Roman numerals, MDCL (1650). 

In 1507 the chapel was granted by Pope Julius II (r. 1503-13) to the Sienese
 banker Agostino Chigi (1465-1520), one of the richest men of his day. Chigi engaged Raphael (1483-1520), who had worked for him at the Villa Farnesina, to decorate the chapel. 
​
Only Raphael's designs for the mosaics in the dome and for the statues of Jonah and Elijah were used. The mosaics were executed by Luigi da Pace, a Venetian artist. In the central roundel is 
God the Father, while the eight panels depict the Sun, Moon, and the six known planets, each accompanied by an angel with colourful wings.   

The statue of Jonah was carved by Lorenzetto, who also started work on Elijah, which was completed by Rafaello da Montelupo. 

In the 1550s Francesco Salviati frescoed the lunettes and the drum of the dome. He also completed the 
altarpiece of the Nativity of the Virgin, which had been left unfinished by Sebastiano del Piombo in 1534. 

In the middle of the 17th century Pope Alexander VII, the great grandson of Agostino Chigi, commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to complete the family chapel. Bernini carved the statues of Habakkuk and the Angel and Daniel and the Lion and completed the pyramidal tombs of Agostino Chigi and his brother Sigismondo, which had been started by Lorenzetto and Rafaello da Montelupo, probably to a design by Rapahel. 

The beautiful 'dropped' friezes between the capitals are embellished with festoons of fruit, above which there are a variety of curious images, such as a bearded male head wearing a hat that takes the form of the symbols of the Chigi coat of arms: a star and mounts.

Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Chigi Chapel
Dome of the Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Dome
Cupola of the Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Cupola
Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Chigi Chapel
Tomb of Agostino Chigi, Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Tomb of Agostino Chigi
Habakkuk and the Angel by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Habakkuk and the Angel by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Detail of freize, Chigi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome
Hat made up of the symbols of the Chigi coat of arms

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    Blogging about Rome,
    ​its art, history and culture.

    Walking Tours For Discerning Travellers

    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
    small-group walking tours
    of Rome.

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  • Home
  • Private Tours
  • Small-Group Tours
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
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      • Pope Paul III
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      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
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      • Pope Clement XIII
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      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Gallery
    • Piazzas >
      • Piazza del Campidglio
      • Piazza del Quirinale
      • Piazza del Popolo
      • Piazza di Spagna
      • Piazza Navona
      • Piazza S. M. in Trastevere
      • Piazza San Pietro
    • Mosaics
    • Fountains
    • Churches
    • Ancient Rome
    • Palaces
    • Domes
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
    • Old Photographs
    • Borromini & the Baroque