San Giovanni in Laterano:
The Aisles

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Left Aisles

Corsini Chapel

The first chapel in the outer left aisle is the elegant Cappella Corsini (aka Cappella Clementina), which is home to the funerary monument to Pope Clement XII (r. 1730-40). The chapel, with its beautiful wrought-iron railings, was designed by Alessandro Galilei. ​

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

The second chapel is the Cappella Antonelli. The altarpiece depicts The Assumption of the Virgin Mary with St Dominic and St Philip Neri. It was begun by Giovanni Odazzi. However, Ignazio Stern had to finish it in 1731 after Odazzi unfortunately died. At the bottom is a glazed niche, which contains a fresco fragment depicting The Dormition. It ascribed to the school of Giotto.

The funerary monument to Cardinal Nicolò Maria Antonelli,

The funerary monument on the left wall is to Cardinal Nicolò Maria Antonelli, 1767, the work of Gaspare Sibilla. Opposite is the funerary monument to Cardinal Leonardo Antonelli, 1811, who was his nephew. 

The funerary monument to Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio

The third chapel is the Cappella Santorio, which is named after its founder Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santorio. It was begun in 1599 by Onorio Longhi, but only finished in 1610 after the cardinal had died in 1602.  The fine funerary monument to Cardinal Santorio is by Giuliano Finelli. 

Lancellotti Chapel

The fourth chapel is the Cappella Lancellotti.  which is dedicated to St Francis of Assisi. It was founded by Cardinal Scipione Lancellotti, who was buried here in 1598.

Funerary Monument to Cardinal Girolamo Casanate

Between the fourth and fifth chapels is the splendid funerary monument to Cardinal Girolamo Casanate (1620-1700), which is by the French sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger (1666-1719). ​​​Casanate left his library of 25,000 volumes to the Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It now forms part of the Biblioteca Casatanatense.  

St Hilary of Poitiers having a vision of the Holy Trinity by Jacques Courtois

The fifth chapel is dedicated to St Hilary of Poitiers, a fourth century French bishop and Doctor of the Church. The altarpiece depicts Saint Hilary of Poitiers having a vision of the Holy Trinity by Jacques Courtois (1621-76), better known as Il Borgognone.

Funerary monument to Helena Sabella

At the end of the inner left aisle is the only funerary monument in the basilica to a woman, namely Helena Sabella, who died in 1570. It was erected by her husband, as the inscription states.  

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Right Aisles

The Orsini Chapel

The first chapel on the outer right aisle is the Cappella Orsini, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The altarpiece depicts The Immaculate Conception by Placido Costanzi (1702-59).

The Torlonia Chapel

The second chapel is the Cappella Torlonia, which was commissioned by Prince Alessandro Torlonia (1800-86) and erected by Quintiliano Raimondi in 1838, with the help of a noted team of sculptors. The altarpiece is a marble relief of The Deposition of Christ (1844) by Pietro Tenerani (1789-1869). On the right wall is the funerary monument of  Giovanni Raimondo Torlonia (1754-1829), the wealthy banker to the papacy, who founded the noble family dynasty. On the left wall is the funerary monument of his wife Anna Maria Torlonia (1760-1840). The richly ornate railings at the entrance are by Giacomo Luswergh.

Funerary Monument of Cardinal Cesare Rasponi

The third chapel is the Cappella Massimo, which was designed by Giacomo della Porta (1532-1602) for Faustina Massimo as a funerary chapel for her family. Outside the chapel is the funerary monument of Cardinal Cesare Rasponi (1615-75), a historian of the basilica, the work of the sculptor Filippo Carcani. 

Entrance to the Lateran Palace

There follows the entrance lobby to the Lateran Palace, which was originally designed by Domenico Fontana but redesigned by Francesco Borromini at the behest of Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55). To the left is a statue (1941) of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri (1852-1934), who was the Vatican signatory of the famous Lateran Treaty (1929). It is the work of the Roman sculptor Enrico Tadolini (1884-1967). 

Funerary monument to Cardinal Conte Casati

Further along the aisle is the funerary monument to  Cardinal Conte Casati, who died in 1287, which was designed by Borromini. In the centre of the monument the cardinal is being presented to Christ by St John the Baptist.The monument contains the cardinal's original epitaph. 

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Continue Reading:

• The Nave
• The Transepts & Sanctuary 
• The Facade & Portico