Bernini, and The Urban Setting

Alexander VII, Bernini, and the Urban Setting of the Pantheon in the Seventeenth
Century
Author(s): Tod A. Marder
Source: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians , Sep., 1991, Vol. 50, No. 3
(Sep., 1991), pp. 273-292
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Society of Architectural
Historians
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Alexander VII, Bernini, and the Urban Setting of the
Pantheon in the Seventeenth Century
TOD A. MARDER Rutgers University
A review of the projects and building activities for systematizing the schemes for the monument, in light of the new documentatio
Piazza della Rotonda in Rome during the pontificate of Alexander provided by Krautheimer and my own research.2 In the earlie
VII Chigi (1655-1667) is the point of departurefor reconsidering literature there is the sense, first, that Gianlorenzo Bernini wa
the respective roles of the pope, Bernini, and other papal advisors in instrumental in guiding Alexander's thinking about the Pan
that enterprise. Although Bernini is generally credited as the architect theon and, second, that the drawings related to the project
of the project, the evidence for this conclusion is slim. A study of the that time must be largely his doing.3 My purposes in this stud
entire enterprise, with the help of documents, sources, and drawings, are to present a clearer idea of the various projects and accom
makes clear that the operation had no mastermind: Bernini's role in plishments associated with this campaign, to define Bernini
planning the urban settingfor the Pantheon was limited; and, while role in the work, and to suggest the extent to which Alexande
others in the papal court may have played a significant part in the and others were personally involved in developing this mon
episode, Alexander VII must have provided the principal impetus for umental enterprise.
the schemes.
Earlier history
IN HIS RECENT BOOK on the Rome of Alexander VII Chigi The Pantheon inherited by the seventeenth century was
(1655-1667), Richard Krautheimer has clarified the efforts to composite fossil that bore the imprints of the centuries since its
rehabilitate the appearance of the Piazza della Rotonda during rededication to St. Mary and All Martyrs in A.D. 609.4 It la
this important pontificate.l These efforts included projects for under the control of the Chapter of S. Maria ad Martyres, an
regularizing the piazza and widening incident streets, grading under the chapter's auspices the portico became a gathering pla
for merchants and vendors, whose ill-defined structures ult
and enlarging the piazza, clearing and restoring the portico, and
banning vendors from the piazza and later allowing them onto mately encroached on the grandeur of the temple front. Thes
designated sections of the public space in front of the most structures and the dwellings of the canons on the east side
venerable ancient monument in Rome, the Pantheon. Falda's
engraving depicts the work that was realized by the time of
3. T. Magnuson, Rome in the Age of Bernini, 2 vols., Stockholm, 198
Alexander's death in 1667 (Fig. 1). and 1986, II, 191, reflects the current state of knowledge: "Durin
Having discussed elsewhere the problems raised by the schemes Alexander VII's reign quite extensive plans were made for the Pantheo
under the supervision of a commission headed by Bernini." Above all
for the interior of the Pantheon, I would like here to reconsider
see H. Brauer and R. Wittkower, Die Zeichnungen des Gianlorenzo Bernin
the balance of the surviving drawings, which concern the urban Berlin, 1931, 120-122 (on p. 5 the authors say that Brauer was esse
tially responsible for the section on the Pantheon); and S. Bordin
"Bernini e il Pantheon: Note sul classicismo berniniano," Quader
I want to thank the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Rutgers dell'Istituto di Storia dell'Architettura, XIV, 79-84, 1967, 53-84. Amon
University, for funding the research in Rome that made this article those who treat the projects as Bernini's, see R. Wittkower, Gianloren
possible. I also wish to thank Patricia Waddy for some probing questions Bernini, the Sculptor of the Roman Baroque, London, 1966 (chronologic
and useful comments in the revision of this essay. table); Maurizio and Marcello Fagiolo dell'Arco, Bernini: Una introd
zione al gran teatro del barocco, Rome, 1967, no. 208; and A. Cipriani,
1. R. Krautheimer, TheRome ofAlexander VII, 1655-1667, Princeton, Bernini in Vaticano (exhib. cat., Braccio di Carlo Magno, Citta del V
1985, 104-109, 184-187. ticano, May-July 1981), Rome, 1981, 192-194. On the other hand,
2. See my article, "Bernini and Alexander VII: Criticism and Praise Borsi, Bernini architetto, Milan, 1980, 101, does question Bernini's ro
of the Pantheon in the Seventeenth Century," Art Bulletin, LXXI, 1989, in the decoration of the interior.
628-645. My earlier research in the archives of the Pantheon is pub- 4. On the Pantheon, see K. De Fine Licht, The Rotunda in Rome:
lished in "Piazza della Rotonda e la fontana del Pantheon: Un rinno- Study of Hadrian's Pantheon, Copenhagen, 1968 (with extensive bibli-
vamento urbanistico di Clemente XI," Arte illustrata, VII, 59, 1974, ography); and the brief survey by W. MacDonald, The Pantheon: Design
310-320; and "Specchi's High Altar for the Pantheon and the Statues Meaning, and Progeny, Cambridge, 1976.
by Cametti and Moderati," Burlington Magazine, CXXII, no. 922, 1980, 5. The drawing is in the Heemskerck sketchbook of the Kupferstich
30-40. kabinette in Berlin, fol. 10.
JSAH L:273-292. SEPTEMBER 1991 273

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274 JSAH, L:3, SEPTEMBER 1991
1f
cAue?o rP1ioo di 0ouerV4, deu4 ataa PIAZZA DELIA ROTONDAAMPIATA SPIANATA CCW N F 'nomna rrbturata da .iS
*Qoima, rotrpio da JfX-^fGww Sti iotlone,
onsw.ien, .a e '.c, om ind,o a LE STRIDE INTORWODANV'S.PP'AIJjSSANDROV. PJaatzo def J. Cntrcetj.
can il3a - .ft. Per Cfd,to JZR&i ldii u aitlA/ ie d a.i JP. f
Fig. 1. G. B. Falda, Piazza della Rotonda, Rome, engraving, c. 1667 (Falda, II Nuovo teatro dellefabbric
Alessandro VII).
?: --- t
P-r;
156DeFneLc
Fig. 2. Martin van Heemskerck, faSade of the Pantheon, drawing, :t Th RtunainRme)
1532-
1536 (De Fine Licht, The Rotunda in Rome).
Fig. 3. M. van Heemskerck, porch of the Pantheon, drawing, 1532-

the portico all but buried the corner column and obliterated its 1 5 3 6 i
capital. Over time the two columns behind the corer shaft
were dismantled and lost. Heemskerck's drawing
ing ofof 1532-1536
the interior of the portico (Fig. 3).6 With the pers
presents these features of the famous fasade in in
rise a frontal view
the level of the piazza and with the gradual encroach
(Fig. 2),5 and it is interesting to observe thatof
his, like the
buildings on other
the piazza during the Middle Ages, partic
on the
views predating Falda's, were made from a vantage east,slightly
point the significance of the Pantheon's axis was
to the west of the temple's axis. Artists no doubt chose
promised. this
The accretion of ill-formed structures on the e
vantage point to emphasize the better-preserved part
the portico of disturbed
itself the the symmetry of the octastyle
portico and to reveal the curvature of the rotunda onof
As a result the less
these circumstances, a subtle but important c
obstructed, west (right) side of the fabric. took place. The Pantheon, once the controlling presence
Meanwhile, the level of the piazza rose so that, by the early
6. The drawing is fol. 2 of the Heemskerck sketchbook. The n
sixteenth century, it was necessary to descend of
a flight
steps is of thirteen
given in 0. Panciroli, Tesori nascosti dell'alma cittd di
Rome, 1625, 47.
steps to enter the church, as Heemskerck illustrates in his draw-

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MARDER: ALEXANDER VII, BERNINI, AND THE PANTHEON 275
7/
,ij
' '
i -
- ' - - - eti - - - 7i - -
Fig. 5. Pantheon and Fontana del Pantheon, showing the skewed align-
'if I .i-,I
i S+ ment of their axes (author, 1974).
1t(
L-1 L _I f
r-
and facade, was Della Porta's way of encouraging a view of the

facade from the side that was in fact favored by Heemskerck
and other vedutisti.
In the early seventeenth century, Urban VIII Barberini (1623-

1644) tore away the bronze ceiling of the portico, repaired the
east corner column, and replaced the medieval campanile with
the famous twin towers built by Maderno-not by Bernini,
Fig. 4. Anonymous, measured plan of Piazza della Rotonda, drawing,
1662? (BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 106r). despite the popular legend.9 (Bernini's later drawings of the
facade thus omit these features for good reason.) Urban VIII
piazza and the raison d'etre for the space, was demoted to the dreamed, as had Eugene IV in the fifteenth century, of isolating
status of a magnificent border building. the Pantheon from the buildings attached to it and from the
Over time the new relationships between the piazza and the
ancient building assumed generative powers of their own, in-
sculptures located in front of the portico but also to facilitate the flow
fluencing the further development of the space. By the sixteenth of cross traffic at the Via dei Pastini on the east.
century, Giacomo della Porta's fountain (1575) was located with 8. For full documentation of the eighteenth-century interventions,
see Marder, "Piazza della Rotonda," passim.
reference to the dimensions of the piazza rather than to the axis
9. H. Hibbard, Carlo Maderno and Roman Architecture 1580-1630,
of the Pantheon. A plan of Piazza della Rotonda made for London, 1971, 230-231. For Urban VIII's work on the portico, see
Alexander VII clearly delineates the situation (Fig. 4). The foun- also H. Thelen, Francesco Borromini: Die Handzeichnungen, Graz, 1967,
tain was and remains situated slightly to the west of the north- I, 32-37, C25-29. Maderno's towers, executed with the help of his
young pupil Borromini, were removed only in the later nineteenth
south axis of the Pantheon, in order to conform more closely
century. I suspect that the bronze served a structural function in the
to the center of the public space. Furthermore, the axes of the porch, so that when it was removed, the roof could no longer bear the
fountain were slightly rotated to be aligned more closely to the centrally located medieval campanile. To maintain symmetry and the
belltower motif, the twin towers would have been invented. Generally
sides of the piazza than to the temple front.7 The addition of
ignored in the Pantheon literature are references to the projects for the
an obelisk above the center of the fountain in the eighteenth restoration of the building by G. A. Magenta in 1624-1625. These were
century has only exaggerated Della Porta's arrangement: when published by L. Grassi, Province del barocco e del rococo, Milan, 1966, 225
(kindly brought to my attention by John Varriano).
the viewer aligns the peak of the pediment and the apex of the
10. For Eugene IV, see C. Fea, Dei diritti del Principato sugli antichi
dome, the tip of the obelisk is offset to the right, as seen in edifizi sacri e profani in occasione del Pantheon di Marco Agrippa, Rome,
Figure 5.8 Perhaps this composition of elements, which urges 1806, 12, 39-40. Urban VIII's goal of returning the Pantheon "nel suo
viewers to move to the right half of the piazza to align fountain pristino stato in Isola" is recorded in Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
(BAV), Barb. lat. 4309, 10, quoted by C. Fea, Miscellaneafilologica critica
e antiquaria, 2 vols., Rome, 1790 and 1836, II, num. XVIII, 139. This
7. Even with these adjustments, the fountain was still three palmi aspect of Urban VIII's concern for the Pantheon is generally forgotten
(0.67 m.) closer to the east than to the west border of the space. In fact, because of the despoiling for the bronze from the portico. Ironically,
Della Porta seems to have located the fountain between the geometric the bronze destined for cannon to defend the city turned out to be an
center of the piazza and the north-south axis of the Pantheon. The inappropriate alloy, as Gigli tells us, and was therefore used for the
fountain was also positioned closer to the north edge of the piazza than baldacchino in St. Peter's. See G. Gigli, Diario romano, 1608-1670, ed.
to the temple front at the south, in part to accommodate the large G. Ricciotti, Rome, 1958, 93.

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Fig. 6. S. della Bella, Piazza della Rotonda, drawing, 1656 (Stockholm, Nationalmuseum).
scourge of vendors who plied their trades in the portico.10 It and all commercial activity on the piazza also date from 1656,
was Alexander VII who began to realize some of these dreams, but the job was not easy.12 Three years later the exasperated
but not without considerable effort against the active opposition Alexander wrote in his agenda, "For the third time let's chase
of vendors and canons alike. that flower seller from in front of the left column of the portico
of Santa Maria Rotonda," and subsequent notices make it clear
Chronology of plans and work by Alexander VII
that the chase persisted.13
What is unique about Alexander's concern for the urban set- In March of 1657, the botteghe of the vendors on the piazza
ting of the Pantheon is the relationship of his ambitions- were confined by edict to spaces indicated by new travertine
ranging from the most unpretentious to the most extravagant- lines set in the ground.14 Then, Alexander resolved to pull down
to his uniformly modest accomplishments. Indeed, the manner
12. On 20 June 1656 a vendor's tavola was removed from the por-
in which these ambitions were inflated and then scaled down,
phyry sarcophagus on the piazza (R. Krautheimer and R. Jones, "The
as successive realities dawned with sobering finality on exalted Diary of Alexander VII: Notes on Art, Artists, and Buildings," Romisches
dreams and humble hopes alike, deserves special emphasis. Jahrbuchfiir Kunstgeschichte, XV, 1975, 199-233, no. 25; Krautheimer,
Rome of Alexander VII, 184).
At the beginning of Alexander's pontificate, the view of the
13. See Krautheimer andJones, "Diary," nos. 265 (9 Jan. 1659), 447
Pantheon by Stefano della Bella (Fig. 6), dated 1656,11 reveals (18 Jan. 1661), 448 (28 Jan. 1661), 485 (14 June 1661).
that buildings still abutted the east side of the portico, where 14. Regulations for peddlers were announced in the edict of 27 Mar.
two columns had been lost, and that the piazza was crammed 1657 (Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 184, citing G. Eroli, Raccolta
epigrafica, storica, bibliografica del Pantheon, Narni, 1985, 274). This was
with vendors' stalls, peddlers, and shoppers, whose presence
followed by a papal chirograph on 2 Apr. 1657 ordering the presidente
obscured a view of Rome's grandest antiquity. Alexander's ef- e maestri delle strade to keep the vendors inside the new travertine guide
forts to clear the portico of vendors and to regulate their stalls (BAV, Fondo Pantheon 11.18,389; Archivio di Stato, Rome (ASR), Presi-
denza delle Strade 31). Another chirograph limiting the location and
11. Stockholm, Nationalmuseum, NMH 191/1863. use of tavolati appears on 12 Dec. 1658 (Presidenza delle Strade 28).

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our purposes. The congregation was directed by Monsigno

the buildings attached to the portico to free the venerable temple
of all disfiguring accretions. On 7 June 1657, the pope ordered
Prospero Fagnano, a legal expert who enjoyed the trust of the
the houses abutting the Pantheon to be demolished, as hadpope
beenand the highest reputation among members of the curia.
rumored.15 This order was not immediately effected, probably
The Venetian ambassador noted that although Fagnano was s
because of the opposition of the canons, who claimed to blind
have he could not tell day from night, "his mind continuall
owned the buildings attached to the portico and the sides of the
sparkles with a lucid sun that shows the way to more perspi
cacious eyes."20
temple, as well as the booths of the vendors on the piazza. These
properties had been administered for centuries as part of the
This man and the congregation under his direction enter our
holdings of the chapter and provided it with a significant annual
story a little later. Here it is important to note that abuses in
income.16 As a result, we may guess that the momentum theofadministration of the chapter were indeed reported. Abov
events temporarily slowed, even if Alexander's enthusiasmall,
re-they concerned the administration of the church and th
mained undimmed, for there are no substantive events recorded
rental properties of the chapter.21 Records of other visitation
for the next two years.17 Then, on 27 September 1659, there
do not indicate that the pope used them as a weapon to carry
appears an apparently mysterious notice in the chapter docu-
out urban policy. Nevertheless, by placing the canons of th
ments, a decree by Alexander VII that the canons would no
Pantheon under scrutiny, Alexander was able to exercise contro
longer be considered as such, but would be dealt with over
as a their destiny and over their property. In October 1659
religious order.18 therefore, the pope had reason for optimism, and that is when
The purpose of the decree of September 1659 was to ensure
he considered a medal that would depict "la Rotonda accomoda-
that the Chapter of Santa Maria ad Martyres came underta."22
the His continuing concern for the Pantheon is registered in
review of the religious orders being carried out by Alexander
his diary notes from November 1659 to January 1660.23
VII from the first year of his pontificate. By definition, a chapter
One of the problems in reconstructing the development o
is a volunteer organization that sets its own rules, whereas
ideasa for the piazza from 1660 on is the lack of dated references.
religious order is more strictly controlled. The broadly Sometime
con- in 1661 or 1662, for example, various essential prob-
ceived scrutiny of religious orders organized under Alexander
lems were discussed in a papal congregation. At the time of the
was intended, in general, to eliminate "abuses contrary to meeting,
com- the following issues were raised: (1) where would the
mon life in monasteries."19 For this purpose a Congregation of
vendors be relocated? (2) what would be the cost of their re-
the Visita was organized to make a visitation to all of the church-
location and the clearing of the portico? (3) would the "case
es and hospices in Rome and to provide a report on their activ-
contigue" have to be demolished to isolate the portico? (4) how
ities. The records of the visitations offer an invaluable and un-
much would such a demolition cost? (5) how would money be
derutilized resource in the study of Alexander's Rome, andfound
the to pay for the costs of clearing the piazza, relocating th
material that deals with the Pantheon is especially useful for
vendors, and isolating the portico? (6) would the back wall o
the church and the house behind it be destroyed, to make a new
15. The papal order for the demolitions is reported in the avviso
choir behind the altar? (7) how much would this last operation
published by L. von Pastor, The History of the Popes, XXXI, London,
cost
1940, 292 n. 6 (7 June 1657, not 1656); and cited by both Brauer andand where would the money come from? (8) finally, what
Wittkower, Zeichnungen, 120 n. 7, and Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander
VII, 184 (7 June, not 6 June): "Della prossima settimana ha ordinato 20. According to Pietro Basadonna, "e tale la capaciti di que-
il Papa doversi principiare la magnifica fabrica del gii disegnato teatro
st'huomo, che in tutte le materie legali vuole la sua consulta il Pontefice
sopra la piazza di San Pietro, trovandosi per tale effecto all'ordine
et e il
opinone che anco nelle politiche sia interrogato sovente.... E cieco
contante necessario, come anche quello per l'accennato gettito delle case
Fagnano, che non distingue quando sia giorno da quando fa notte, m
contigue alla chiesa della Rotonda per farvi isola in maggior decoro di mente sua di continuo un lucidissimo sole risplende, che pu6 a
nella
quel tempio come gia si scrisse." See Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV),
gl'occhi piu perspicaci insegnare la via...." Quoted from Le relazioni
Awisi 105, 247.
della corte di Roma letti al Senato dagli ambasciatori veneti nel secolo decimo-
16. BAV, Pantheon 1.17, 44-46 ("Benefattori di questa Chiesa e
settimo, Corte di Roma, ed. N. Barozzi and G. Berchet, Venice, 1879,
II, 273.
Collegiata Insigne"), summarizes the privileges claimed by the chapter,
attributing confirmation of "il dominio della piazza a Canonici" 21.
to A list of abuses appears in the records of the Apostolic Visitations
Calixtus III. The chapter claimed that this right had been renewed
in ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50, 40-41, which includes complaints, for
under Sixtus IV, Innocent VIII, Julius II, Sixtus V, and Urban VIII. For
example, about rooms rented to "donne di cativa vita," and the policy
a list of the properties owned, see ibid., 22-23.
of closing the church before midday, "non dandosi comodita agli artisti
17. On 8 Mar. 1658, the pope passed by the rotunda (Krautheimer et agli altri della piazza di poter sentire la messa doppo la vendita delle
and Jones, "Diary," no. 177). On 12 Dec. 1658, Alexander issued theloro."
robbe
chirograph limiting the tavolati on the piazza (n. 14 above). On 9 Jan.
22. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 352 (23 Oct. 1659).
1659, he had a flower vendor chased from the portico (n. 13 above).23. On 15 Nov. 1659, he and Domenico Jacovacci discussed "l'Ab-
18. BAV, Pantheon 1.17,46 (no. 20): "Alessandro VII fece un decreto bellimento di Roma per la Rotonda, Ripa Grande, Campo di Fiore"
li 27 Settembre 1659, che li Canonici predessero fri di loro per digniti
(ibid., no. 363). On 14 Dec. 1659, Alexander spoke with Virgilio Spada
dell'ordini, e non per antianita d'esser fatti prima Canonici." about the rotunda (ibid., no. 370). On 7 Jan. and again on 27 Jan. 1660,
19. The words are from the discussion in Pastor, History of the Popes,
Alexander spoke with Fagnano about the Pantheon (ibid., nos. 376,
124-128.
384).

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financial loss would the canons suffer in the clearing of the la Rotonda per spedir questa e che vada con piu resolutio
piazza, and how would they be compensated?24 My guess is that on 14 June 1661.27
these issues were raised in 1661, when the entire project was Several months later, in September 1661, there is evide
still very much in its preliminary stages, before the canons be- of one of Alexander's most ambitious dreams: the demolitio
came involved, before the fate of the vendors was determined, of the city block between the Rotunda and Piazza Maddalen
and before the otherwise-unknown project to enlarge the "choir" The scheme to extend the Piazza della Rotonda to the Mad-
was abandoned.25 Because these discussions and the visionary dalena is among the most intriguing ideas of the entire cam-
projects we have reviewed above were not yet official and be- paign. In effect, this operation would have enlarged the area in
cause no firm decisions were taken, there seems to have been front of the temple to its ancient dimensions. An intermediate
no need to keep precisely dated records. When the meetings stage of the project is probably represented by a plan of the
involve policy-making rather than brainstorming, they begin southern edge of the block in question, which is the northern
to bear some traceable chronology. border of the piazza, directly facing the facade of the Pantheon
The state of the project in its early stages is best summarized (Fig. 7). On this plan the left (west) side of the block is inscribed
in a position paper, dated 27 January 1661, intended to advise "sito della fabrica da demolirsi" (site of the building to be de-
the pope.26 The substance of the advice betrays an impartiality molished). Presumably at this stage, the entire block could not
bordering on cynicism toward all parties, and I believe the author be purchased, so that Alexander and his planners thought to
was Msgr. Fagnano. The paper begins by disputing the term unify Piazza della Rotonda and Piazza Maddalena on the west
insigne (illustrious) to describe the chapter of Santa Maria ad only, the side favored by the vedutisti. Vantage points on the
Martyres-were some of the alleged abuses proved? The writerwest would have revealed the massive dimensions of the Pan-
then records a disagreement among the papal advisors regarding theon behind the portico much as seventeenth-century anti-
the relocation site for the vendors, who were to be ousted from quarians thought it had appeared in antiquity. Indeed, Alexander
the piazza. Continuing, the author dryly observes that the ap- VII was aware that in antiquity the space in front of the Pantheon
pearance of the Pantheon was compromised by the structures originally extended as far back as the church of the Maddalena.
attached to the portico, and not by all the buildings around the He knew this from the reports of excavations for the foundations
rotunda. He points out the weak logic in simultaneously denying of the church in the 1630s, when large sections of ancient paving
the chapter title to the houses slated for demolition while prom- were found to match the paving dug up directly in front of the
ising the canons the proceeds from the sale of the resulting Pantheon.29 Nevertheless, in early July 1662, the pope visited
rubble: "To those who don't know that the demolished houses the site and ordered that the block of houses scheduled for
belong to the chapter, it will appear strange that the remains demolition between Piazza della Rotonda and the Maddalena
from Peter's house are given to Paul." In conclusion the report not be demolished.30 The reason for this change of plans is not
advises the pope to confine his attentions to the houses attached given, but we can assume that the difficulties of purchase or
to the portico, which (unlike the houses around the rotunda)
really do belong to the chapter. These properties should be torn
27. See Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 447 (18 Jan. 1661):
down, but restitution should be made only with the sale of the "M. Fagnano = Spedire la Rotonda"; and no. 448 (28 Jan. 1661): "M.
rubble, since the value of the properties has obviously been Fagnano = ... se si deve far altro per spedir il negoziato della Rotonda."
Ibid., no. 485, for mention of the new bull.
intentionally inflated ("in breve spatio di tempo si sono accres-
28. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 185, cites ASR, Cartari-
ciuto grandemente le loro presenti renditi"). This document Febei, b. 79, 101, announcing the scheme. This citation is not correct,
reveals machinations on all sides and demonstrates how difficult and although neither Krautheimer nor I have been able to relocate the
it must have been to proceed with the project in a deliberate source of his information, I nevertheless believe it is accurate.
29. Information on the extent of the ancient platea is contained in
manner. Paradoxically, this activity may have been precipitated
the Relazione delle chiavichefatta dall'Arciprete Cipriani ad Alessandro VII,
by the mettlesome vendor who twice occupied the pope in BAV, Pantheon 11.2, 126-132. On fol. 131, Cipriani discusses the block
January 1661 and probably led him to consider a new bull "per between the Pantheon and the Maddalena: "nel vicolo sul mezzo
dell'Isola, si trovo la parte altrove scoperta Piazza del Pantheon lastratta
nella sudetta costruzione sotto terra palmi 20...." Cipriani died on 4
Aug. 1659, so the report must have originated before that time (BAV,
24. The undated "Punti da discutersi" are contained in ASV, Misc. Pantheon 1.19, 39).
arm. VII.50, 53-55, among the "Scritture delle Congregationi tenute 30. Hellmut Hager kindly brought the following citation to my
sopra la demolizione delli casini nella Piazza della Rotonda nell'anno attention: "Martedi 5 d.o (July 1662) N. Sig.e da Monte Cavallo and6
1661 e 1662."
alla Basilica Vaticana, alle undici ore, e passando p. la Piazza della
25. I was not aware of this project (also mentioned in ibid., 71 and
Rotonda, dove si demoliscono alcune Case, e si bassa quella Piazza, vi
120) when discussing the interior schemes in Marder, "Pantheon in the ordini e risolutt.i che non si demolisse l'Isola di Case, tra
diede diversi
Seventeenth Century." quella Piazza, e quella della Maddalena, come si pensava di demolire"
26. "Osservationi sopra la minuta della nuova bolla della (ASR,
Rotonda,"
Cartari-Febei, b. 79, 101). The passage has been cited by C.
ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50, 56 (27 Jan. 1661). D'Onofrio, Acque efontane di Roma, Rome, 1977, 172 n. 9.

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
*1
r f 4* '* 1- 4 * 5 } ;g
Fig. 7. Anonymous plan, north side of Piazza della Rotond

4r).
expropriation simply prevented the acquisition of the designated gressively from north to south, allowing for one step up to the
block north of the piazza. As a result, the grand scheme and level of the portico and preserving the integrity of the piazza
even its reduced counterpart had to be abandoned. as much as possible. Not surprisingly, it was this scheme, rather
Another similarly ambitious scheme, to lower the grade of than its more idealistic counterpart, that the pope studied in a
the piazza to its ancient level, is undated. It should be mentioned clay model.32
here because it may have been put forward at the same time A third important component of the pope's vision for reno-
that the extension of the space was contemplated. As we have vating the piazza was the plan to widen and develop the streets
seen, the depth of the ancient level was well known to interested to either side of the portico. Of particular interest was the street
contemporaries, and the undated discussion offered the possi- to the east, connecting Piazza della Rotonda and Piazza della
bility of restoring the original relationship of the piazza and the Minerva. It was to be amplified in width from its existing 18
temple by extensive earthmoving.31 The result would have set palmi to 50 palmi, and it was to be provided with a covered
the famous portico seven steps above the grade of the piazza. arcade.33 An especially tantalizing remark suggests that an un-
To achieve this result, however, major sacrifices in the com- named architect had already made designs, which would cost
position of the piazza would have been required. Steps permit- approximately 17,000 scudi in demolitions alone.34 Although
ting access to existing buildings would have to be installed the project for widening the streets is undated, it was part of
around the piazza, thus eroding the unity of the space and the official program by 20 June 1662, when it is mentioned in
interfering with carriage traffic. Extensive work would have to the papal brief discussed below.
be done on surrounding streets to make them accessible to the In fact, the shadowy trail of a documented chronology emerg-
lower level of the piazza. Apart from these expenses, there
32. Ibid. ("Secondo modo dello sbasso della Piazza fatto nel model-
would be considerable expenditures for pulling up existing sew-
lo"), concludes on fol. 129 with mention of this scheme "che si vede
er lines, removing the ancient paving, reexcavating, and then nel modello fatto di creta." A payment "per prezzo d'una lavagna per
reburying the lines at a much deeper level. For all of these fare il modello dello sbasso di detta piazza" is listed with other payments
that must have been made before 2 Aug. 1662, and that is the only firm
reasons, which are made explicit in the relevant documents, the
date associated with the model (ibid., 117-118).
engaging idea of a complete face-lift was quite impractical. A
33. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 185, cites ASV, Misc. arm.
second, more realistic idea, again undated but discussed at the VII.50, 106, which is part of an undated report enthusiastically en-
same time, was to lower the grade only moderately and pro- dorsing the plans for Piazza della Rotonda, including the street in
question: "angusta di 18 palmi, et sempre piena di brutture, si dilatera
31. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 185, with a reference to con logge, e restera il transito nella larghezza di 50 e piu palmi."
BAV, Chigi M.VIII.LX, 127-128, containing the information that fol- 34. Ibid., 104: "La spesa che vi andarebbe per demolire le case ...
lows. Unlike Krautheimer, I believe that the illustration in BAV, Chigi che riducono la strada alla strettezza di 18 palmi saria di 17,000 scudi
P.VII.13, 42, for grading the piazza belongs to a later moment in the incirca secondo la forma fattane dall'Architetto, dopo di haverle misurate
con esattezza."
planning process (see below, n. 65).

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
es from these projects with greater clarity in the summer of The demolitions of the booths, stalls, and case at Piazza della
1662, when, on 15 June, Msgr. Fagnano hosted a meeting to Rotonda and the portico began on 24 July 1662, as recorded in
decide on the procedures to follow in pursuing the works en- the pope's diary, in documents, and in the avvisi.40 Initially,
visioned by the pope. A record of the meeting indicates the these operations were financed in a surprising way, by diverting
scope of the works at this time, which included clearing the the taxes on carriages and coaches from the "beneficio de' pove-
piazza of vendors, removing them to Piazza di Pietra, providing ri" to the Tribunale delle Strade. This was the official policy,
adequate space for them on Piazza di Pietra by demolishing the enunciated in the papal chirograph of 24 July 1662. Subsequent
church of S. Giuliano and bringing a water source from Piazza payments prove that policy was put into effect, and the opera-
Colonna, demolishing the canons' houses to either side of the tions proceeded under the auspices of the Tribunale.4 In fact,
portico up to the junction with the rotunda, and preparing an however, there was no adequate plan to meet the very significant
evaluation of those properties for financial restitution to the expenses being incurred by the demolitions and the transfer of
chapter.35 The discussion thus settled on a solution in which the vendors, as we learn from the discussions of the Tribunale
the chapter would be compensated for the loss of the houses delle Strade held on the same day. At this meeting, Alexander's
attached to the portico but not for the stalls on the piazza. The pensieri for the rotunda and the piazza, including resettling the
evaluations of rents for the houses were in fact made and vendors and repairing the portico, were considered; and at the
amounted to a substantial sum, but the chapter was never offeredend of the meeting, the cost of the enterprise was estimated at
a corresponding compensation, as we shall see.36 14,000 scudi, for which no available funds could be foreseen.42
On 20 June 1662, Alexander VII issued a brief in which he
for locating the vendors' stalls on Piazza di Pietra: dotted lines indicate
claimed to have begun to rescue the Pantheon from the squalor
the location of the church of S. Giuliano, which was to be demolished;
of the market. The brief provided for the demolition of houses an accompanying inscription indicates that the casini on the piazza would
to liberate the portico and to widen the roads on either side of
occupy 68.82 square palmi, whereas those on Piazza della Rotonda
occupy 68.40 square palmi. Thus, a small net increase of commercial
it.37 There is no mention of compensation to the chapter. On
space was projected. Folio 47 is a copy of fol. 46, with the addition of
23 June, discussions continued on the preparations for trans-
a flap over the east side of the Hadrianeum, providing for additional
ferring the market to Piazza di Pietra, including the necessary
booths; and another option, indicated on a flap now separated from the
drawing, provides for the development of a piazzetta around the ad-
demolitions there, the orderly location of vendors' stalls, and
ditional booths. Folio 48 continues the experiment on the detached flap
provision for a new fountain that would be necessary for the
of fol. 47, developing the area behind the Hadrianeum. We have no
transplanted marketplace.38 The preparations may well have in-
certain indication about the extent to which any of these plans were
cluded the execution and subsequent discussion of a group of
put into effect when the Piazza di Pietra was in fact reorganized in
1662. Penciled axes over several of the sheets are obviously suggestions
drawings, otherwise undated, for systematizing the new booths
for improvements, perhaps made by Alexander himself. I am grateful
and stalls on Piazza di Pietra.39
to Giovanni Morello at the Vatican Library for making the volume
available while it was on exhibition.
35. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 184, citing Chigi M.VIII.LX, 40. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," nos. 587 and 588, refer to the
157-161 ("Nella Congregazione in casa di Mons.r Fagnano circa il transfer of the venditori and the pescivendoli. BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 49v
gettito della Rotonda"), with a list of rents. Additional figures are pro- (24 July 1662), speaks of destroying the "case di legno e tavolazza dalla
vided in an undated "Nota di tutti li stabili, et altri affitti della Chiesa,
piazza, e dopo si principi6 a buttar giu le case attorno il portico ...."
e Capitolo della Rotonda" in ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50, 22-23. The progress of the works can be traced in the avvisi published by E.
36. BAV, Chigi M.VII.LX, 158 ("Rincontro delle pigioni delle CaseRossi, "Roma ignorata," Roma, XVII, 1939, 374. On 24 July 1662:
delli SS.ri Canonici della Rotonda, che entrano nel gettito i scoprire li"Alle 15 hora datosi principio a buttare i terra tavolati de pescivendoli
doi fianchi del portico della Chiesa"). The rents total 13,040.17 scudi. alla Rotonda andando la Pescaria in Piazza di Pietra." On 29 July 1662:
37. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 184, citing BAV, Pantheon "Buttate a terra l'altre casette di tavole de fruttaroli et ortolani nella
II.1, no. 22, 117-119 (20 June 1662): "Breve di Papa Alessandro VII Piazza della Rotonda." Then came the demolition of the casette attached
per la demolizione delle case contigue al portico di S. Maria ad Martyres,
to the Pantheon (7 Aug. 1662): "Datosi principio a buttare a terra casette
nonche per l'ampliazione delle vie laterali alla Piazza della Rotonda." attacate alla Chiesa della Rotonda da ambidue le parti." Payments for
38. Krautheimer, Rome ofAlexander VII, 184-185, citing BAV, Chigiclearing the piazza of the "casini di legnami" were made according to
M.VII.LX, 131, and, for the demolition of the church of S. Giulianoa misura of 24 Oct. 1662 (BAV, Chigi M.VIII.LX, 120).
on Piazza di Pietra, BAV, Chigi G.III.78, 291-298. (Inscriptions from 41. For information on the Tribunale delle Strade, see Marder, "The
tombs of the church interior are found in the latter, and these are referred
Porto di Ripetta in Rome,"JSAH, XXXIX, 1980, 37 and n. 38. The
to in the pope's diary on 24 July 1662; Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary,"
chirograph provides funds "per ampliazione dell'imboccatura della stra-
no. 588.) Arrangements for systematizing Piazza di Pietra are discussed
da, che dalla piazza della ... Rotonda va alla Chiesa della Minerva ...
in ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50, 102-103. e per l'apertura del lato verso detta strada del portico ... far fare gettito
39. BAV, Chigi P.VII.13, 43-48 (Krautheimer, Rome of Alexanderdi alcune case esistenti in detta piazza, ed imboccatura di strada, ed
VII, 33-34, 163, and 185, makes reference to fols. 43,44, and 47). Noneattacate al detto portico, e per il trasporto della pescaria, e casini di tavole
of the drawings is signed or dated. Folio 43 (ibid., fig. 24) is an elevation
esistenti nella medesima
piazza, in piazza di Pietra: E perche ci6 dovri
of the Hadrianeum on the south side of Piazza di Pietra. Folio 44 (ibid., farsi con qualche spesa,
e non avendo Noi peranco dichiarato da chi
fig. 23) is a plan and elevation of the buildings on the north side of the vogliamo si faccia; per6
volendo, che questa Nostra volonta quanto
piazza, where a new alley was to be carved and facades rebuilt in regular
prima si metta in esecuzione, abbiamo risoluto per ora di valerci dei
fashion. Folio 45 is a plan of the walls and spaces behind the facades denari dell'appalto delle carrozze, e cocchi vetturini destinato in be-
that appear on fol. 43. Folio 46 (Bordini, "Bernini," fig. 9) is a schemeneficio de' poveri" (ASR, Presidenza delle Strade 28; published by Fea,

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
Indeed, the limited power of the pope to resolve financial mat-

ters and questions of jurisdiction may account for the late ap-
pearance of the chirograph of 5 August 1662, which officially
authorized the transfer of the markets to Piazza di Pietra and
explicitly refused to compensate the chapter for any of the

demolitions that had taken place or would prove desirable to
1 LL
complete the project.43
With the piazza cleared of stalls and booths, it is natural to
expect some further plans to regularize the space, even if we J t
cannot assign a firm date to them. On Figure 4, sections of the % ?' tI f * AM

east side of the piazza are hatched in pencil, and their demolition
would have provided a greater sense of symmetry with respect
to the space on the west side of the piazza. The operation is
detailed in a sketch of the east contour, with the dimensions of
the projected demolitions specifically indicated (Fig. 8).44 The Fig. 8. Anonymous plan, d
adjustment enhancing the uniformity of the piazza would hardly drawing, 1662? (BAV, Ch
have mattered before the markets were removed and the full
extent of the uninterrupted space was revealed. In the event, to what Msgr. Fagnano
nothing was done. As Alexander would soon discover, the power advisor, in preparation
of papal proclamation was not equal to the task of sweeping August 1662, counseled
centuries of commercial activity from the piazza and denying of the canons to the pr
the financial interests involved. briefs and papal constitu
In early August 1662, Alexander's confidence in the eventual bunale delle Strade to d
success of his activities at the Pantheon is best conveyed by the the changes envisioned
inscription he began to compose to commemorate his campaign brief does. Addressed to
on the piazza. The draft of the inscription appears in his diary Alexander's satisfaction
on 3 August 1662, and that is the year he must have hoped to their removal to Piazza di Pietra, where the church of S.
finish the work.45 The strength of his optimism is expressed in Giuliano has been demolished to accommodate the new stalls.
the chirograph (mentioned above) two days later: it is an ex- The brief approves the demolition of the case attached to the
traordinary revelation of his dependence on the force of his own Pantheon and the sale of the rubble, and it gives the Tribunale
will over the legal rights of the canons and the traditions that a free hand in realizing the desires of the pope, without the
lay behind the marketplace of Piazza della Rotonda.46 Contrary interference of the canons.el
Little wonder that by August 1662 the canons mounted a
Diritti, 65-66). A document of 2 Aug. 1662, for 300 scudi "de denari figuriamo 190 e ce lo sappia du, almeno all'ingrosso." We cannot
de cocchi vetturini per spendere in servitio dell'opera... con chirografo exclude the possibility that this operation was put forward when the
di N. S.," proves that the policy was effected (BAV, Chigi M.VIII.LX, extension of the piazza to the Maddalena was contemplated, although
118). The same document indicates that part of the labor was paid for there is nothing in the drawings to suggest an association with the more
by selling the much-debated rubble from the demolitions, including the ambitious scheme.
balusters from the sixteenth-century fountain. 45. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 596, where the inscription
42. BAV, Chigi M.VIII.LX, 131-132. This figure represents some- ends with the letters "MDCLXII."
thing of an improvement over the estimated 30,000 scudi foreseen by 46. For the chirograph, see my n. 43 above. The content of the
the anonymous papal advisor who penned the document referred to in chirograph is reviewed by Bordini, "Bernini," 75-76 n. 8, but it still
notes 33 and 34 above. needs emphasis.
43. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 587; Krautheimer, Rome 47. ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50,4115-118, undated ("Peril Breve"). The
of Alexander VII, 184, with citation of the chirograph of 5 Aug. 1662 tone may be suggested by the opening words: "Mi pareria dunque
in Fea, Diritti, 68-69 (also found in ASR, Presidenza delle Strade 28), necessario di revocare prima espressamente nel Breve li suddetti Brevi
where the canons' objections to the transfer were overruled. The canons' di Sisto V.o et Urbano 8.o, et ogn'altra pretesa grande o qualsi sia
objections are recorded in an undated notice in which they claim to privilegio, o estentione conceduta per Breve o Costitutione, a favore
have no other income than from the "quattro case ad essa (piazza) delli medesimi Canoni da Innocentio 8.o, Sisto 4.o, e Giulio 2.o, o da
aggiacenti oltre i quelle confinanti al portico, che parimente si dice siano altri Sommi Pontefici....
per demolirsi" (ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50, 122-123). 48. The officers of the Tribunale are instructed to carry out papal
44. BAV, Chigi M.VIII.LX, 164, with the following inscription: orders "senza citare, o udire li Canonici, e Capitolo di quella (chiesa),
"Questa e la parte destra di Piazza rotonda fatta con inchiostro. A donare e senza alcuna solennita, o tela di Giudizio, ma de facto, & manu regia
l'angolo A per riquadrare che figuriamo 30 palmi quadri. V.S. veda . . . senza fare alcuna stima delle dette case, e senza pagarne il loro
quanto imposti il gettito B che figuriamo 65 palmi, e il gettito C che prezzo" (Fea, Diritti, 69).

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
counteroffensive. They had lost jurisdiction over the market demolished casini on Piazza della Rotonda, and all without pay-
stalls on Piazza della Rotonda, and they were going to lose their ment to the chapter.53
chapter house as well. On 7 August 1662, having obtained a From August to November 1662, Alexander continued to
representation of their interests before the Tribunale delle Strade, enjoy a view of the unencumbered piazza on his visits, the
the chapter calculated that an indemnity of 14,317 scudi was reports of which give no hint of the change in policy that
owed them on account of the losses in rentals from the properties suddenly appears in the avvisi and documents in early 1663.54
already demolished.49 Trouble also arose with the transfer of On 13 January 1663, the newly built facilities for "the fruit
the vendors from Piazza della Rotonda to nearby Piazza di vendors and others" on Piazza di Pietra were torn down to
Pietra, one of the designated marketplaces in the center of Al- allow them to return to Piazza della Rotonda.55 Two days later,
exander's new Rome.50 Although elaborate provisions had been the borders of the new stalls on the piazza began to be laid out,
made for accommodating each shop and stall on Piazza di Pietra, and by 18 February 1663, the fishmongers were installed in
the preference of the merchants for Piazza della Rotonda was their nove case.56 It is clear from these reports that Alexander,
unrelenting. An avviso of 15 August 1662 describes how the pitted against forces more formidable than his own resources,
police had to be called to remove some of the fruit and vegetable had to provide for the official return of the vendors to Piazza
vendors and send them to Piazza di Pietra on the very day of a della Rotonda. Even then, there were complaints from the ven-
papal visit to the Pantheon.51 dors and neighbors to contend with-in seventeenth-century
The vendors had good reason to complain: Piazza di Pietra Rome it seems everyone had a say in market life. In one case,
might have enjoyed a closer proximity to the developments the sellers of bread, meat, and spices complained about the
Alexander was fostering along the Via del Corso, but the lo- boundaries of their wooden booths and had them reset.57 In
cation was further from the heart of Campo Marzio and the another case, angry neighbors took action against the proximity
north-south traffic that made (and still makes) the Pantheon a of the fishmongers' booths by tearing them down before the
hub of social and commercial life.52 Conventions of shopping appropriate compromises could be reached.58
and socializing must have followed paths as clearly defined as The aesthetic gains on the piazza would be consolidated in
the streets that facilitated them, and even today Piazza di Pietra the repair of the portico, the reconstruction of the canons' house
remains an area marginal to the traffic patterns and architectural next to the rotunda but behind the portico, and the confinement
developments to the north, south, east, and west of it. The of the vendors to specially constructed wooden booths forming
subsequent events seem, in retrospect, almost inevitable. In a a semicircle on the north side of the fountain. The booths were
meeting of 8 October 1662, the canons bitterly complained that finished in March 1663, and a bull issued the following month,
the vendors had returned to ply their trades on the walls of the on 27 April 1663, officially reversed the previously announced
49. BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 48 (7 Aug. 1662). The pleas of the chapter 54. The pope visited the site on 18 Aug. 1662, according to the
may have been encouraged by the demolitions taking place the same avvisi, to see the demolitions still in progress, "riducendone la piazza
day (n. 40 above). avanti al pristino decoro con la demolitione delle case vicine al portico,
50. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 33, 106, and 163, with a e col trasporto della Pescaria dall Piazza di Pietra" (Rossi, "Roma ig-
reference to R. B6sel andJ. Garms, "Die Plansammlung des Collegium norata," 374). By 9 Sept. 1662, an avviso reported the work nearly done:
Germanicum-Hungaricum," Romische historische Mitteilungen, XXIII, "Si transferi (Sua Beatitudine) al Pantheon, la cui piazza resta quasi
1981, 341.
affatto compita per l'atterramento delle case vicine, e trasporto della
51. Rossi, "Rome ignorata," 374 (15 Aug. 1662): "Fatti levare da Pescaria" (ibid.). On 18 Nov. 1662, the pope stopped by the site again:
sbirri tutti l'ortolani, fruttaroli, melangolari, melonari, et altri dalla "diede anco una visita all'abbellimento che fa fare al Tempio della
Rotonda et S. Eustachio et fatti andare a vendere in Piazza di Pietra." Rotonda" (ibid.).
Alexander's visit to the site and to Piazza S. Pietro on this day is 55. Ibid.: "Dato principio a guastare li casini di tavole a Piazza di
recorded in BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 49. Pietra fatti gii per li fruttaroli et altri che si rimettono alla Piazza della
52. The role of the new market site in Alexander's plans for the Rotonda vicino l'Osteria della Volpe facendo la spesa li Canonici della
Corso and Piazza Colonna is made explicit in the large plan of the area Rotonda."
between S. Ignazio and Palazzo Montecitorio, BAV, Chigi P.VII.10, 56. BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 51. Preparations for the return of the ven-
1, where Piazza di Pietra is hatched in pencil. For the illustration and dors are discussed in an updated report, ASV, Misc. arm. VII. 50, 122-
for a broader discussion of problems in urban design of the period, see 123.
nowJ. Connors, "Alliance and Enmity in Roman Baroque Urbanism," 57. BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 51v (15 Jan. 1663): "Furono piantati i
Romisches Jahrbuch fir Kunstgeschichte, XXV, 1989, 207-294 (fig. 79). termini nella piaza della Rotonda p. fare le nove case di legno. La sera
For the Corso development, see D. M. Habel, "Alexander VII and the fu refato ad istanza dei Pani Carne Speziale et altri vicini."
Private Builder: Two Case Studies in the Development of the Via del 58. Ibid.: "adi 18 e li 19 [Jan. 1663] ad istanza de padroni delle case
Corso in Rome,"JSAH, XLIX, 1990, 293-309. incontro la pescharia e di pigionanti venne ordine di ritirare in dietro
53. BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 49v (8 Oct. 1662): "In questo tempo .. il fatto e tre volte fin hora hanno fatto guastare." Within a month the
molti venditori che erano andati a piazza di Pietra sono tornati nella fishmongers were settled in their new quarters: "Adi 18 [Feb.] giorno
piazza della Rotonda e vendono alli muri delle case . . . senza pagare di Domenica li pescivendoli vennero nella piaza della Rotonda nelle
alla Chiesa."
nove case" (ibid.).

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
policy by enumerating the canons' title to the casini.59 A plan

i
i s;a
signed by Felice della Greca and dated 26 April 1663 indicates
with great precision the location and the dimensions of the
booths behind the fountain and the surrounding space (Fig. 9).60 cir;,tj
?? ,g
Money for rebuilding the canons' house was authorized in March
7t TJ]X
f -Tr--J L
and appropriated in June 1663, and by May 1665 the casa nuova
J
was finished, thus excluding the possibility of widening the au
t
.1
street leading to Piazza della Minerva.61 Forced to redimension
ri, - K $i
his urbanistic aspirations by early 1664, Alexander turned his
attentions to the interior of the Pantheon.62 I~i SP
. *
' :: ?rr-
The last works to be accomplished on the exterior of the ,4
Pantheon during the Chigi pontificate were the replacement of

the columns missing from the portico and the grading of the
piazza. The lowering of the level of the piazza and its repaving
had been authorized in the chirograph of 5 August 1662, but
the drawing by Della Greca of 1663 shows that no significant
grading had taken place in the front of the portico, where the
steps down from the piazza to the level of the porch still appear.63
In 1666, the need for the additional grading of the piazza was
communicated to the canons. The adjustment of the levels of
59. For the bull of 27 Apr. 1663, see Brauer and Wittkower, Zeich-
i i ' * ,
nungen, 120 n. 6; and BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 51, and Pantheon II.1, no.24,
122ff.: "Breve di Papa Alessandro VII col quale ristringe il dominio che
avea il Capitolo, e Canonici di S. Maria ad Martyres sulla Piazza della
Rotonda, al semicircolo nel quale erano fabricati li casini." The pope
received advice in the preparation of this document in an unsigned,
undated report in ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50, 122-123. A subsequent brief
Fig.
provided that, in the future, issues regarding the canons' rights over the
vendors' stalls would be referred to "1'E.mo Card.le Vicario." See BAV, with
Pantheon II.1. no. 26, 164: "Breve di Papa Alessandro VII col quale
concede a questo Capitolo, e Canonici il dominio sopra li casotti, e
banchi essistenti nel semicircolo sulla Piazza della Rotonda, e delega adjo
l'E.mo Card.le Vicario per giudice in qualunque causa che venisse in- in M
tentata contro il detto Capitolo e Canonici, relativamente a tale domi-
hou
nio."
60. This drawing was used again in 1704 by the notary of the Tri- mu
bunale delle Strade, Domenico Orsini, to certify the rights of the canons spac
to the booths (Marder, "Piazza della Rotonda," 316 n. 4). For Felice ern
della Greca, see R. Lefevre, "Schede su due architetti siciliani a Roma
nel '600: I Della Greca," Studi meridionali, IV, 1971, 387-392, 396-
402. 64.
61. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 185, cites BAV, Pantheon The
II.1, no. 23, 121 (20 Mar. 1663): "Breve di Papa Alessandro VII con arch
quale concede la facolta al Rev.mo Capitolo, e Canonici di S. Maria ad toru
Martyres di erogare la somma di scudi 1700 proveniente dall'estrazione tent
di alcuni luoghi di monti, e retrovendita d'un censo spettante alla mensa dell
capitolare di detto Capitolo, onde restaurare alcune case, e costruire i the
nuovi casotti." It should be noted that the canons' house was rebuilt mat
with money they were thus constrained to provide for themselves, just si co
as they had to finance the return of the vendors (n. 55 above). In addition, vulg
see BAV, Pantheon 1.8 (IV), 76, for the appropriation of 17 June 1663; sopr
and ibid., 82v, for the completion of the house (14 May 1665). al la
62. Marder, "Pantheon in the Seventeenth Century," 633. risar
63. The latter fact is also noted by Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander mer
VII, 185. For the chirograph of 5 Aug. 1662, see notes 43 and 46 above. agai
The relevant portion of the chirograph reads: "Vi diamo facolta di the
sbassare il piano della piazza, rifare la selciata, ed ogni altro ornato circa (cite
a detta chiesa, portico, piazza, e strade adiacenti . . . come da voi sari 65.
stimato opportuno." della

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
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Fig. 10. Anonymous, study of capitals and entablature for repair of east side of Pantheon portico, drawing,
1662 or 1666 (BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 109r).
The ancient columns to be used for the portico, which had looked very much the way Falda depicted it, with the canons'
been found near S. Luigi dei Francesi, were reserved for their house extending four bays east from the junction of the portico
new location as early as 4 November 1662, by virtue of a chi- and the church, with the portico itself now two steps above the
rograph granting the Tribunale delle Strade the right to take level of the grade, and with the vendors' stalls removed behind
them to the Pantheon.66 In a fashion typical of the entire cam- the fountain (Fig. 1).
paign, the permission was granted after the fact, for the chi-
Bernini's participation
rograph states that some of the "pezzi di colonne" had already
been brought to the Pantheon. Other materials for the repair Bernini's presence in these operations is documented in a
of the portico were brought to the Pantheon only in August group of six small autograph sketches drawn with chalk in a
1666 and set in place by 30 September 1666, and the carving summary manner. Among them are three plans and three facade
of the entablature and the Corinthian capitals with Chigi em- elevations of the Pantheon. Of these, a corresponding plan and
blems soon followed (Fig. 10).67 Money for this and other work facade together compose an experiment to reshape the streets
was ordered in February 1667; and the work on the portico was and buildings to either side of the portico (Figs. 11, 12).69 Both
reported complete in March 1667, two months before Alex- the streets and the buildings have been redesigned to flank the
ander's death.68 At that time Piazza della Rotonda must have Pantheon symmetrically. Maderno's towers are absent from the
faqade, the girth of the rotunda is emphasized, and the two
symmetrical streets are arranged to isolate the Pantheon from
the foot of the columns on the portico, with indications for the relo-
neighboring city blocks. The result must have been intended to
cation of the sewers (noted in Krautheimer, Rome ofAlexander VII, 185).
Because the study is confined to the southern part of the piazza, it likely give a strong impression of the ancient situation of the building
dates from this late moment in the enterprise. On the drawing the level as it was known in the seventeenth century. In that respect the
of the unexcavated piazza is nine palmi above the portico pavement,
and the new level would be two palmi below the portico pavement.
This would permit a rise of two steps between the piazza and the portico, (19 Mar. 1667), for the avviso reporting the completion of the work.
conforming to the solution depicted on Falda's engraving (Fig. 1). (The notice was published in Rossi, "Roma ignorata," 474.) Related to
66. Fea, Diritti, 69-71, published the papal chirograph of 4 Nov. these operations, there is a notice of building equipment borrowed from
1662, granting the Tribunale delle Strade permission to take the col- St. Peter's in the Archivio della Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro, Piano
umns from S. Luigi dei Francesi. I, ser. 3, vol. 164, 505-506 (4 Feb. 1667): "Excell.mo D. Senatore Urbis
67. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 186, with references to Comite Nigrello petente troclea, et claves ferrias magnas, et parvas pro
BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 104 and 109; and an avviso of 17 Apr. 1666 in erigendis, et collocandis columnis Sancta Maria Rotunda."
ASV, Awisi 113, 272. 69. The elevation and the plan were drawn on the recto and verso,
68. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 954 (24 Feb. 1667); and respectively, of BAV, Chigi a.I.19, fol. 31, a sheet that is pasted into
Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 186, citing ASV, Awisi 114, 48 the bound volume.

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
. ,~ 1I k " k , ! --- - I I -
X:.;, t. j
Fig. 11. G. L. Bernini, project in plan for

Fig. the
12. fasade of the Pantheon,
G. L. Bernini, project in elevation
drawing, 1662-early 1663 (BAV, Chigi a.I.19,
theon, 31v).
drawing, 1662-early 1663 (BAV, C
drawings are part of an ideal project, as Brauer

reordered and
facade Wittkower
was taken up in more s
believed.70 draftsman. Although the connection h
We can imagine these studies' being made when
relationship the clearing
between this plan and a he
(Fig.
of the piazza had been decided and the14) that of
design is in Bernini's
the steets hand als
flanking the Pantheon was undereration.73
discussion. Because
In the some
elevation of forms of
the
in quick
the properties belonging to the canons strokes
still appear onsuggesting
either side both atmos
of the portico, it appears that themanner
fate of that
thesesimultaneously
structures hadand convi
mass and interior
not yet been determined. These features volume. Thethat
suggest "Casa nuova" indicated to the
Bernini
east of the Pantheon
was attempting to resolve the idealistic aims inof
the the
plan is pope
roughly indicated
and also on
the
satisfy the more mundane claims of fantasy
the elevationto
canons by atheir
horizontal line toThe
case. the left of the
portico,
result is consistent with the scope of the below the level of
project the entablature.
recorded in the
meeting of 15 June 1662, held under BrauerMsgr.
and Wittkower did not notice these
Fagnano's connections and
auspices.
In contrast to the existing situation,
thus did
the
not illustrate
chapter the fantasy
houseelevation
would
in their corpus of
Bernini
be moved back from the front plane of drawings, no doubt because
the portico, whosethey could not be sure that
image
the hexastyle
would be framed instead by the city blocks front
onrepresented
either the side.
Pantheon.Dras-
They did note a
relationship between
tically reducing the length of the chapter house, the plans in Figures
Bernini 11 and 13, and they
offered
even suggested
the possibility of a nearly symmetrical Alexander
pair of VII as the authorIn
streets. of the
thelatter, prob-
ably on the basis ofit
process of working with these components, the appears
handwriting.74 that
The handwriting,
Ber- in my
opinion, doesthe
nini flirted with the dea of transforming appearoctastyle
to be the pope's.front
If this is true,
into we may be
dealing not
a hexastyle front, for he drew three, here with autograph
four, sketches by on
columns Alexander
theVII and
right side of the plan.71 Bernini working together to produce a plan and elevation re-
spectively.75 I believe
One might dismiss this detail as accidental if it that
didthe daring
not hexastyle
reappearexperiments grew
out of the earlier desires
in another plan, clearly not by Bernini's hand, to reveal
thatas much of the rotunda
shows a as
hexastyle portico similarly aligned with
possible, the
to align corners
it and ofthe
the portico with the ad-
flanking city blocks,
joining city blocks (Fig. 13).72 The street
and perhaps on the
to resolve the east
problem ("Strada
of finding suitable replace-
che viene da St. Ignatio") and the city block
ments for the two on the
missing west
columns of the ("Cres-
porch by rearranging
centii") confirm that the drawing concerns the Pantheon. The
hexastyle front proves that Bernini's flirtation
73. The drawing appears with
on a singleasheet
radically
sewn into BAV, Chigi
a.I.19, fol. 66.
74. Brauer and Wittkower, Zeichnungen, 121 n. 4.
70. Brauer and Wittkower, Zeichnungen, 75. For 121.
other examples of Alexander and Bernini "designing" to-
71. A short line on the outside of the third
gether, column
see Krautheimer indicates
and Jones, where
"Diary," nos. 137, 143, 151, 303,
516, andintermediate
the hexastyle front would have joined the 713. Another episode of their working together
block. A columnis recorded
of the second row, drawn to the rightinof this
the same book line,
of drawings indicates
(BAV, Chigi a.I.19)the width
in designs for Palazzo
of the octastyle portico. Chigi at SS. Apostoli, as analyzed by P. Waddy, Seventeenth-Century
Roman Palaces:
72. The plan is drawn on fol. 168r, pasted intoUse and the Art of
BAV, the Plan, New
Chigi York, 1990, 317-318.
M.VIII.LX.

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
r 66
,-
- I -, "; f Sr
' r- ,-a
-- d C +.
._ _
h _ -' ' #
.... ^ . : 1 .. - ' ,, '
. .; -
" ,
B.; -.. ...y * .
* t
-r 'Uc :;'
,~4
7'.
v
'--??1:" ?
?I*f, ;-PF?-?" ?L?r.:?.- :r._.,,r\u
""
Fig. 13. Alexander VII, Fig. 14. G. L. Bernini,

hexastyle faCade hexastyle facade project for the Pantheon,
project for draw- the Pant
ing, 1662-early 1663 ing, 1662-early
(BAV, Chigi 1663 (BAV, M.VIII.60,
Chigi a.I.19, 66r). 168r).
those that remained.76 corner

In ofany
the portico. case these
Brauer and Wittkower schemes
maintained that a
treat seriously and probably
the sightlinesshow a relaxed
on the plan converge at the opposite (north)stage
end in
sions of the site. The of the Piazza della Rotonda,were
constraints and Bordini reconstructed
too many the con- to a
dreaming. tours of the piazza as a trapezoid narrowing toward the north
The position of the chapter house in Figures 13 and 14 ap- (Fig. 17.)79 Judging from the scale of the rotunda and the angles
proximates its eventual location as rebuilt, at the juncture of the of the lines tangent to it, however, it is more likely that the
portico and the rotunda (Fig. 1). The relative positions of the lines of sight on Bernini's drawings would have converged at
two buildings may also be recognized in a third pair of drawings, a point corresponding to the location of the fountain in the
both by Bernini (Figs. 15, 16.)77 The plan shows three possible middle of the piazza.80 Similarly, the axes of the converging
locations for the chapter house on the east side of the rotunda. streets in the first autograph plan we considered (Fig. 11) would
Because the elevation depicts the chapter house-begun in 1663 also have met at the fountain in the middle of the piazza. Indeed,
and executed by 1665-as shown on the Falda engraving, it is the feathered sightlines on the right of Figure 16, which do
surely among the latest of the drawings in this series. Here new not precisely intersect the west corner of the portico facade,
realities are grafted onto old fantasies: the symmetry of the appear to account for the location of the fountain, which is just
temple isolated in elevation is compromised by the new structure to the right (west) of the axis of the church.
to be attached behind the portico on the left, by another small From these observations it is safe to conclude that Bordini's
structure on the right, and by the location of flanking streets, reconstruction of a trapezoidal piazza remains unsubstantiated.
the disparate heights of the buildings on them, and the grade On the contrary, Bernini seems to have responded in his earlier
of the streets. Because of the close similarity between the size plan (Fig. 11) to the sixteenth-century idea of streets converging
and proportions of the new house for the canons as depicted in on a fountain, as they do at Piazza del Popolo. Here the axes
these drawings and those in later views of the building, there of three streets-the Babuino, the Corso, and the Ripetta-met
is reason to credit Bernini with its design, as Brauer and Witt- at the fountain completed in 1573-1575.81 The motif aligning
kower did.78 It is also possible that Bernini knew of the design
for the chapter house and was trying to improvise upon it.
On the plan, sightlines from the portico to the rotunda also 79. Brauer and Wittkower, Zeichnungen, 121; Bordini, "Bernini," 56.
betray a compromise of absolute symmetry where a disjunction 80. This fact is clear from the proportions of the components on the
drawing, but we should distinguish here between the artist's vision and
exists between the sightline on the right (west) side and the
some geometric realities inherent in the monument and the site: similar
lines superimposed over an accurate plan of the Pantheon will converge
north of the piazza. As in Bernini's other drawings of the Pantheon,
76. It is interesting in this regard to observe how, in the fifteenth the bulk of the rotunda is exaggerated with respect to the real height
century, Francesco di Giorgio attempted to transform the portico of the and width of the portico, which tends to hide what is behind it. Standing
Pantheon into a tetrastyle front (Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Trattati on Piazza della Rotonda, one never sees or senses the cylindrical mass
di architettura ingegneria e arte militare, ed. Corrado Maltese, Milan, 1967, in the powerful way it impressed Bernini.
tav. 146). 81. C. D'Onofrio, Le fontane di Roma, Rome, 1957, 39-40. The
77. The plan and elevation are both drawn on one side of a single fountain on Piazza del Popolo was replaced in 1823 by Valadier's con-
sheet of paper, sewn into BAV, Chigi a.I.19, as fols. 29v and 30r. fection of fountain and obelisk. The original fountain, designed by
78. Brauer and Wittkower, Zeichnungen, 121. Giacomo della Porta, is presently located on Piazza Nicosia. Could Della

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
-F?.._,t
-t 'A 0 r
ot*a
theon, drawing, 1662-early 1663 (BA, Chigi a.19, 30r).
*,"- gK i2^ * , l, 2
Fig. 16. G. L. Bernini, project in plan for the facade of the Pantheon,
fountain on drawing,
theon, the axis of the Borgo Nuovo, and again
1662-early at Ariccia,
1663 (BAV, drawing, 1662-early
Chigi 1663 (BAV,30r).
a.I.19, Chigi a.I.19, 29v).
fountains are paired. The aesthetic function of the motif i

streets
streetsand fountains
and also occurred to Bernini
fountains alsoduring the process to
occurred make more concerted
Bernini representations
during the of their interests to the
process
of
ofdesigning
Fig. 15.eah Piazza
designing S. Pietro,
of these when he
Piazza
examples S.tried
in out the northern
Pietro,
elevation when pope,
for the he introducing
tried
fapedestrian financial
out and legalof
the
visually considerations
the Pan-that pre-
northern
fountain on the axis of the Borgo Nuovo, viously seem not
andto have affected at
again the planning
Ariccia, process. By
where
where the side streets
the are curved
side rather than
streets are straight
curvedand the rather
January 1663,than
Alexanderstraight
VII had agreed to and the
rebuild the casini at
Piazzafunction
fountains are paired.82 The aesthetic della Rotonda and of
had probably acquiesced toin
the motif the need
each of these examples is to lead the pedestrian
to provide visually
a suitable house for out
the canons. Funds of
for this purpose
wereonto
the byways of a medieval borgo and allotted inaMarch 1663, thus providing a firm
systematized terminus ante
public
space. quem for the second pair of drawings in plan and elevation.
Between
In Bernini's later plan (Fig. 16), the these dates we may served
sightlines imagine the design
to ofin-
a hexastyle
solution
dicate what parts of the Pantheon wouldby Bernini
beand Alexander
seen VII working together.
from the
fountain and from the area behindA it.
final drawing
The attributable
sightlinesto Bernini suggest
on the basis of style
that the mass of the rotonda wouldis no
be more than a thumbnail
evident only sketch to
(Fig. 18).84 It was published
a viewer
by Bordini,
standing behind the fountain.83 This plan who should
also considered therefore
it an autograph work.85
beBordini
discussed thewas
dated to the period before the decision little sketch
made in relation
to to other drawings
have the that
envision
vendors return from Piazza di Pietra in aJanuary
more uniform rectangular
1663;shape for the the
when piazza, in-
cluding our Figures
vendors returned to Piazza della Rotonda, they 4, 7,would
and 8. She associated
be locatedthese drawings
with the leveling
behind the fountain, hence obscuring the viewsof the piazzathat
in 1666,86Bernini
but this seems un-
was at pains to calculate. necessarily late. The thumbnail sketch has nothing to do with
revising the
It is thus possible, given the elaborate east or the north sides
chronology now of theavail-
piazza, but it does
able, to date five drawings by Bernini (and
show the streets one
flanking perhaps
the portico. by
The notes above the sketch
concern
Alexander himself) between mid-1662 the demolition
and of a short wall (4% of
the beginning palmi the
x 112 palmi
following year. The structures that = Bernini
0.9 m. x 0.335 m.) facing S. Eustachio.
depicted next The wall
towas probably
the
portico in the first pair of drawings attached
provide to the Pantheon,
a likely and the little sketch illustrates
terminus post how
the street
quem of June 1662 for the drawings. The off demolitions
the west corner of the facade
took mightplace
be revised to
open directly
in July and August, by which time the onto the portico.
canons hadThe thumbnail
begun sketch
tocould
easily be dated to the summer of 1662, therefore, when the
portico and the piazza were being cleared, and when ideas for
Porta and his patrons have anticipated the seventeenth-century notion
the streets around the portico were being considered. In short,
of streets converging at a fountain when they built at Piazza del Pan-
theon? every indication in the little sketch is consistent with the in-
82. For the relevant illustrations, see Brauer and Wittkower, Zeich-
nungen, taf. 54; and T. Marder, "La chiesa del Bernini ad Ariccia," in
Gian Lorenzo Bernini architetto e l'architettura europea del sei-settecento, ed. 84. The sketch appears at the bottom of an account of demolitions
G. Spagnesi and Marcello Fagiolo, Rome, 1983, figs. 20, 21. at the portico which, like other materials for the operations on the
83. I want to thank Henry Millon and Patricia Waddy for clarifying Pantheon, has been pasted into BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 105.
this point in separate discussions. Clearly this matter influenced the 85. Bordini, "Bernini," 57 and fig. 21.
positioning of Della Porta's fountain in the sixteenth century. 86. Bordini, "Bernini," n. 18.

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
the succeeding drawings show a concern for int

appropriately proportioned chapter house into
placing it behind the famous portico. With the
this encumbering feature, the little drawing show
terminating at the famous porch makes a goo
Judging from all of these drawings, which are
indications of Bernini's interventions, his sole
urban systematization of the Pantheon was devo
the appearance of the ancient portico within th
streets immediately surrounding it.88
Other papal advisors
The striking point to emerge from this detailed

enterprise is the lack of any demonstrable connec
except where his hand is evident in the autog
To be sure, Bernini was Alexander's favorite conf
matters, and he must have been aware of the

for the Pantheon. But with regard to Bernini's
_>Tl/,f L/ ! we have only the drawings that were evidently
brief time span for a project that began early in
and dragged on to its end. Furthermore, while we
evidence of Bernini's presence earlier or later t
ance of the autograph drawings, we can docume
of other parties advising Alexander VII about t
Pantheon throughout his campaign there. Fo
previous literature dwells almost exclusively
0 1Q i s cIo m Alexander and Bernini at the Pantheon, there w
in this drama of urban rehabilitation.
We have already
Fig. 17. S. Bordini, reconstruction of seventeenth-century met Msgr. Prospero Fagnano,
scheme for
Piazza della Rotonda (Bordini, "Bernini e il Pantheon," 1966).
we can decipher of the reports, notes, and acco
chives, his role as mediator was largely eclipsed
terventions proposed in Bernini's other drawings
zealous from the sec-
participants in the enterprise. Among t
ond half of 1662 to the beginning of 1663.
siastic supporters of Alexander's schemes, for e
menico
The dating of Bernini's drawings helps us to Jacovacci,
understand who had served as a maestro de
better
1658the
the extent of his participation in restructuring until his context
urban death in 1662. Krautheimer descr
of the Pantheon. In the first drawings he "close
apparently took up
confidant and a reliable collaborator in
the challenge of Alexander's vision for returning
mappingthe temple to
projects," and this certainly seems to b
its ancient form, without encumbering buildings or bell
ing from towers. in Alexander's diary.89
the notices
The size of the chapter house was severely reduced to accom-
88. In
modate a pair of symmetrically located streets discussing
flanking thethese
ro- drawings, I have avoided the
raised by the sketchbook to which they belong, BAV
tunda. In these studies the chapter house proved impossibly
an unpublished paper delivered at the American Ac
small, while the financial means to realizeElisabeth
the newKieven
streets
haswas
suggested that the drawings acco
discussionsapparently
lacking. For a brief time, Bernini and Alexander with Alexander VII. An unpublished pa
Giovanni Morello at the Villa Spellman in Florence su
shared the fantasy of a hexastyle replacement to the octastyle
of the drawings in the sketchbook are by the pope h
front, perhaps before the replacement columns
familiarfrom S. Luigi
with the arguments of these papers, but the u
dei Francesi were earmarked in November in 1662.87
so many In any case
drawings of different commissions also s
bility that the drawings may have been done ex postf
as records of the design process. More work on the p
87. A notice in the pope's diary speaks of a visit to the Pantheon and
necessary.
S. Luigi in Sept. 1662 (Krautheimer and Jones, 89. "Diary," no. 614). Rome
Krautheimer, The of Alexander VII, 17; and
chirograph of Nov. 1662 providing for their transfer
notices superseded the
linking Jacovacci with building activities at
Gesu,
idea of reusing two columns from the Temple of S. Maria
Concord in thein Campitelli, St. Peter's, Piazza C
Forum
(Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 186). Piazza Colonna, Porta del Popolo, and the Pyramid

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
More prominent still was Virgilio Spada, noble antiquarian,

dilettante, and architectural advisor.90 Alexander VII first con-
sulted Spada as early as 1656 with regard to an examination of
the bronze portal of the Pantheon carried out by Borromini, no
doubt to render some judgment on the vexed question of its
authenticity.91 The pope consulted Spada about the Pantheon
on at least three other occasions and appointed him to meet
with the canons in August of 1662 to work out the problems
caused by the demolitions of their properties.92 It is just possible
that Spada encouraged or helped to conceptualize the enlarge-
ment of Piazza della Rotonda toward Piazza Maddalena. It was
he, after all, who had envisioned the demolitions to clear an
axis through the Borgo in the Vatican from Ponte Sant'Angelo
to Piazza S. Pietro.93 In any case, Spada's interest was to restore Fig. 18. G. L. Bernini, thumbnail sketch plan of the Pantheon, drawing,
the Pantheon without regard to the losses of the chapter, for 1662-early 1663 (BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 105r).
he evidently advocated the clearing of the piazza without com-
pensation. He was, in short, a real obstacle to the chapter in its In late November 1662, Negrelli was made a special appointee
efforts to derive some benefit from Alexander's grand schemes. to the group of ministers attempting to resolve the dispute with
As the canons themselves were quick to remark, Spada's death the canons, and within days he had brought their case forcefully
in December 1662 signaled a definitive change in their fortunes before the pope. Alexander, in turn, was induced to give Negrelli
and a change in the vicissitudes of the whole project.94 full authority to resolve the negotiations.96 In him the canons
During his last ailing days, Spada's leading role as papal ad- had finally found a spokesperson in the papal court who was
visor was assumed by the senatore di Roma, Cesare Negrelli, a capable of presenting their interests with conviction.97 In fact,
man whom Krautheimer has mentioned previously in relation it was apparently Negrelli who brokered the deal whereby the
to the projected decoration of the interior but who had much vendors would return to the northern half of Piazza della Ro-
to do with the systematization of the urban context as well.95 tonda, the chapter would have its house rebuilt, and vendors
would be compensated for their moves to and from Piazza di
Pietra. The details were hammered out in late December 1662
90. For a recent discussion of Spada with additional bibliography,
see J. Connors, "Virgilio Spada's Defence of Borromini," Burlington and early January of the following year.98 The edict of June
Magazine, CXXXI, no. 1031, 1989, 76-90.
91. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 34 (19 August 1656).
Whether the bronze door was original or a later addition to the Pantheon
was an old debate, apparently resurrected here with Borromini, under disputes at the Pantheon that threatened to become civil suits. For details
Spada's supervision, examining "la positura della porta di Bronzo della on the role of the senatore di Roma, see G. Lunadaro, Relatione della corte
Rotonda come stia e se ne vaglia." di Roma, e de' Riti . . ., e de'suoi magistrati, e officii, con la loro distinta
92. For the consultations, see Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," nos. giuresdittione, Venice, 1664, 51. For colorful descriptions of the ceremony
370 (14 Dec. 1659), 568 (11 June 1662: "siamo con M.e Virgilio Spada in which the senatore di Roma is first brought to the Campidoglio from
e gli diamo un disegno della Rotonda"), 577 (2 July 1662). In the the Vatican Palace, see Gigli's accounts of the appointment of Giulio
records of the canons is a notation of Alexander's visit to Piazza di Pietra Cartaro in 1629 and that of Orazio Albani in 1633 (Gigli, Diario, 103-
and to the Rotonda, at which time "fu presentato da CC. a N.S. un 104, 133-134). For abundant references covering the entire history of
memoriale accio si denarsi deputare un prelato p. riferire a SS.ta l'in- the office, see A. Salimei, "Serie cronologica dei Senatori di Roma dal
teresse del Capitolo e N.S. deputato Mons. Spada" (7 Aug. 1662; BAV, 1431 al 1447," Archivio della R. Societd romana di storia patria, LIII, 1930,
Pantheon 1.19, 49). 41-176; LV, 1932, 531-533.
93. This famous project of 1653 was discussed by F. Ehrle, "Dalle 96. BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 49: "A di 25 No.bre 1662. . . Si fece
carte e dai disegni di Virgilio Spada," Atti della Pontificia Accademica congre.ne avanti Mons.re Fagnano vi furono li soliti e di piu N. S.re vi
Romana di Archeologia, Memorie II, 1928, 1-90. aggionse l'Ill.mo Febo et Eccellentiss.mo Sg.r Conte Nigrelli Senatore
94. "A di (blank) de.bre Morto Mons.re Spada quale e stato sempre di Roma al quale furono date tutte le scritture e l'asse.nto di referire a
contrario al Capitolo e Canonici oltre l'essere stato il primo mantenere N.o Sig." On 29 Nov.: "il Senatore fu da N. Sig. e gli port6 un ristretto
di levar la piaza e gettare le case senze dar ricompenza si spera che le di tutto quello bisogna per la nova Piaza a favore della Chiesa e CC.nico
cose anderanno meglio p.che non ci fara cont.o" (Dec. 1662; Pantheon et ha parlato per noi con tutta l'efficaccia possibile e N. Sig. gli ha dato
1.19, 50). l'incumbenza di ridurre a fine tutto quello ha di bisogno per la Chiesa
95. Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII, 109, 186. The senatore di e Cap.lo" (ibid.).
Roma had jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases between citizens and 97. Ibid.: "Furono deputati a informare il Eccel.mo S.re Senatore e
inhabitants of the city. For this reason he was always aforastiero and a supplicarlo della sua protetione li Canonici Gio. Maria Lucido e Gio.
Doctor of Law. He was appointed by the pope, had weekly audiences Carlo Vallone come si e fatto e ci ha fatto gratia comunicarli tutte le
with him to give account of his actions and those of the three judges scritture date et il ristretto fatto da S. E. per dare a N. Sig.re molto
who served under him, and also had a place in the papal cappella. From favorevole p. il capitolo."
these facts it is obvious that Negrelli has been summoned to settle 98. Ibid., 50-51v (17 Dec. 1662-15 Jan. 1663).

202.119.43.222 on Tue, 19 Apr 2022 08:42:59 UTC
1662 denying those rights was thus remanded by February 1663, Domenicano Deputato sopra il lavoro di detto spiano."'05 Paglia
as we have seen, and the chapter's privileges in this regard were may even have been the unnamed architect of the scheme to
consolidated in the brief of 20 March 1663. When there were develop the road to Piazza della Minerva, since he was the
complaints about the location of the vendor's booths and the architect of S. Maria sopra Minerva. That Paglia was a trusted
fishmongers, Negrelli oversaw the resolutions, as well as the lieutenant is suggested by a statement in Negrelli's accounts for
rights of the canons to rents from the casini on the piazza. the pope, where Negrelli made assurances that any of Alex-
In addition to negotiating the financial settlement with the ander's more speculative plans would be kept in strict confi-
chapter, Negrelli also supervised the grading of the piazza and dence, even by the architect.106
adjoining streets in 1666. The papal chirograph authorizing this
work is in fact addressed to him.99 On the first of September
Conclusions
1666, Negrelli submitted to the pope a list of expenses incurred
or expected that embraced the whole enterprise.100 In these On this note we may return to the questions posed at the
documents, as in Alexander's diary, there is no mention of Ber- beginning of the paper regarding the degree to which Bernini
nini working at the Pantheon. Indeed, only one other person- inspired Alexander, collaborated with him, or stood apart from
ality deserves further discussion in this context: Fra Giuseppe the urban schemes at the Pantheon. The answers lie in no single
Paglia, the Dominican architect of S. Maria sopra Minerva.101 fact or document but in a host of circumstances that compel us
Paglia is universally credited with the work of grading the to reassess the traditional view of Bernini's responsibility and
piazza, providing its definitive contours, and erecting the re- to refocus attention on the creative instincts of Alexander him-
placement columns, capitals, and entablature of the portico. His self. In the uneven trajectory of the enterprise, rumor preceded
name appears in Alexander's diary twice in connection with the action, and events followed one another at a dizzying, contra-
restoration of the Pyramid of Cestius, another task undertaken dictory pace that defies a logical progression. Within the course
with the advice of Spada and Jacovacci, and under the direction of a year the grandiose scheme for pushing the limits of the
of Negrelli.102 The attribution of the work at the Pantheon and piazza back to its ancient dimensions was sacrificed to the in-
on Piazza della Rotonda appears in several places. Early eigh- ability to acquire the whole of the intervening city block for
teenth-century records of the chapter recount how Alexander demolition. A drawing gives evidence of the desire to preserve
VII had raised the portico in relation to the piazza (!) and thereby the concept by demolishing just a portion of the block for this
avoided flooding the Pantheon; and this work was attributed purpose. Yet this too proved impossible, as did the apparently
"to the genius of Padre Paglia."103 Similarly, in his famous guide simple task of merely clearing Piazza della Rotonda of the shacks
to art in Rome, Filippo Titi attributed Alexander's work to and booths that interfered with Alexander's vision of Rome.
Paglia.104 These notices are confirmed by accounts in the Chigi The early rumor about systematizing the street leading to S.
archives for the grading of the piazza by "Fra Giuseppe Paglia Maria sopra Minerva on the left of the Pantheon was followed
by the requisite demolitions, by plans for a porticoed street, and
by discussions about design, execution, and financing. Never-
99. ASR, Presidenza delle Strade 32, 14. theless, these notions were curtailed when, in the space of six
100. BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 103. months, it was decided to rebuild the canons' house more or
101. For Paglia, see Forte, "Giuseppe Paglia," passim. Other roles less in its original location, removed from the front of the
in connection with the urban systematization of the Pantheon were
temple, to be sure, but blocking any hope of creating the street
played by Cardinal Febo; Msgr. Ferrini; the presidente and two maestri
that was so much discussed.
delle strade, Msgr. Acciaioli and Bartolomeo Capranica and Lodovico
Casali (ASV, Misc. arm. VII.50 passim; BAV, Pantheon 1.19, 49; 11.18, The lack of evidence for advance planning, the failure of the
389); Msgr. Ugolini (Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," no. 485); the planning that did take place, the manner in which rumor pre-
canons Giovanni Maria Lucido and Giovanni Carlo Vallone (BAV,
Pantheon 1.8, 71)-the list goes on, but it does not include Bernini. ceded events by years rather than days or months, the way that
102. Krautheimer and Jones, "Diary," nos. 577, 579. chirographs followed rather than anticipated events, and the
103. The document dates after 1716 but during the pontificate of
Clement XI (1700-1721): "Questa buona riuscita si deve tutta all'ingenio
del P. Paglia Domenicano, che fu l'Architetto, et il Direttore di tutto
quel gran lavoro" (BAV, Pantheon II.2, 154-157). Forte, "Giuseppe 105. BAV, Chigi P.VII.9, 101 (rather than 104r, as in Krautheimer,
Paglia," 341, gives the quotation but not the archival source. Rome of Alexander VII, 185).
104. F. Titi, Descrizione delle pitture, sculture e architetture esposte al 106. The document cited in Krautheimer, Rome of Alexander VII,
pubblico in Roma, Rome, 1763,361: "Alessandro VII risarci detto portico, 186-187, includes the following statement: "Non si comunichera ad
facendo rifare un gran pezzo d'architrave, e alcuna colonna di mano alcuno i comandi di SS.ta solo non si potria meno di non volessi di fri
sinistra verso la Minerva con granito d'Elba, e abbass6 la piazza, che da Giosephe in far piliar misure, formar piante et altre fature, ma rapre-
quella parte sotterrava lo scalino, e la base, e parte delle colonne, e dalla sentar6 il tuto come mie pensieri." The comment evidently refers to
parte davanti si scendevano parecchi scalini per entrare in chiesa, e si work outside the Pantheon, and not exclusively to the interior deco-
prevalse per architetto di Fr. Giuseppe Paglia." ration, to which Krautheimer relates it.

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appearance of papal orders countermanding earlier legal docu-

ments-none of these circumstances alone would be extraor-
dinary in seventeenth-century Rome, and none of them alone

constitutes the inevitable sign of Alexander's dabbling in ur-
banistic matters. But taken together, they create a coherent
picture of an incoherent policy that could hardly be attributed
to any but the most distracted of minds. A delegated minister
would have anticipated the myriad of practical and aesthethic
problems at the outset of such an ambitious enterprise and re-
solved them quickly rather than allowing them to crop up spon-
taneously and impede progress. Where ambitions outstripped
the necessary funds, where orders and provisions had to be
revised or rescinded within a short time, there is a component
of whimsy, something fanciful about the plans for the venerable
Fig. 19. Workshop of G. L. Bernini, view of church at Ariccia flanked
Pantheon; and these qualities are mirrored and occasionally mag-
by imaginary palaces, drawing, undated (Brauer and Wittkower, Zeich-
nified by the manner in which the execution of plans was at- nungen).
tempted.
In brief, I believe the answer is that Alexander served as both earlier example of a Pantheon-like church associated with a
client and chief architect for a project that assumed many and villa.108 Within a matrix of ideas traded reciprocally among
sometimes contradictory facets, influenced by members of his Alexander's major urban enterprises, the Tempietto at Maser is
court and altered by circumstances as they arose. The strong also the likely source of Bernini's hexastyle fantasy elevation of
presence of Virgilio Spada up to the time of his death in De- the Pantheon. It was the fantasy element of Alexander's dreams
cember 1662 may indicate the ascendence of aesthetic and an- for the Pantheon that induced Bernini to transfer his thoughts
tiquarian concerns early on, but the swift appointment of Giulio freely between town and country, creating in the process such
Cesare Negrelli to implement the works thereafter represents bizarre congeries of otherwise inexplicable images as a drawing
Alexander's desire to concretize the practicable aspects of the that shows the church at Ariccia flanked by symmetrical palaces
enterprise without further delay. During the brief and perhaps resembling the one that stands on the west side of the Pantheon
indecisive period of transition in the latter half of 1662, Al- in Rome (Fig. 19; cf. Fig. 1).109
exander would have consulted an obliging Bernini, and together Such moments of revery were brief, and the dose of reality
they played, literally, with various schemes. injected by senatore Negrelli took immediate effect. An admin-
Among the influences upon them at that time was Bernini's istrator rather than a dreamer, Negrelli understood that the
church at Ariccia, whose design had been under consideration project called for an executor and an engineer, not an artist; and
in late 1661 and settled by the first half of 1662. At Ariccia the in Padre Paglia both talents were combined. Alexander's fanciful
domed, circular church with its facade porch was conceived in concept of the Pantheon and its restoration initially attracted
the tradition of the Pantheon in Rome. But the chronology of and ultimately discouraged Bernini, who understood the aes-
the Pantheon projects and the foregoing analysis of the drawings thetic limitations and practical implications of a job so fraught
lead inescapably to the conclusion that, contrary to the usual with obstacles and so lacking in resolution. Besides, what the
account, the work at Ariccia had a reciprocal influence on Ber- pope anticipated for the Pantheon could be realized at Ariccia.
nini's and Alexander's thinking about the Pantheon.107 The con- The presence of the portico could be minimized to emphasize
cept of a circular domed church, embedded within the regu- the bulk of the rotunda, as is the case in Bernini's conception
larized confines of the feudal hilltown of Ariccia, tantalized of the Pantheon in the drawings. Even the notion of opening
Alexander's antiquarian passions and aspirations for the heart of the "choir" behind the altar at the Pantheon found expression
ancient Rome. in the church at Ariccia: Guglielmo Cortese's Assumption of
The church at Ariccia was created as a pendant to the Chigi
villa in the same town. Elsewhere I have demonstrated that
Bernini's church was inspired in part by Palladio's hexastyle

108. T. Marder, "Palladio, Bernini e la Rotonda di Ariccia" and, in
Tempietto at Maser (1580), which is the most conspicuous
the same volume, "La dedica e la funzione del Tempietto di Palladio a
Maser," Bollettino del Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea
Palladio, XXIII, 1981 (1986), 17-26, 241-246.
109. For the identification of the Palazzo Crescenzi in Rome as a
107. For the chronology and the material that follows, see Marder, model for the palaces shown flanking the Ariccia church in the drawing,
"La chiesa del Bernini ad Ariccia," 255-277. see Brauer and Wittkower, Zeichnungen, 125.

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and Piazza Maddalena and was resurrected in the later Tournon

the Virgin takes place in the open air, as though the apse wall
had indeed been entirely removed. By contrast, when the popeproject conceived during the Napoleonic regime at the begin-
focused on refurbishing the interior of the Pantheon, Berninining of the nineteenth century.111 If nothing ever came of these
had hardened into an outspoken opponent of the idea.110 dreams, they nevertheless remain testaments to the vigor of
In short, the urban systematization of the Pantheon was Al-Alexander VII's progressive urban vision and the long life of
planning traditions in Rome.
exander's project and his alone, and the sporadic manner in
which others participated in the enterprise serves best to illus-
trate the point. His legacy, heretofore unacknowledged, sur-
vived in Pascoli's idea of 1733 to unite Piazza della Rotonda 111. Lione Pascoli's Testamento politico di un accademico fiorentino of
1733 is cited by P. Portoghesi, Roma barocca, Cambridge, Mass., 1970,
37. For planning in Rome under the Napoleonic regime, see Comte
De Tournon, Etudes statistiques sur Rome et la partie occidentale des itats
romains . . , 2d ed., Paris, 1855; and A. La Padula, Roma e la regione
110. Marder, "Pantheon in the Seventeenth Century," 634ff. nell'epoca napoleonica, Rome, 1969.

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Bernini, and The Urban Setting

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Alexander VII, Bernini, and the Urban Setting of the Pantheon in the Seventeenth

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/990615

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JSAH L:273-292. SEPTEMBER 1991 273

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Fig. 3. M. van Heemskerck, porch of the Pantheon, drawing, 1532-

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and facade, was Della Porta's way of encouraging a view of the

In the early seventeenth century, Urban VIII Barberini (1623-

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our purposes. The congregation was directed by Monsigno

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Fig. 7. Anonymous plan, north side of Piazza della Rotond

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Indeed, the limited power of the pope to resolve financial mat-

explicitly refused to compensate the chapter for any of the

cannot assign a firm date to them. On Figure 4, sections of the % ?' tI f * AM

inscription he began to compose to commemorate his campaign brief does. Addressed to

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policy by enumerating the canons' title to the casini.59 A plan

Pantheon during the Chigi pontificate were the replacement of

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A.I;U rlbwnwru drsilluune rrkyw. JCI D

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Fig. 11. G. L. Bernini, project in plan for

drawings are part of an ideal project, as Brauer

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Fig. 13. Alexander VII, Fig. 14. G. L. Bernini,

those that remained.76 corner

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theon, drawing, 1662-early 1663 (BA, Chigi a.19, 30r).

fountains are paired. The aesthetic function of the motif i

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the succeeding drawings show a concern for int

Other papal advisors

The striking point to emerge from this detailed

matters, and he must have been aware of the

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More prominent still was Virgilio Spada, noble antiquarian,

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appearance of papal orders countermanding earlier legal docu-

dinary in seventeenth-century Rome, and none of them alone

Bernini's church was inspired in part by Palladio's hexastyle

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and Piazza Maddalena and was resurrected in the later Tournon

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