Sixtus V and Paul V: Rome’s Architectural Legacy
Tomb of Sixtus V
(We return to the tomb of Sixtus V):
Tomb of Sixtus V: We saw the articulation of the upper stipes based (standing like an inverted pyramid trunk). It is nothing like the harmonious support that Michelangelo used, as well as pigeon breast brackets (for example, in the hall of the library in Florence). The herms (specifically, finely-made herms) give a decorative effect that will be another note that will reach the Baroque Mannerisms and that goes beyond the architectural setting. It consists of placing a bust at the top of the stipe (for men it is called Hermes; if a woman, that of Hermes).
Tomb of Pius V
Tomb of Pius V: (1566-1572). It is an identical tomb in which we can highlight the herms (which could come from the caryatids). Michelangelo is beginning to experiment with innovative forms; the figure of Pius V is seated. The background to this position (sitting and blessing, a position which is repeated so often it represents a major papal function) could be the figure of Julius II.
(IMG: Tomb Julius II, photo gallery teacher)
Chapel of Sixtus V in Santa Maria Maggiore
In the chapel of Sixtus V, Santa Maria Maggiore, [we find the] dome, which has a crescent-shaped enclosure in the cap area, ending with an oculus through which light can enter, closed at a temple called a lantern (which usually represents God the Father and the Holy Spirit). The transition from square to cupola is made by using scallops or curved triangles that are generated by four arches that support this vault.
The arches are expanded and generate barrel vaults at each side. The pictorial decoration was done by Giovanni Guerra and Cesare Nebbia. It is decorated with gold leaf on stucco and paintings by extensive workshops under the direction of Guerra and Nebbia.
Nerves or radii are much wider at the base and narrower as we approach the lantern, to give a greater sense of depth to the dome. The pictorial decoration is a hierarchy of angels as if they were placed [in] friezes. The scallops have the ancestors of Christ, characterized by the monumentality of the figure, twisting, and Mannerist colors. The position is typically Mannerist, with a very stylized canon of Michelangelo, and the figures in contrapposto, reminiscent of figures represented in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. (Figures of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican)
(Lack’s Chapel and the dome of Paul V 1605-1621, whose architect [was] Flaminio Ponzio.)
Palazzo del Quirinale
Palazzo del Quirinale: Was originally a papal palace. The last of those of [the] 16th [century] ended in the eighteenth, while maintaining the original aesthetics. The sculptures of Castor and Pollux were there, and beside them stood one of those obelisks that Sixtus V began to drop [during] the vast urban reform in the key points of the city.
The palace, although it was begun in the 16th century, [was finished by] Fernando Fuga once the palace began to be queried in the eighteenth century. In the center of the square, decorating and centralized, we have the fountain of the Dioscuri, with monumental figures that came from the Baths of Constantine, which itself was a Roman copy of [a] Greek original [from the] 4th century BC.
Sixtus V will continue this work begun by his predecessor, while in charge of the urban reform of the city of Rome. Paul V [carried out] the core of the palace, and with the architect Ponzio, and then that of Carlo Maderno, will continue the work that Sixtus V and Domenico Fontana (architect [who] urbanized [the] environment). [They created] the core of the palace, some rooms [in the] large core, and although the chapel of the Annunciation and the Pauline Chapel were made, next to their rooms. This part will have a higher ceiling height, making it necessary to raise a portion of the building.
Palace of the Query
Palace of the Query: The ground floor has lintel windows surmounted on top with an element that stands out for its volume and creates a series of games of light and shadow. Light will be a key element in the decoration.