Santa Maria della Pace

Alexander VII, Pope (Italian patron, 1599-1667)

Pietro da Cortona (Italian painter, architect, 1596-1669)

Hibon, Auguste (French engraver and etcher, 1780-1857)

Olivier, Friedrich (German painter and draftsman, 1791-1859)

Rome, Lazio, Italy

5 Vicolo del Arco della Pace

Italy

1656-1659 (creation)

17th century

section

plan, sections

plans

Cortona had more opportunity to work as an architect under Pope Alexander VII, and in his façade (1656-1659) for the 15th-century church of S Maria della Pace, Rome, and the replanning of its piazza, he realized one of the most impressive works of the Roman Baroque. This project ingeniously incorporates ideas analogous to his theatre-like designs. The patron, Alexander VII, had the piazza in front of the church enlarged to a regular trapezoidal area to permit him to arrive in his carriage in front of the church, which contained his redesigned family chapel, the Chigi Chapel.

line drawings (drawings)

Architectural Documentation

cloisters

religious buildings

sections

plans

Baroque

Italian

architectural exteriors

architectural interiors

Alexander VII, Pope, 1599-1667

forecourt

Letarouilly, Paul Marie. Edifices de Rome Moderne. Paris: A. Morel, 1868, 63.

Public Domain

Cortona, Pietro da