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036. |
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Piazza Palestrini o Barberini |
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Piazza Palestrini o Barberini |
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1. |
Palazzo Barberini |
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Obelisco che giace nell' ingresso di detto Palazzo |
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3. |
Fontana |
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Piedestallo della Croce dirimpetto alla Chiesa de PP Capuccini |
In his index (NN 214) Nolli recalls that the name of Piazza Barberini was formerly "Sforza e Grimana." The 1625 Maggi map labels it Piazza Grimana, referring to the Grimani family who owned a property on the adjoining Via dell'Angelo Custode (now Via del Tritone). The Sforza owned a villa next to the piazza. In 1625 it was bought by the Barberini who built their great family palace (1) designed by Maderno and completed by Bernini and Borromini in 1633. The main entrance to the palace grounds was the gate visible in the left corner of the piazza from which a long double ramp led to the principal facade (visible between the two projecting wings at the center of the print). A secondary, but more direct approach to the palazzo was by means of the sloping street leaving from the center of the piazza. Near a gate on the latter was the obelisk (2) which Vasi has arbitrarily moved into the foreground of this view, explaining in the text that it actually "lies next to the entrance of the palace" (giace nell'ingresso di detto palazzo). This obelisk was found in 1570 outside Porta Maggiore. In 1632 it was acquired by Urban VIII Barberini (1623-44) for the grounds of his new family palazzo and was "to be erected in front of the bridge to this palace." The Barberini never got to use their obelisk: in 1822 Pius VII (1800-23) had it erected in the newly completed gardens of the Pincian Hill. The fountain of the Triton (3) in the middle ground of the print was built by Bernini in 1643. At the right edge of the view, the street leading uphill is the Via delle Quattro Fontane leading to the street intersection where Borromini's church of S. Carlino is located, see Plate 36A. The lantern of the dome of this church is visible in the distance, topped by a cross. At the lower left corner of the print Vasi shows part of the pedestal of a large cross (4) located near the church of the Capuccini, see Plate 132. The name Palestrini in Vasi's title refers to the fact that the Barberini were lords of Palestrina.
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