072.

Palazzo Corsini

It is perhaps significant from an urban point of view that immediately after the Via Giulia print, Plate 71, Vasi places Julius II's other street project. This is Via della Lungara (NN 1208), which connected Porta Settimiana, Plate 14, to Porta S. Spirito (3) (see Plate 15), and ran nearly parallel to Via Giulia on the other side of the river. In order to show the facade of the Lungara's major building to advantage, Vasi angles Palazzo Corsini considerably out of its alignment with the street. When Cardinal Neri Corsini took over the Palazzo Riario in 1736, he had Fuga double the existing building, extending it to the north. This project was not completed until 1753, so Nolli must have had a preview of Fuga's plan to be able depict the completed building in his 1748 map. Vasi also shows a view of the garden behind the palazzo, Plate 198, whose upper reaches on the Janiculum became the vantage point for Vasi’s famous Panorama of the city of 1765 which highlights the garden façade of the palace. Beyond the palazzo, on the same side of the street, the top of the early 17th century church of S. Croce (5) is outlined against the sky. Vasi calls it the Chiesa delle "Scalette," a corruption of "Scalzette", the common name for the nuns of S. Croce. Further along we see the church and monastery of Regina Coeli (4), which were demolished in the late 19th century to be replaced by the prison bearing the same name. The street terminates at the arch of the Porta S. Spirito (3) to the right of which stands the bell tower of the church of S. Spirito, Plate 171. On the right hand side of the street we see the entrance to the Villa Farnesina (1) (see Plates 88, 89) followed by the mid 17th century church of S. Giacomo (2).