110.

Chiesa di S. Tomaso in Parione

Taken at the intersection of the Via Papale, and framed by the Palazzo Bacicci (1) Vasi presents a view of Via di Parione with the minor church of S. Tomaso in Parione (2) as the ostensible protagonist. This street, which gives the Rione Parione its name, invites us to approach a unique piece of Baroque architecture and planning at the far end: the church of S. Maria della Pace (4) Plate 121. Pietro da Cortona transformed the original 15th century church in the 1650's by broadening its front and adding a new piazza carved out of the former Y-intersection. Though distant, and in reality impossible to view from this station point, Vasi highlights this complex in his print so that it upstages the far plainer Baroque facade of S. Tomaso resulting in a scenographic climax to what had been a minor street off the Via Papale. To the right of S. Tomaso is the modest side entrance of the Palazzo Nardini (3). This palazzo, which occupies most of the block and whose main facade opens onto the Via Papale, was used by the Governor of the city and gives the name Via del Governo Vecchio to this section of the Via Papale. Among the more modest buildings on the right, Vasi singles out the "Palace of the Piceni (5), formerly the residence of Sixtus V [1585-1590] when he was a cardinal." This is an unusual biographical detail in these subtitles, and is probably inaccurate because Sixtus V's favorite residence as cardinal is known to have been the Villa Montalto on the Esquiline hill, Plate 122.