139.

Chiesa dei SS. Vincenzo ed Anastasio à Trevi, e Casa dei Chierici Regolari Minori

In order to draw this unusual view Vasi seems to have been sitting in the highest basin of the Fontana di Trevi, Plate 104, whose outer railing (3) appears at the foot of the print. The frontal view of the church of SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio is an indication of the designed relationship between the church and the fountain. When it was built in1646 by Martino Longhi il Giovane, the church replaced an earlier one whose axis was parallel to the street leading off to the left, and faced away from the piazza. The axis of the new church was designed to be at a 45º angle to the axis of the fountain, with its facade in dialog with that of the fountain. At the time that the church was built, the present fountain was not yet in place, but Bernini had started to build a new fountain on the same site in 1640. Obviously the new church facade was meant to relate to the Bernini fountain, but the same effect was obtained by Salvi's replacement of that fountain in the 18th century. To the left of the church Vasi telescopes his view of the Papal palace on the Quirinal hill (2), Plates 61, 192, which makes it appear much closer than it is in reality. The part of Palazzo Carpegna/Cavalieri (1) visible in the print was rebuilt in the 19th century.