Piazza Navona is one of the most famous squares of Rome, built by the Pamphili family. Its shape is that of an ancient stadium: it was built in monumental style by the behest of Pope Innocenzo X (Giovanni Battista Pamphilj).
Piazza Navona is a symbol of the Romabarocca, with architectonic and sculptural elements by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (The Fountain of the four rivers in the center of the square, representing the Danube, the Ganges, the Nile and the Rio della Plata, the Four corners of the Earth), Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi (the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, in front of the Bernini fountain) and Pietro da Cortona (author of the frescoes of the Palazzo Pamphilj Gallery).
Piazza Navona between 1890 and 1900 the square had to celebrate the greatness of the House of Pamphili (in a kind of competition with Barberini and the Farnese) and Innocenzo X (born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj) wished that the palace of the same name was erected there and that the square was Born with works of huge value. For the rearrangement of the area it was therefore recalled to the demolition of some blocks, while the tender for the award of the orders was fought without exclusion of expedients among the principal architects of the time; An important role in the choice of the artists was also played by the powerful woman Olimpia Maidalchini (influential and casual sister-in-law of Pope Innocenzo X), to whom he said for example that Bernini had donated a model in silver of his project of the Fountain, but According to others, it was always her choosing Borromini to replace the Rainaldi in completing the church.
It recalls the martyrdom that the saint would have suffered just in that part of the square and, he wants the legend, would have been erected exactly above that bordello where the facts occurred and that it would be perpetuated in this function, until precisely at the time of Building, in the current basement of the building. It is indeed from the fornices of these underground premises that the Latin word fornicesalso assumed the meaning of lupanare (also determining the derivation of the root of the verb fornicare). The present church rises where since the Middle Ages a small parish church had already been erected.
The legend about the alleged rivalry between Bernini and Borromini suggests that two of the four statues of the Bernini Rivers wanted to grant special safeguards against the Adversary's work: At the Nile a bandage on his head to evade the unfortunate vision and Rio della Plata a hand stretched to shelter from the perhaps imminent collapse of the church; But the belief is unfounded, since the fountain was built before the church, while the Nile has its head blinded because at the time the springs of the river had not yet been discovered. The statue of Sant'Agnese on the façade of the church has a posture that opens to more interpretations, among which the hand on the chest, together with the expression of the face, is a sign of disconcerty.
The "competition" between the two authors, at least in this square, was resolved in playful tones: the criticisms of the Borrominian staff on the possible static tightness of a hollow structure, the competing staff responded ironically, staring at the group with "reassuring" Simple Twine Rods.
Piazza Navona also has two other fountains: the Fontana del Moro, carved by Giacomo della Porta and retouched by Bernini, located in the southern area of the square, and the Fontana del Nettuno (originally Fontana dei Calderari), located in the northern area, the work of Gregory Zappalà and Antonio Della Bitta.
Piazza Navona is a symbol of the Romabarocca, with architectonic and sculptural elements by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (The Fountain of the four rivers in the center of the square, representing the Danube, the Ganges, the Nile and the Rio della Plata, the Four corners of the Earth), Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi (the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, in front of the Bernini fountain) and Pietro da Cortona (author of the frescoes of the Palazzo Pamphilj Gallery).
Piazza Navona between 1890 and 1900 the square had to celebrate the greatness of the House of Pamphili (in a kind of competition with Barberini and the Farnese) and Innocenzo X (born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj) wished that the palace of the same name was erected there and that the square was Born with works of huge value. For the rearrangement of the area it was therefore recalled to the demolition of some blocks, while the tender for the award of the orders was fought without exclusion of expedients among the principal architects of the time; An important role in the choice of the artists was also played by the powerful woman Olimpia Maidalchini (influential and casual sister-in-law of Pope Innocenzo X), to whom he said for example that Bernini had donated a model in silver of his project of the Fountain, but According to others, it was always her choosing Borromini to replace the Rainaldi in completing the church.
It recalls the martyrdom that the saint would have suffered just in that part of the square and, he wants the legend, would have been erected exactly above that bordello where the facts occurred and that it would be perpetuated in this function, until precisely at the time of Building, in the current basement of the building. It is indeed from the fornices of these underground premises that the Latin word fornicesalso assumed the meaning of lupanare (also determining the derivation of the root of the verb fornicare). The present church rises where since the Middle Ages a small parish church had already been erected.
The legend about the alleged rivalry between Bernini and Borromini suggests that two of the four statues of the Bernini Rivers wanted to grant special safeguards against the Adversary's work: At the Nile a bandage on his head to evade the unfortunate vision and Rio della Plata a hand stretched to shelter from the perhaps imminent collapse of the church; But the belief is unfounded, since the fountain was built before the church, while the Nile has its head blinded because at the time the springs of the river had not yet been discovered. The statue of Sant'Agnese on the façade of the church has a posture that opens to more interpretations, among which the hand on the chest, together with the expression of the face, is a sign of disconcerty.
The "competition" between the two authors, at least in this square, was resolved in playful tones: the criticisms of the Borrominian staff on the possible static tightness of a hollow structure, the competing staff responded ironically, staring at the group with "reassuring" Simple Twine Rods.
Piazza Navona also has two other fountains: the Fontana del Moro, carved by Giacomo della Porta and retouched by Bernini, located in the southern area of the square, and the Fontana del Nettuno (originally Fontana dei Calderari), located in the northern area, the work of Gregory Zappalà and Antonio Della Bitta.