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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Piazza di Montecitorio (Book 2) (Map B2) (Day 1) (View C6) (Rione Colonna)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Palazzo di Montecitorio
The Obelisk
Colonna di Antonino Pio

The Plate (No. 23)

Piazza di Montecitorio

The Palace of Monte Citorio (yet another of the small hills called pompously Monte) was originally designed by Bernini for a palace of Pope Innocentius X, but was completed by Pope Innocentius XII at the end of the century to host the Tribunal, hence the name of Curia Innocenziana.
The view is taken from the square in front of the palace (green circle in the 1748 map below). In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Curia Innocenziana; 2) the ruins of Colonna di Antonino Pio; 3) Casa dei Signori della Missione; 4) Colonna Antonina; 5) Palazzo Chigi. 3), 4), and 5) are covered in other pages.

Small ViewSmall View

Today

The Square today

The Palace is almost untouched and it is now used by one of the two Chambers of the Italian Parliament (Camera dei Deputati). In front of Montecitorio stood what was left of a quadrangular column erected in honour of Antoninus Pius and his wife Annia Faustina. Its red granite was used during the pontificate of Pope Pius VI to restore and complete in 1789 the obelisk found in 1748 in nearby Campo Marzio.

Palazzo di Montecitorio

Palazzo di Montecitorio

The touch of Bernini is evident in the convex façade and in the windows decorated with rocks. Innocentius XII had his heraldic symbols hidden under the roof and time proved his choice sound; a large coat of arms and a lengthy inscription he placed inside the palace have been relocated in an open air warehouse.

Inscription

The Obelisk of Psammeticus II

The Obelisk of Psammeticus II

The obelisk erected by Psammetichus II in Heliopolis was brought to Rome by Augustus and used as the gnomon of a sundial (to see all the obelisks of Rome click here). The inscription celebrates the conquest of Egypt: IMP(erator) CAESAR DIVI F(ilius) AUGUSTUS PONTIFEX MAXIMUS IMP(erator) XII (for the twelfth time) CO(n)S(ul) XI (for the eleventh time) TRIB(unus) POT(estatis) XIV (for the fourteenth time) A EGYPTO IN POTESTATEM POPULI ROMANI REDACTA SOLI DONUM DEDIT (Augustus, son of godly emperor Caesar, while he was pontifex maximus, consul and tribune brought -this obelix- from Egypt which he had placed under the power of the Roman People. He dedicated this gift -the obelisk- to the Sun).
Pius VI had a very complex coat of arms which included the representation of a blowing wind.

Colonna di Antonino Pio

The relief of Colonna Antonina

The relief at the base of the column was moved to the Vatican Museums. For many years it was in the Niche of the Fir Cone, now it is near the entrance. The relief shows Thanatos leading to heaven the Emperor and his wife Annia Faustina. To the left a personification of Campo Marzio (holding the obelisk of Augustus) and to the right that of Rome.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Curia Innocenziana sul Monte Citorio
Questo piccolo monte prese il nome di citorio, o citatorio dal citare le Centurie, che anticamente qui nel Campo Marzio si convocavano, affinchè entrassero ne' septi, che quivi presso erano, per dare ivi i loro voti nell'elezione de' Magistrati. Or quivi essendo un grande edifizio principiato nel Pontificato d'Innocenzo X. con disegno del Cavalier Bernini, il Pontefice Innocenzo XII. colla direzione del Cavalier Francesco Fontana vi eresse la Curia Romana, che dal suo nome dicesi Innocenziana. Risiedono in questa il Tesoriere, e l'Auditore della Reverenda Camera Apostolica, con altri Giudici, e Ministri, e vi sono ancora gli ufizj de' Notari, ed il banco de' Cursori, onde vi si agitano le cause più importanti, e rimarchevoli.
Il Piedistallo, che si vede alzato dinanzi a questa Curia fu disotterrato l'anno 1705., ove è ora la casa de' Preti della Missione, insieme colla colonna di granito egizio, che ora sta a giacere al lato destro della Curia. Il Pontefice Clemente XI. allora regnante pensava di alzarla come stava anticamente: ma trovata la colonna rotta in più luoghi, fu lasciata l'opera imperfetta; Benedetto XIV. però volendo mettere al pubblico un monumento sì insigne della Romana antichità inalzò solamente il piedistallo con idea di porvi sopra una statua di marmo: ma nemmeno ciò ebbe effetto. La iscrizione, che vi si vede fatta simile all'antica con lettere di metallo, c'insegna, che la colonna fu dedicata ad Antonino Pio, e li bassirilievi delle tre facciate ci dimostrano l’Apoteosi fatta al medesimo Imperatore.

Next plate in Book 2: Piazza di Pietra
Next step in Day 1 itinerary: Palazzo di Sciarra
Next step in your tour of Rione Colonna: Palazzo Verospi