Pauline Chapel in Saint Mary the Major

The Pauline Chapel (Cappella Paolina), also called the Borghese Chapel (Cappella Borghese), is the largest chapel in the left nave of Basilica of Saint Mary the Major (Santa Maria Maggiore), in the Rione Monti, it houses the icon of the Salus Populi Romani, which tradition attributes directly to the work of the Evangelist Luke, it is one of the most important Marian images in the Capital. In 1605 Pope Paul V Borghese ascended the Papal throne, and decided in June of that year to entrust the architect Flaminio Ponzio with the construction of a large domed Chapel, located in the left nave, identical to the Sistine Chapel of the same Basilica, to house the image of the Salus Populi Romani.

Section of the Pauline Chapel from 1713 (photo by Biblioteca Hertziana)

The works began in 1606 and ended in 1612, the chapel was solemnly consecrated on January 27, 1613, with the placing of the Icon on the altar, however the decorations continued in the following years. The Chapel is a Greek cross, with the same plan as the Sistine Chapel, the wall structure was completed in 1611.

Plan of the Pauline Chapel from 1713 (photo by Biblioteca Hertziana)

The interior decoration consists of large Corinthian pilasters, between which open niches containing statues. The capitals of the pilasters are flanked by an elaborate frieze of putti, supporting an entablature, on which rest the pendentives of the dome and the barrel vaults of the chapel.

The tomb of Clement VIII

The side walls are occupied by two important tombs, that of Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini, on the right, and that of Paul V Borghese, on the left, enclosed in a monumental triumphal arch architecture, with the statue of the Pontiffs in the centre and, on the sides, marble bas-reliefs.

The tomb of Paul V

The sculptures were made by a series of artists such as Valsoldo, Nicolas Cordier, Pietro Bernini, Stefano Maderno, Francesco Mochi and Cristoforo Stati.
The pictorial decoration was entrusted to Cavalier D'Arpino, who created the pendentives of the dome, with the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the large lunette above the altar, depicting the apparition of the Virgin and Saint John to Saint Gregory the Wonderworker.

Guido Reni was the main author of the pictorial figures of the Saints placed in the under-arches, in which Giovanni Baglione and Passignano also participated.
In the under-arch on the right are depicted: Saints Cyril, Idelfonso Giovanni da Marsciano and Saints Pulcheria, Gertrude and Cunegonda, while in the lunette are the Vision of Saint Idelfonso and the Apparition of an Angel to Saint John Damascene.
In the under-arch on the left Guido Reni depicted the Eternal Father, Saint Dominic and Saint Francis, in the lunette Narses victorious over Totila and Heraclius victorious over Cosroe.

Ludovico Cardi, known as Cigoli, magnificently frescoed the dome, with the Immaculate Conception among the angels and the twelve apostles. The Virgin is placed on the moon, which is characterized by various craters, then just discovered through the telescope, by Galileo Galilei.

 

Girolamo Rainaldi designed the High Altar, first made of pear wood, in 1607, and then of jasper marble and gilded bronze, by the founder Pompeo Targoni, who completed it in September 1612. It is characterized by a pair of Corinthian columns that support a broken tympanum, in which is placed a bas-relief, surmounted by a curved tympanum, on which are angels and cherubs in bronze.
On the frontispiece there is a bas-relief, the work of Stefano Maderno, depicting Pope Liborio who traces the furrow of the Basilica in the snow.

Five large bronze angels support the frame, decorated with festoons, within which the Salus Populi Romani is enclosed.

The altar table was offered in 1749 by Princess Agnese Colonna Borghese, whose coats of arms are present on the sides.