The inside of the dome of Santa Maria del Popolo church in Piazza del Popolo in Rome showing frescoes and light from windows
The church contains not only the Cerasi Chapel canvases of Caravaggio (Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion on the Way to Damascus) and an Assumption of the Virgin by Annibale Carracci, but also frescoes by Pinturicchio, sculptures by Andrea Bregno and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Habakkuk and the Angel and Daniel and the Lion). The Chigi Chapel, the private chapel of banker Agostino Chigi, was designed by Raffaello Sanzio. The dome is decorated with Raphael's mosaics Creation of the ). Tucked into part of the ancient Roman walls. The malevolent ghost of Nero, considered the Anti-Christ because of his persecutions, used to haunt the area from his nearby pyramid tomb. Caravaggio's superb paintings in the Cerasi chapel (first on the left when you reach the altar). He was the master of chiaroscuro - bright light on one object and heavy shadows all around. One is the Conversion of St. Paul on horseback on the road to Damascus. In the other, 3 men raise a fourth tied to a cross: the Crucifixion of St. Peter. There are often art shows in the large hall up a few stairs behind the church. At popular demand, Pope Pascal II (1099-1118) exorcised the area by chopping down a walnut tree which had grown over Nero's tomb, throwing the tomb into the river and building a church here. The exorcism is depicted in the image on the right of the chancel arches, in gilded stucco.
Size: 5079px × 3373px
Location: Piazza del Popolo Rome Lazio Italy
Photo credit: © Freddie Jones / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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