Sant'Andrea Al Quirinale, Rome (1658)
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale is the church of the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill in Rome.
It was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini over two decades (1658-1678). The site previously hosted a 16th century church, San Andrea a Montecavallo. The new building was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII and Cardinal Camillo Pamphilj. It is considered one of the finest examples of Roman Baroque architecture, embedding art into the structure in an often seamless combination. Bernini considered it his only perfect work. In his late years, his son recalls, he spent hours sitting in the interior and looking at the polychrome marbles, gilded and bleached stuccoes, and light plays.
Oval in shape, with the entrance and high altar on the short axis of the ellipse, it has a semicircular porch decorated by the arms of its Pamphilj patron. The stucco decoration was designed by Bernini and executed by Antonio Raggi and others between 1661 and 1666, with puttoes and cherubims under the windows. A Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (1668) by Borgognone stands on the high altar.
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