The Cybo or Saint Lawrence Chapel (Italian : Cappella Cybo or Cappella di San Lorenzo) is the second side chapel in the right-hand aisle of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. For the beauty of its paintings, the preciousness of marble revetments covering its walls and the importance of the artists involved in its construction the chapel is regarded one of the most significant sacral monuments erected in Rome in the last quarter of the 17th century. [1]
The previous chapel on this site was erected by Cardinal Lorenzo Cybo de Mari, nephew of Pope Innocent VIII, and dedicated to St Lawrence. Giorgio Vasari claimed that the patron was Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo but the dedication over the altar recorded the actual patron. Lorenzo Cybo de Mari was promoted to the cardinalate in 1489. The chapel was constructed during the time between his elevation and his death in 1503. [2] Its architecture was identical to those of the left and right: the Chapel of the Nativity and the Basso Della Rovere Chapel. It was decorated with frescos by Pinturicchio and works by the school of Andrea Bregno which were lost during the later rebuilding. The old fresco of the Virgin and the Child by Pinturicchio was detached from the wall and sent by the cardinal to Massa in 1687. The fragment was re-used as the altarpiece of the Ducal Chapel of the Cathedral of Massa. [3] The very fine funeral monument of Lorenzo Cybo de Mari was transferred to the church of San Cosimato where its fragments are still preserved. It is attributed to Andrea Bregno and Giovanni Cristoforo Romano and was made between 1503 and 1510.
The present chapel was built by Cardinal Alderano Cybo (1613-1700) to glorify the achievements of his family, the dukes of Massa and princes of Carrara. Construction works began in 1682 and ended five years later. The chapel was consecrated on 19 May 1687. The cardinal commissioned three painters, Pier Francesco Garoli, Luigi Garzi and Carlo Maratta to record his visit in the new chapel on a painting which is preserved in the Museo di Roma (Interior of the Cybo Chapel, 1687). The entrance arch was decorated by the ducal arms of the Cybo Malaspina dynasty made of polychrome marble. [1]
The large chapel was constructed by Carlo Fontana in the form of a Greek cross set in a square. From the outside the chapel is almost totally hidden by view by the 19th-century extension of the Augustinian monastery except its dome which remains a prominent landmark on Piazza del Popolo. The lead-covered, octagonal dome rests on a low tambour, and it is topped with a fanciful Baroque stone lantern. This lantern has tall semicircular windows, a strongly projecting modillion cornice, and it is crowned with a small, onion shaped cupola, a ball and a cross. Before the Neo-Classical rebuilding of the monastery by Valadier the chapel had the appearance of a freestanding, central-plan, small church by the side of the basilica behind the wall of its enclosed garden. The main volume was a rectangular cube with cut off edges and two large semicircular windows on the side walls.
The barrel-vaulted vestibule is enclosed by a black marble balustrade. Inside the chapel the walls are covered by rich polychrome revetments in black marble and green verde antico. The eight columns flanking the pillars at the corners are yellow, red veined Sicilian jasper with white marble capitals. The colour scheme is rather dark creating a brooding atmosphere.
The huge altarpiece, painted with oil on the wall, is one of the most important works of Carlo Maratta, finished in 1686. It depicts the Disputation over the Immaculate Conception with the Four Doctors of the Church, St Augustine, John Chrysostom, John the Evangelist and Gregory the Great celebrating the purity of the Virgin. The composition is reminiscent of Raphael’s, and the details are rendered with an extreme precision and a particularly felicitous touch. [1] The small alabaster fiorito coffin below the altar contains the relics of St Faustina of Rome. These were exhumed from the Catacomb of Callixtus in 1686 and given to Cardinal Alderano Cybo. They were laid to rest in the chapel on 5 May 1687. [4]
 |  |
| Martyrdom of St Catherine | Martyrdom of St Lawrence |
The swirling fresco of the dome was executed by Luigi Garzi in 1684 and depicts The eternal Father in glory among angels. On the side walls are the tombs of Cardinal Alderano and Lorenzo Cybo with marble busts sculpted by Francesco Cavallini. The two bronze putti holding up the main altar and the medallion with the relief portrait of Saint Faustina on the martyr's urn are also his works.
There are two paintings on the side walls of the vestibule by Daniel Seyter, the Martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria and the Martyrdom of St Lawrence. The first versions of these were painted by the Viennese artist between 1685 and 1686 using an unusual technique, oil on plaster. The paintings rapidly deteriorated and the best preserved fragments were sent to Massa by the cardinal to his nephew, Duke Carlo II Cybo-Malaspina in 1697. They were substituted with traditional oil paintings on canvas by the same Seiter between 1698 and 1700. The compositions remained similar. [5]
The Cybo Chapel is the only one in the basilica where the decoration was extended on the corresponding section of the vault of the aisle. This surface is painted with a rich vegetal decoration of white acanthus scrolls on a yellow background. The keystone is decorated with the coat-of-arms of Pope Innocent VIII which is not very common in Rome.
Pinturicchio, or Pintoricchio, also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, was an Italian painter during the Renaissance. He acquired his nickname because of his small stature and he used it to sign some of his artworks that were created during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Sant'Andrea della Valle is a minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the general seat for the religious order of the Theatines. It is located at Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Rinascimento.
The Chigi Chapel or Chapel of the Madonna of Loreto is the second chapel on the left-hand side of the nave in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It is the only religious building of Raphael which has been preserved in its near original form. The chapel is a treasure trove of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and is ranked among the most important monuments in the basilica.
The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in between the Pincian Hill and Porta del Popolo, one of the gates in the Aurelian Wall as well as the starting point of Via Flaminia, the most important route from the north. Its location made the basilica the first church for the majority of travellers entering the city. The church contains works by several famous artists, such as Raphael, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Caravaggio, Alessandro Algardi, Pinturicchio, Andrea Bregno, Guillaume de Marcillat and Donato Bramante.
Carlo Maratta or Maratti was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition stemming from Raphael, he was not exempt from the influence of Baroque painting and particularly in his use of colour. His contemporary and friend, Giovanni Bellori, wrote an early biography on Maratta.
The Cerasi Chapel or Chapel of the Assumption is one of the side chapels in the left transept of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It contains significant paintings by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci, two of the most important masters of Italian Baroque art, dating from 1600 to 1601.
Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria di Montesanto are two churches in Rome.
Lorenzo Cybo de Mari was an Italian Catholic cardinal. He was archbishop of Benevento. As titular holder of the Basilica of Saint Mark in Rome, he is remembered today as the builder of the Appartamento Cibo a series of seven rooms within the north wing of the Palazzo Venezia.
Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. The building lies in rione Ponte.
Andrea di Cristoforo Bregno (1418–1506) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect of the Early Renaissance who worked in Rome from the 1460s and died just as the High Renaissance was getting under way.
Alderano Cybo was an Italian Catholic Cardinal. He served as the Secretary of State of Pope Innocent XI.
Santi Dodici Apostoli, commonly known simply as Santi Apostoli, is a 6th-century Roman Catholic parish and titular church and minor basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated originally to St. James and St. Philip, whose remains are kept here, and later to all Apostles. Today, the basilica is under the care of the Conventual Franciscans, whose headquarters in Rome is in the adjacent building. It is the Station church for Friday, the first week of Lent.
The Della Rovere or Saint Jerome Chapel, otherwise the Chapel of the Nativity is the first side chapel in the south aisle of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It was dedicated to the Virgin and Saint Jerome and decorated with the paintings of Pinturicchio and his pupils. It is one of the best preserved monuments of quattrocento art in Rome.
The Basso Della Rovere or Saint Augustine Chapel is located in the south aisle of the basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. This is the third side chapel from the counterfaçade and was dedicated to St. Augustine. The cycle of beautiful quattrocento frescoes was executed by Pinturicchio and his workshop.
The Costa or St Catherine Chapel is located in the south aisle of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. This is the fourth side chapel from the counterfaçade and was dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria. The lunettes were painted by the helpers of Pinturicchio and the marble altar-piece is attributed to Gian Cristoforo Romano.
The Montemirabile or Saint John the Baptist Chapel, otherwise the Baptistery is the first side chapel in the left aisle in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo.
The Chapel of Saint Thomas of Villanova and the Chapel of Saint Rita are two small chapels opening in the right transept of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo. They are relatively insignificant in terms of artistic value compared to the other side chapels of the church.
The Cybo-Soderini Chapel or the Chapel of the Crucifixion is a side chapel of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome. Its most important works of art are the frescos of a Flemish artist, Pieter van Lint from c. 1636-37.
Santa Maria in Montesanto is a titular minor basilica church in Rome, in the Rione Campo Marzio, which stands in Piazza del Popolo, between Via del Corso and Via del Babuino. It is also known as the Church of the Artists. The church is popularly known as the twin church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, though it shows significant differences especially in the planimetry.
Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina was the first Prince of Massa and Marquis of Carrara. He was also the last Count (1553–1619) and the first Duke of Ferentillo (1619–1623).