One of the best places to truly understand what the Renaissance was, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo is just what people imagine a Roman church to be.
This church is a treasure trove of art commissioned by the greatest noble families of the city, where you can find Caravaggio and Pinturicchio sharing space with Bernini, Bramante and many more major artists of the time.
Cerasi Chapel
You won’t have any difficulties spotting the Cerasi Chapel on the left of the church’s main altar, because there’s no escaping the magnetic pull and heartbreaking humanity that any work of art by Caravaggio seems to have. Together with the 1600–01 works Crucifixion of St Peter and the Conversion of St Paul on the Road to Damascus, The Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Annibale Carracci completes the chapel’s decorations.
Chigi Chapel
Agostino Chigi, a banker for the pope and so with plenty of money to spend, commissioned this chapel – the second one from the entrance, on the left-hand side of the church – to his longtime collaborator Raphael, who designed it but died before actually finishing the project. The chapel as it looks today was completed around a century later by Bernini.
Della Rovere Chapel
The Della Rovere Chapel, on the right-hand side of the church, is a triumph of color thanks to the frescoes of various stories from the lives of saints and of the Virgin Mary painted by Pinturicchio and his students. Don’t forget to also look down at the tiles, with their images of trees, animals and sigils.