The palace was designed by Baldassare Peruzzi sometime after 1532, defining new beauty, new harmony, and new dignity. He was an architect, painter, and engineer of undisputed talent from Siena who in 1535 had been appointed architect of St. Peter's by Pope Paul III. Vasari, the biographer of artists, wrote of him: "He may truly be said near to have had an equal in architecture." He was hired by Pietro Massimo, one the Massimo sons, to create the palace.
The Palazzo Massimo was Peruzzi's final masterpiece before his death in 1536 (with a suspicion of poisoning administered by a jealous rival, never substantiated). It has also been described as the last original work of the Renaissance in Rome and was considered the most perfect dwelling of its period, complete with a private chapel, a custom among patrician families. Indeed, he was the last of a the great Sienese painters and architects. Upon his death he has the rare honor to be entombed in the nearby Pantheon.
Its facade is is sixty-seven feet high, one of the most masterful of its time, ingenious in its planning, designed to follow the curve of the street, seen in the image below. This proved to be a mark of distinction making it one of Rome's most cleverly built structures of that period. The facade is decorated with six Doric columns that gave it the name "all Colonne," helping to distinguish it from another nearby Palazzo Massimo that today houses the National Roman Museum.
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| The author standing in the upstairs loggetta of the Palazzo Massimo |
The artist's English biographer, William Winthrop Kent, describes it thus:
"This palace is one of the highest expressions of man's ability to utilize architecturally a given space and materials. It is Greek I its refinement and yet not architecturally Greek, but antiquity living again, in a modern form, no lifeless copy of earlier art, but a house in which a modern could appropriately end enjoyably live. Indeed, its modernity is remarkable. Peruzzi saw exactly what the more cultivated man of the Renaissance properly required as a dwelling and even what future men would require. Today we cannot improve upon the great sense of privacy, security, hospitality, and elegance expressed in this house, marking a distinct departure from the mediaeval dwelling surrounded by dangers from without; a condition so perfectly expressed before this in the castles and towers of mediaeval Italy." (Source: The Life and Works of Baldassare Peruzzi of Siena, p. 53).
The same artist writes, "There is in the opinion of the writer, no one building of the Renaissance which can so fully instruct a student in the highest expression of his art." (Ibid, p. 54). This can be seen also in the intriguing layout of the chapel.
The family has lived here for centuries in a succession of contiguous palaces owned by the Massimo clan, with the previous palace destroyed by fire during the sack of Rome in 1527. The present structure was built between 1532-1536. The entrance welcomes visitors, adorned with fresco scenes representing the life of Fabio Massimo, by birth a Roman, the legendary founder of the family. The family parish is located across the street at San Lorenzo in Damaso, where they have a side chapel decorated by their family, a popular Roman custom for noble families.
The Palace is open one day per year, from 7 am on the morning of March 16th for public Masses commemorating the miracle. This is the day when a miracle is commemorated that took place in the Palazzo, when St. Philip Neri raised a 14-year-old boy from the dead so as to hear his confession. The date was March 16, 1583. The name of the boy was Paolo de' Principi Massimo, a member or the family and son of the family patriarch, Prince Fabrizio.
St. Philip Neri was a friend of the family and visited the boy every day. At the time of the boy's passing, St. Philip had been celebrating Mass and so he arrived at the bedside after the boy had passed. The boy died earlier that same morning and was recalled briefly to life by St. Philip who heard his confession. The story is a stark reminder of the importance of the Sacrament of Penance. A few related stories are seen in the Bible, such as Elisha raising a boy from the dead in 2 Kings 4:37.
Fr. Francesco Antonio Agnelli writes on the importance of the Sacrament of Penance and making a good confession, a worthy meditation for all those who enter the chapel:
"And what action can be more sublime than to administer the Sacrament of Penance and cleanse sinners from their sins? And, moreover, what greater honour can there be than to guide sinners by this means to a state of perfection, besides absolving them from their sins? There is nothing of which God is more jealous than the care of those souls for whom Christ died, and therefore all religious and servants of God, and we especially who are called to the Congregation for this high end, should labour therein without stint, since this is the conversion of impious sinners, and the sanctification of souls. This consideration makes it appear sweet to them to serve others, to remain entire mornings and more in the concessional, to bear with their neighbour's ignorance and weakness, and in intercourse with him to become soft and yielding like wax." (Source: The Excellences of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri; Ch 1. The Exalted End of Our Vocation)
"Father Filippo then entered the room where the dead boy was, and threw himself onto the edge of the bed, praying for half a quarter of an hour with the usual palpitation of the heart and trembling of the body; and then he took the Holy Water and sprinkled it on his son's face and threw some into his mouth; then blowing in his face, placing his hand on his forehead, he called him in a loud and sonorous voice twice: 'Paolo? Paolo?' At whose voice the young man immediately, as if awakened from a dream, opened his eyes, and replied: 'Father,' and then added: 'I had forgotten about a sin, and therefore I would like to confess.' Then the Holy Father made those who were around the bed move aside a little, and by placing a Crucifix in his hand he reconciled him.
Then, when they all returned to the room, he began to talk to himself about his sister and his mother, who were both dead, continuing the discussion for the space of half an hour, the young man always answering in a clear and frank voice, as if he were healthy. Indeed, the color returned to his face, and to all those who looked at him, it seemed as if he had no ill health at all.
Finally the Holy Father asked him if he died willingly: he replied yes. When Philip asked him the second time whether he died willingly, he also replied that he died very willingly, especially to go and see his mother and sister in Heaven; whereupon the Holy Father, giving him the blessing, said to him: 'Go, be blessed, and pray to God for me.'
And immediately with a placid face, and without any movement he returned to die in the arms of the Holy Father; being present at all this Fabrizio with two of his daughters, then nuns in Santa Marta, and Violante Santacroce, his second wife, and the servant who assisted him in his illness, called Francesca, and others."
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| The open house mentioned in an old book |
Later in the morning a visiting prelate generally celebrates a sung Missa Prelatizia, or a prelate's Low Mass with Baroque music accompaniment. Other members of the Roman nobility and aristocratic families of the region attend by personal invitation that includes a crowded reception afterwards. On display at the event is a who's who of Roman nobility. The most common celebrant is Cardinal Raymond Burke, a close personal friend of the Massimo family for many years.
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| Many visiting priests don the elegant ferraiolo cape |
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| The private reception after the main Mass |
Pedestrians on the street and passers by gather to observe the arrival of the prelate, who arrives in a car from the Vatican motor pool. He is met by a representative of the family (seen below, in the person of Prince Massimo). The usual celebrant is Cardinal Burke, who can be seen arriving below. After greetings are exchanged, the procession begins up to the chapel, where the visiting prelate prays briefly in front of the Sanctissimum, before beginning to vest at the altar and beginning Holy Mass.
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| Visit of Cardinal Raymond Burke in 2019 |
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| Visit of Archbishop François Bacqué in 2017 |
The Mass is always colorful in the dark chapel, with small clerestory windows on the cortile side allowing in natural light. The Mass in the chapel on this day is a special Votive Mass, a prerogative granted by the Holy See. The historic vestments from the sacristy are of great artistic merit. Generally seminarians and priests of the Institute of Christ the King attend to the visiting prelate. The past several years have included various celebrants, such as Bernard Cardinal Law, George Cardinal Pell, and of course Cardinal Burke, all who celebrated the Classical Roman Rite in Latin and preached in Italian. A short video of a Low Mass celebrated in the chapel by a Canon of the Duomo of Milan be be seen here.
A fitting addition is also seen of candle-bearing lay attendants dressed in livery and regency wear who meet the visiting cardinal outside upon his arrival and accompany him up to the chapel for Mass, a prerogative of princes, an honorific title which cardinals share.
The chapel is a veritable repository of sacred art, with an incredible display of late sixteenth century stucco work and colored marbles. Walls are draped in rich silken crimson damask made on the looms of San Leucio in Caserta, where fabrics were custom made for the noble families of Rome, a long-standing tradition based in the old Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The vast assortment of relics on display is an impressive site, even by Rome standards. Also noteworthy are the various candelabra, also possibly designed by Peruzzi. Below is a sketch of designs by Peruzzi, possibly related to his plans for the chapel.
Below is an example of an antique pianeta chasuble from the chapel sacristy, with detail of its elegant and creative stemma seen on the lower back of the chasuble, part of the private collection of the family. It reveals the arms of the House of Massimo family on the left and that of the House of Savoy family on the right, possibly commemorating a marriage between members of the two families (possibly in celebration of the wedding in 1935 of Princess Adelaide of Savoy-Genoa and Prince Leone Massimo di Arsoli).
Inside the chapel is a statue of St. Philip Neri (1515-1595), a personal friend of the Massimo family. He was one of the most influential figures in Rome during the period of the Counter-Reformation, noted for converting many influential people back to holiness as practicing Catholics. He was a later vocation who is best remembered for re-evangelizing Rome and founding a society of clergy known as the Congregation of the Oratory (aka the Oratorians), with devoted sons working in a handful of countries.
Also in the chapel is a bronze statue of St. Peter under a canopy, a symbol of the loyalty of the Massimo family to the Holy See through the centuries, including the during the difficult time of Masonic revolt during the Italian Risorgimento, when Rome was besieged and finally taken in 1870. In the statue St. Peter blesses while preaching from his cathedra. The statue is modeled after the much larger version in the Vatican Basilica, possibly the work of Italian sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio (c. 1240-1302). The right toes of the Vatican version are worn down by centuries of pilgrims who traditionally reverence the foot with a kiss. Here visitors to the Palazzo Massimo chapel do the same.
Rome appreciatively rejoices in this annual celebration, and is immensely grateful to the Massimo family for keeping this tradition going, despite the large crowds that now show up as word has gotten out. Late last year the family patriarch passed, Prince Don Carlo Massimo, the sixth prince of Arsoli, born in 1942, son of Prince Leone Massimo. His wife, Donna Elisa of Spain, was as always a generous hostess. This was the first year Carlo was not present, with the tradition continuing, the 441st anniversary of the miracle.
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| In Memoriam: Prince Massimo. |
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| A visiting priest in the sacristy |
