The Chapter House is the largest room in the Pauline Canonry. The sumptuous palace, situated to the right of the Basilica, constitutes, together with the Pauline Chapel, the second monumental artistic undertaking of Pope Paul V Borghese (1605-1621), at Saint Mary Major. Between 1605 and 1608, the Lombard architect Flaminio Ponzio, created a compact building on a square floor plan: a majestic complex intended to house the Great Sacristy, living quarters and service areas, divided over five floors. In its architectural design, the Canonry corresponds perfectly to the guidelines formulated during the Council of Trent (1545-1563), which also aimed to structure and order the religious life of the Canons.
The Chapter House, also known as the “Hall of the Popes” due to the presence of papal portraits, is a large hall used for meetings and gatherings, and constitutes the heart of the Pauline Canonry. It has a square floor plan and is approximately eleven metres wide. To heat the hall, Ponzio designed a large fireplace, adorned with a travertine cornice bearing a festoon of fruit between the patron’s heraldic symbols: the eagle and the dragon. Although the solemn wooden coffered ceiling, emblazoned with the Borghese coat of arms, lends a distinct magnificence to the already large hall, around 8.75 metres high, the general character of the room is austere, in keeping with its profane and practical role.
Today, the Chapter House represents a sort of pantheon of Saint Mary Major, as it brings together, above and around two splendid walnut cabinets, a gallery of the most illustrious benefactors in the service of the Liberian Chapter. The gallery was created under the pontificate of Urban VIII (1623-1644) with the intention of creating a memorial to those who had contributed to celebrate and embellish the Basilica.
The original nucleus of twenty-three portraits was painted between 1631 and 1632 by Ascanio Barigioni and was later enlarged. The portrait of Philip IV, attributed to the Moorish painter Juan de Pareja, a collaborator of Velázquez, can be dated to around 1650. Together with the portraits of his parents, Philip III and Margaret of Austria, it recalls the role of the Spanish sovereigns as patrons and benefactors of Saint Mary Major, of which they have been Protocanons since 1603. The large canvas by Domenico Maria Muratori, positioned above the fireplace, depicts Saint Charles Borromeo in procession during the plague. The Archbishop of Milan was the first and only Saint-Archpriest, canonized in 1610 by Paul V himself.
The Hall is linked to a spiral staircase in travertine, connecting all five floors of the palace, from the sacristy to the entrance of the bell tower. Illuminated at the top by a lantern, the staircase, 125 cm wide and counting one hundred steps, is characterized by a powerful dynamic momentum. The elegant ascending movement originates around a travertine sphere whose shape is echoed in the twenty-two brass spheres, which rhythmically punctuate the railing.
The vestibule of the staircase leads to the Museum, dedicated to the art, history and spirituality of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. It highlights the various designations of the Sanctuary: “Bethlehem of the West”, “Saint Mary of the Snow”, and “Shrine of the Salus Populi Romani”.
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Photo 1: Overall view of the Chapter Hall
Photo 2: The Spiral Staircase of the Canons’ House, also known as the “Bernini Staircase”
Photo 3: Paolo de Angelis, Valerien Regnards, Section of the Pauline Canonry with the Great Sacristy and Chapter House, engraving, 1621
