"It is an irony, that Adrian, who despised all the arts on principle, and looked upon Greek statues as idolatrous, had a more artistic monument than Leo X. of the house of Medici. Baldassare Peruzzi made the design, its sculptures were carried out by Michelangelo Sanese and Tribolo, and they merit the highest acknowledgment. Here, as is so often the case, the architecture is, as it were, a frontispiece; but the way in which the pope is represented, resembles, in conformity with his character, the type of the middle ages. He is stretched upon a simple marble sarcophagus, and slumbers with his head supported by his hand. His countenance (Adrian was very handsome) is deeply marked and sorrowful. In the lunette above, following the ancient type, appears Mary with the Child between St. Peter and St. Paul. Below, in the niches, stand the figures of the four cardinal virtues: Temperance holds a chain; Courage a branch of a tree, while a lion stands by her side; Justice has an ostrich by her side; Wisdom carries a mirror and a serpent. These figures are executed with great care. Lastly, under the sarcophagus is a large bas-relief representing the entry of the pope to Rome. He sits on horseback in the dress of a cardinal; behind him follow cardinals and monks; the senator of Rome renders homage on his knees, while from the gate the eternal Rome comes forth to meet him. This Cypria, so well adorned by his predecessors, seems ill-pleased to do homage to this cross old man. With secret pleasure one sees a pagan idea carried out in the corner: the Tiber is represented as a river god with his horn of abundance; and thus the devout pope could not defend himself against the heathen spirit of the time, which has at least attached itself to his tomb."—Gregorovius, Grabmäler der Päpste.
Opposite the pope, on the left of the choir, is the fine tomb of a Duke of Cleves, who died 1575, by Egidius of Riviere and Nicolaus of Arras.
The body of the church has several good pictures. In the 1st chapel of the right aisle is St. Bruno receiving the keys of the cathedral of Miessen in Saxony from a fisherman, who had found them in the inside of a fish, by Carlo Saraceni; in the 2nd chapel, the monument of Cardinal Slusius; in the 3rd chapel, an indifferent copy of the Pietà of Michael Angelo, by Nanni di Bacio Bigio. In the 1st chapel of the left aisle is the martyrdom of St. Lambert, C. Saraceni.
The two pictures in this church are cited by Lanzi as the best works of this comparatively rare artist, sometimes called Carlo Veneziano, 1585—1625. He sought to follow in the steps of Caravaggio; many will think that he surpassed him, when they look upon the richness of colour and grand effect of light and shadow which is displayed here.
In the 3rd chapel (del Christo Morto), frescoes from the life of Sta. Barbara, Mich. Coxcie, altar-piece (the entombment) and frescoes by Salviati.
On the left of the west door is the tomb of Cardinal Andrea of Austria, nephew of Ferdinand II., who died 1650; on the right that of Cardinal Enckenovirt, died 1500. In the passage towards the sacristy is a fine bas-relief, representing Gregory XIII. giving a sword to the Duke of Cleves.
Close to this church is that of Sta. Maria della Pace, built in 1487, by Baccio Pintelli, to fulfil a curious ex-voto made by Sixtus IV. Formerly there stood here a little chapel dedicated to St. Andrew, in whose portico was an image of the Virgin. One day a drunken soldier pierced the bosom of this Madonna with his sword, when blood miraculously spirted forth. Sixtus IV. (Francesco della Rovere, 1471—84) visited the spot with his cardinals, and vowed to compensate the Virgin by building her a church, if she would grant peace to Europe and the Church, then afflicted by a cruel war with the Turks. Peace was restored, and the Church of "St. Mary of Peace" was erected by the grateful pope. Pietro da Cortona added the peculiar semicircular portico under Alexander VII. The interior has only a short nave ending under an octagonal cupola.
Above the 1st chapel on the right (that of the Chigi family) are the Four Sibyls of Raphael.
"This is one of Raphael's most perfect works: great mastery is shown in the mode of filling and taking advantage of the apparently unfavourable space. The angels who hold the tablets to be written on, or read by the Sibyls, create a spirited variety in the severe symmetrical arrangement of the whole. Grace in the attitudes and movements, with a peculiar harmony of form and colour, pervade the whole picture; but important restorations have unfortunately become necessary in several parts. An interesting comparison may be instituted between this work and the Sibyls of Michael Angelo. In each we find the peculiar excellence of the great masters; for while Michael Angelo's figures are grand, sublime, profound, the fresco of the Pace bears the impress of Raphael's severe and ingenious grace. The four Prophets, on the wall over the Sibyls, were executed by Timoteo della Vite, after drawings by Raphael."—Kugler.
"The Sibyls have suffered much from time, and more, it is said, from restoration; yet the forms of Raphael, in all their loveliness, all their sweetness, are still before us; they breathe all the soul, the sentiment, the chaste expression, and purity of design that characterize his works. The dictating angels hover over the heads of the gifted maids, one of whom writes with rapid pen the irreversible decrees of Fate. The countenances and musing attitudes of her sister Sibyls express those feelings of habitual thoughtfulness and pensive sadness natural to those who are cursed with the knowledge of futurity, and all its coming evils."—Eaton's Rome.