In this piazza is the rather handsome front of Sta. Maria in Trivia, formerly Sta. Maria in Fornica, erected by Cardinal Mazarin, on the site of an older church built by Belisarius—as is told by an inscription:—
"Hanc vir patricius Belisarius urbis amicus
Ob culpæ veniam condidit ecclesiam.
Hanc, idcirco, pedem qui sacram ponis in ædem
Ut miseretur eum sæpe precare Deum."
The fault which Belisarius wished to expiate, was the exile of Pope Sylverius (A.D. 536), who was starved to death in the island of Ponza. The crypt of the present building, being the parish church of the Quirinal, contains the entrails of twenty popes (removed for embalmment)—from Sixtus V. to Pius VIII.—who died in the Quirinal Palace!
The little church near the opposite corner of the piazza is that of The Crociferi, and is still (1870) served by the Venerable Don Giovanni Merlini, Father General of the Order of the Precious Blood, and the personal friend of its founder, Gaspare del Buffalo.
The Fountain of Trevi occupies one end of the gigantic Palazzo Poli, which contains the English consulate. At the other end is the shop of the famous jeweller, Castellani, well worth visiting, for the sake of its beautiful collection of Etruscan designs, both in jewellery and in larger works of art.
"Castellani est l'homme qui a ressuscité la bijouterie romaine. Son escalier, tapissé d'inscriptions et de bas-reliefs antiques, fait croire que nous entrons dans un musée. Un jeune marchand aussi érudit que les archéologues fait voir une collection de bijoux anciens de toutes les époques, depuis les origines de l'Etrurie jusqu'au siècle de Constantin. C'est la source où Castellani puise les éléments d'un art nouveau qui détrônera avant dix ans la pacotille du Palais-Royal."—About, Rome Contemporaine.
"C'est en s'inspirant des parures retrouvées dans les tombes de l'Etrurie, des bracelets et des colliers dont se paraient les femmes étrusques et sabines, que M. Castellani, guidé par le goût savant et ingénieux d'un homme qui porte dignement l'ancien nom de Caetani, a introduit dans la bijouterie un style à la fois classique et nouveau. Parmi les artistes les plus originaux de Rome sont certainement les orfèvres Castellani et D. Miguele Caetani, duc de Sermoneta."—Ampère, Hist. Rom. i. 388.
The Palazzo Sciarra (on left of the Corso), built in 1603 by Labacco, contains a gallery of pictures. Its six celebrated gems are marked with an asterisk. We may notice:—
1st Room.—
5. Death of St. John Baptist: Valentin.
13. Holy Family: Innocenza da Imola.
15. Rome Triumphant: Valentin.
20. Madonna: Titian.
23. Sta. Francesca Romana: Carlo Veneziano.
2nd Room.—
17. Flight into Egypt: Claude Lorrain.
18. Sunset: Claude Lorrain.