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| In
the cathedral, the third chapel on the right is the magnificent Cappella
Nolfi, so called after Guido and Cesare Nolfi, two noble kinsmen of
Fano. After 1604 they had the chapel completely transformed; various artists collaborated, including the architect Girolamo Rainaldi who designed the decorations on the vault and side walls (executed by the stucco worker Pietro Solari) which frame the 16 beautiful frescoes of the Life of the Virgin (1618-19) by Domenico Zampieri (Domenichino). The great painting of Il Paradiso e l'Assunta (ca. 1606) hanging on the altar wall is by Andrea Lilli from Ancona. The busts of the two members of the Nolfi family placed on their respective tombs (after 1612) are by the sculptor Francesco Caporale. Another important painting is the Virgin in Glory and Patron Bishop Saints Ursus and Eusebius by Ludovico Caracci (1613) over the altar in the Presbytery chapel. On either side are Sant'Antonio Abate and St.Francis by Caracci's pupil Bartolomeo Giangolini of Fano. |
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| This
square was the “platea magna" of the late Middle Ages on which stood
the imposing 14th century Palazzo del Podestà (now the
façade of the "Teatro
della Fortuna") and its municipal tower, rebuilt after the war. The main square was used for ceremonies and as a market place, as can be seen from the numerous present day shops standing in place of the old. To the west, along the Corso Matteotti, stands the Fountain of Fortune with a characteristic mixtilinear basin of coloured marble, completely replaced (including central bowl and lions) between 1697 and '99 by the Venetian Ludovico Torresini. The charming bronze statue of the Goddess Fortune is a faithful copy of the original (now in the Civic Museum) modelled and cast in 1593 by Donnino Ambrosi of Urbino, to beautify the original octagonal basin of the old 1576 fountain. The fountain, the mannerist elegance of which is reminiscent of the work of Giambologna, is a symbol of Fano. |
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| This
is the largest and most imposing of all the patrician abodes of Fano.
The building was started by the family of the Counts Montevecchio
in 1740, and it remained in the family until the end of the first
half of the 20th century. The east front was left unfinished
and has subsequentely been added to in doubtful taste. The design
is reputed to be by Luigi Vanvitelli, but there is absolutely no proof
of this. There is, however, proof that Alfonso Torreggiani of Bologna and Arcangelo Vici from the Marches were both involved in the project. This is evident in the markedly theatrical style, almost as if Bibianesque fantasies had been transferred to stone. Torreggiani must have been responsible for the central part of the façade with its great Baroque stone doorway flanked by two substantial Tuscan columns supporting the fine curved balustrade of the balcony, with the connecting motif rising from the great middle window to the small elegant balcony at the centre of the upper floor. The great columned entrance is also worthy of note, with its perspective of the wall-fountain of Neptune in an elegant elliptical space which completes the austere central courtyard. The great staircase is most spectacular. Its wide steps rise amidst foreshortenings and perspectives, niches, columns and pilasters up the first part; the second is vaulted and airy with eight elegantly decorative marble statues between small pilasters along the balustrade. In the past there was a large room with surrounding balcony to receive the guests before they were admitted to the various reception rooms on the first floor. This room is now unrecognizable, having been converted into several rooms for use as the local tax office. The rooms facing the garden in Piazzale Leopardi are in equally poor condition. The rooms on the west side are better preserved; several have vaults decorated with painted grotesques. |
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Started in
1610 by Giovanni Battista Cavagna of Naples and inaugurated in 1616,
the Church of San Pietro in Valle is today one of the finest baroque
buildings in this region. |