S. Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, S. Andrea al Quirinale

 Due to Sally's fervent insistence, I spent our last morning visiting two small, yet very important churches.  

Santa Carlo alle Quatro Fontane is one of the smallest churches in Rome, and yet it is in all of the architectural history books as being almost the earliest, and most influential Baroque churches.  It was designed by the great Francesco Borromini, and he did it for free in order to build his reputation as an architect.  Built in 1638-41, it is a marvel of ideas about light, curves, and art.  The light in the interior has a brilliant lantern in the top of the dome, a lessening of light in the small windows further down, and even less the lower down into the sanctuary you look.  

It is unfortunate that the exterior is so grimy.  You have the feeling that the church is being neglected. 

Santo Carlo alle Quattro Fontane

The church is on the corner of crossing streets, with each corner having a fountain. 

The dome is awe-inspiring.  What a wonderful use of a tiny space. 
As pointed out by one guidebook, the church is hardly bigger that one of St.Peter's piers, 
the enormous columns supporting the dome.  

This is a photo scanned from a book (Roloff Beny, Peter Gunn: "The Churches of Rome"
published in the 80's), showing a pipe organ installed just below the dome.  That pipe organ doesn't
exist at present.  Perhaps it was installed in the 19th or 20th century, and architectural historians
objected to it, destroying the lines leading up to the dome.  I'd love to find out. 

The church has a cloister, and this hall leads to that, and a crypt. 

Part of the cloister

Marble and gilt

In the hallway was this ancient pump organ, covered with dust. 

When no one was looking (there were few tourists here), I opened the cover
to the keyboard. 
  
Santo Andrea al Quirinale

Finished in 1661with the interior completed in 1670, this church, completed 20 years after the 

Borromini church is perfect Bernini.  The two began as friends, but ended as rivals, with Bernini becoming the most important architect of his time, and Borromini very frustrated and unhappy with Bernini's overwhelming success.  Indeed, the Rome we see today might as well be called Bernini's Rome.  Bernini considered Santo Andrea one of his most perfect works, and his son recalled that

in old age, he spent many hours in the church enjoying what he had achieved. 

It is a very small church that has amazing grandeur.  

The focus of the congregation is drawn by light from a hidden source, and then 
your eyes are drawn upward to the figure of St. Andrew, looking up to Heaven (the Lantern),
and then you see the figure of the saint in the lantern entering Heaven. 
The entire church is one artistic whole: light, sculpture, art, architecture, all integrated into 
a single great vision.  

Again, we owe Sally for our discovering these two churches not on tourist itineraries.