Pamphilj Family

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Coat-of-arms of the Pamphili family above the entrance of
Sant'Andrea al Quirinale (Saint Andrew's at the Quirinal)
Via del Quirinale
Rome, April 2013

“Pamphilj's presentation of himself as patron is more explicit still in the interior. Above the main entrance, two angels hold up an elegant banderole affirming that Camillo built the church from its very foundations: ‘DIVO ANDREAE APOSTOLO / CAMILLUS PRINCEPS PAMPHILIUS / INNOCENTII X FRATRIS FILIUS / A FUNDAMENTIS EXTRUXIT’. The visitor is thus reminded once again - on his way out - of Camillo's crucial role in the realisation of the new church. In an entirely different fashion, the Pamphilj herald­ry is also incorporated into the rest of the building. As in the church of Sant'Agnese on Piazza Navona, it is an intrinsic part of the sculpture within the church intcrior. The Pamphilj dove nestles in the acanthus leaf of the capitals surmounting columns and pilasters. It also peers out from bencath the laterali of the side chapels, fashioned in white marble and set against a coloured semi-circular background. After centuries of absence, the Pamphilj doves have at last returned to the Quirinal Hill.” (Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Papers of the Netherlands Institute in Rome 1921-2002)