The participation of the marchese Orazio Spada (1613-87) in the design of his family chapel (1663-79) in the Chiesa Nuova has recently been acknowledged, but much remains to be said about the character of his patronage and his activity as an amateur architect. The marchese’s approach to building was shaped by his family experience and was probably most profoundly influenced by the example of his uncle, Virgilio Spada, architectural advisor to a succession of popes. That Orazio’s taste was more conservative than that of his uncle is demonstrated by a series of heretofore unpublished villa designs attributable to the marchese that demonstrate his preference for the classicism of Renaissance models. Some of these designs are based directly on the works of Andrea Palladio. Similarly, the plan and elevation of the main oval body of the Spada Chapel is an almost exact copy of Vignola’s Sant’Anna de’ Palafrenieri. The fidelity with which he follows this Renaissance model suggests that the marchese was partly responsible for the basic design, along with the professional architects who worked on the project, Camillo Arcucci (to 1667) and his successor, Carlo Rainaldi. © 1994, The Society of Architectural Historians All rights reserved.
