ABSTRACT

Francesco Albertonio, L'entrata che fece l'eccellentissimo signor Marc'Antonio Colonna in Roma, describes how Marcantonio Colonna entered Rome on December 4, 1571 in a manner worthy of an ancient emperor, which is also reflected in a papal avviso issued just a few days before his procession into the Eternal City. A detailed pictorial representation of Marcantonio Colonna's triumphal procession into Rome survives in a frieze commissioned and executed for the papal admiral in the Sala del Capitano of the Palazzo Colonna at Paliano. Indeed, the inscriptions adorning the Arch of Constantine for the occasion of Marcantonio Colonna's triumphal procession celebrated the Ghislieri pope's achievement in connection with the Christian emperor. The retinue of governmental and ecclesiastic officials, including banners supporting the stemme of Pius V, the Roman Senate and People (SPQR), and Marcantonio Colonna, which were carried in procession, are portrayed in the central longitudinal band of the ceiling.