Date

Circa 1910

Flanked by the figures of "Benignity," by Lazzaro Morelli, and of "Clemency," by Giuseppe Mazzuoli. In the floor in front of the monument to Pope Clement X, under a simple tombstone, lie the remains of Pope Sixtus IV and Pope Julius II. For the last 25 years of Bernini's life, Mattia de Rossi was his principal assistant and frequently served as his clerk of works. With a pyramid-shaped design, the monument is noted for its imaginative multicolored effect, using precious marbles such as yellow and antique green, white ash and black, green jasper and, above all, breccia "of seven bases", a truly rare stone, which is used to form the "deposit" (urn). This is the base that supports the white marble statue of the seated Pope created by Ercole Ferrata.