The Eternal City is a harbinger of surprises and curiosities, it is full of peculiarities that make it unique. Sometimes, then, what makes Rome so beautiful is the human behavior, the passions and emotions of men and women, especially artists, who have contributed to making it what it is. Sometimes, as in this specific case, when an artist is deeply dissatisfied, a work can be left halfway, and this can still be widely seen today.

We are in front of the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle, where the very young Bernini looked into art, and where artists such as Domenichino and Lanfranco, in the seventeenth century, proved their skills. Therefore this basilica has an enormous importance and relevance for the history of art, where different schools of thought confronted each other within a building that became one of the models for the architecture ofthat era. Try clicking here (after reading this article) to understand how much we owe a lot to the Basilica of Sant'Andrea della Valle, and how useful it is to spend a few moments contemplating the wonders, pictorial and not only, present here. But it's not all pink and flowers, and most importantly, not everything seems to be in the right place. Take a look at the facade of the church, and you will notice how there is something strange... There is no perfect symmetry, a cornerstone of all the sacred architecture of the time! In fact, on the one hand we have an angel, on the other nothing. Why?

It almost seems like a mistake or forgetfulness, and yet the story is different and, as previously written, has to do with human emotions. The sculptor of the angel was Ercole Ferrata, one of Bernini's pupils who was able to assert himself in the artistic panorama of Rome. To make his angel he chose that strange and daring pose, with the large wing resting on the facade. It almost seems that the wing is supporting the entire structure, making the whole angel a load-bearing element. This solution sought by the Ferrata (we do not know the reason for this choice) did not please at the pope Alexander VII, who ordered him to change his project, thus modifying what had already been done. However, we must imagine, despite the fact that it was the pope himself who rejected the work, our poor Ferrata must not have liked this radical change at all. After all, Alexander VII was a resolute and resourceful man, a man who really changed the face of Rome through countless commissions, many left as a dowry to Bernini (like his funerary monument at the St Peter's Basilica). We have to imagine that the artist was not at all happy and that, probably, he felt not understood or, worse, struck in his pride. Therefore Ferrata's indignant response, perhaps feeling misunderstood, was more or less the following "If it doesn't suit you as a job, make another sculpture yourself". And to date, no one has yet taken his advice!