Mellini Chapel (Santa Maria del Popolo)

The Mellini or Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Chapel (Italian: Cappella Mellini, Cappella di San Niccolò da Tolentino) is the third chapel on the left-hand side of the nave in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. The chapel contains several funeral monuments of the members of the Mellini family among them the works of Alessandro Algardi and Pierre-Étienne Monnot.

The first patron of the chapel was a celebrated jurist, Pietro Mellini who belonged to a noble and ancient Roman family. The chapel, which was dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, is one of the original 15th-century hexagonal side chapels of the basilica, but its inner decoration was changed when it was rebuilt by Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini in the 1620s in Baroque style. The main altar was consecrated in 1628. It has been the funerary chapel of the Mellini family for centuries.

The interior of the chapel is covered with a rich white and gold stucco decoration which also extends over the outer surface of the entrance arch and the half-columns. The latter have Ionic stucco capitals with garlands and angel heads. The keystone of the arch is an escutcheon with crossed branches. The frescos on the vault display The Story of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, that of the lunettes the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Courage; they were painted by Giovanni da San Giovanni in 1623-24. The entrance of the chapel is barred by a marble balustrade with richly carved wooden doors that are decorated with the coat-of-arms of the Mellini family (the letter M and diagonal stripes).

The main altar-piece shows The Virgin with Saint Augustine and Nicholas of Tolentino. The huge Baroque painting is the work of Agostino Masucci from the middle of the 18th century. It is framed by a sumptuous gold and white stucco aedicule with Corinthian columns and a segmented, broken pediment which is crowned by the symbol of the Holy Spirit and two putti.

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