Monuments in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo
This elaborate Baroque monument set against the third pillar of the south aisle has several peculiarities. It is crowned by the coat-of-arms of Pope Nicholas IV (Girolamo Masci) but this medieval pope was buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The monument in Santa Maria del Popolo was built for his late descendant, Count Masci-Ferracuti from Ascoli Piceno who was appointed to the Bishop of Vieste by Pope Sixtus V in 1589. He died in Rome in 1613 at the age of 60 years. He was buried with solemn pomp in a marble tomb in the basilica. The tomb was built by her niece, Anastasia Mascia and her husband, Marzio Elefantucci, a nobleman from Bologna. Under the pretense of honouring their uncle they built a monument for the most illustrious member of their family, Pope Nicholas IV whose name is mentioned twice in the funerary inscription.
Santa Maria del Popolo
The year of completion is indicated on the inscriptions above the side doors of the façade. The one on the left reads "SIXTUS·PP·IIII·FVNDAVIT·1477", the other on the right reads "SIXTUS·PP·IIII·PONT·MAX·1477". Jacopo da Volterra recorded in his diary that the pope visited the church that "he rebuilt from the ground up a few years ago" in 1480. The pope was so strongly attached to the church, that he went there to pray every Saturday and celebrated mass in the papal chapel every year on September 6, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin. On 2 June 1481 when the rumour about the death of Mehmed the Conqueror was confirmed, the pope went to the Vespers at Santa Maria del Popolo in thanksgiving with the cardinals and the ambassadors. Another occasion when the pope celebrated an important event in the basilica was the victory of the papal troops against the Neapolitans at Campomorto on 21 August 1482.