Monuments in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo
The long time gap is explained by the fact that the cardinal was buried in the Old St. Peter's Basilica together with his uncle and benefactor, Cardinal Antonio Pallavicini Gentili (Antoniotto). In 1596 their bodies were relocated to the cemetery Santa Maria del Popolo where Antoniotto's monument was set up and later transferred to the Montemirabile Chapel. Philipp Zitzlsperger calls this a particularly instructive example of the separation of the body and the tomb which increasingly came to be the norm in Rome from the second half of the 16th century because the location of the cardinal's corpse has not been established but the transferral of the remains was reason enough to the relatives to erect a cenotaph in the church itself.
Major basilica
Major basilica (; plural: "Basilicae maiores") is the title given to the four highest-ranking Roman Catholic church buildings, all of which are also "Papal basilicas": the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, St. Peter's Basilica, the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. All of them are located within the diocese of Rome: St. Peter's Basilica is located in Vatican City and thus within the territory and sovereign jurisdiction of the Holy See. The other three are geographically located in Italian territory, but enjoy extraterritorial status under the Lateran Treaty. The Archbasilica of St. John in the Lateran is the seat of the Pope and the site of the Papal Cathedra, and is the oldest and first in rank of the major basilicas.