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.
Costa Chapel (Santa Maria del Popolo)
The chapel was originally owned by Domenico della Rovere but it was acquired by Portuguese Cardinal Jorge da Costa (the italianized name is Giorgio Costa) for 200 gold ducats in 1488. Costa was a well-known and influential person in the court of Pope Alexander VI. The Cardinal employed the same workshop of painters as the Della Rovere dynasty, the school of Pinturicchio. It is not unlikely that the patron consciously sought out the same artist. The chapel preserved its original form except one window that was walled up for the creation of a new funeral monument in 1833.