Santa Maria del Popolo
Soon after its transfer to the prestigious Lombard Congregation Santa Maria del Popolo was reconstructed between 1472 and 1477 on the orders of Pope Sixtus IV. This was part of the ambitious urban renovation program of the pope who presented himself as "Urbis Restaurator" of Rome. The medieval church was entirely demolished and a new three-aisled, Latin cross shaped basilica was built with four identical chapels on both sides, an octagonal dome above the crossing and a tall Lombard style bell-tower at the end of the right transept. The result of this reconstruction was an early and excellent example of Italian Renaissance architecture in Rome. In spite of the many later changes the basilica essentially kept its Sistine form until today.
Santa Maria del Popolo
The most visible 18th century addition to the basilica is the spectacular funeral monument for Princess Maria Flaminia Odescalchi Chigi, the young wife of Don Sigismondo Chigi Albani della Rovere. It was designed by Paolo Posi in 1772 and sometimes dubbed the "last Baroque tomb in Rome". By the time the church was full of valuable tombs and artworks, and there was not much room left for the 19th century. Nonetheles there were smaller interventions: the Cybo-Soderini Chapel was restored in 1825, the Feoli Chapel was completely redesigned in Neo-Renaissance style in 1857 and the monumental Art Nouveau tomb of Agostino Chigi by Adolfo Apolloni was erected in 1915. After that only repairs and restorations happened regularly; the first important modern intervention was conducted by Antonio Muñoz in 1912 with the aim to "restore the church to its beautiful quattrocento character" and removing many of the Baroque additions in the nave and the transept.