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.
Mellini Chapel (Santa Maria del Popolo)
The appearance of the chapel was fundamentally changed when it was rebuilt by Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini in the 1620s in Baroque style. The whole interior was covered with white and gold stuccos, and the vault was decorated with frescos depicting scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino by a Florentine artist, Giovanni da San Giovanni who was paid 130 scudi "as the rest and final installment of payment for the several works done" on 27 October 1627. The main altar was consecrated in 1628. The previous Renaissance tombs were dismantled to make way for the monumental Baroque sepulchres of Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini in the 1630s and Cardinal Savio Mellini in the 1690s.