Palatine Hill
Where the empire lingers along fractured arches
Where archangel’s blade glints above the ramparts
In 1453 Niccolò V had the third statue, in marble with bronze wings, placed on the top of the building. It was destroyed in 1497 by a lightning that blew up the Castle’s powder magazine.
Where the empire lingers along fractured arches
Where alabaster gods melt in crystalline grace
Where apostolic keys reign above Berninian colonnades