Roman era: The grandiose Mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian was built starting in 130 AD as a dynastic tomb on the right bank of the Tiber. The burial chamber contained the red porphyry sarcophagus of Emperor Hadrian and the tomb of Empress Sabina.
Its decline began in Late Antiquity, when it was besieged several times by barbarians and stripped of its decorations and priceless treasures.
In 590 AD, the legendary apparition of the Archangel Michael put an end to the plague, and the Mausoleum changed its name to Castel Sant’angelo.
Middle Ages: It was transformed into the impregnable fortress where the popes took refuge during sieges by the Landsknechts and the French. This involved the digging of a defensive moat, obliterating the original entrance, which was rediscovered only in the 19th century.
Renaissance: The papal apartments were built, whose design was commissioned to some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance: Antonio da Sangallo, Michelangelo, and Sallustio Peruzzi. The frescoes were entrusted to Pinturicchio and Raphael's students such as Luzio Romano and Perin del Vaga.
Modern Age: the book reconstructs the ancient appearance of the Pons Aelius and recounts its rediscovery and partial demolition in the late 19th century. It proposes a new and unprecedented reconstruction of the Mausoleum and reveals the hidden symbolic meaning of its extraordinary architecture and the Hall of the Burial Urns, which was its central hub.
The book reveals the very essence of Imperial Power, thanks to the luminous magics discovered with Archaeoastronomy, which were linked to the Emperor Hadrian depicted as Sol Invictus driving the Quadriga of the Sun.
The book - also in English Edition - is on sale in the Bookshop of the National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo.