Church of Saint Yves at La Sapienza

Built by Francesco Borromini between 1642 and 1652 in the courtyard of the Palazzo della Sapienza, home of the University founded by Pope Bonifacio VIII in 1303, it is one of the great masterpieces of roman baroque. The interior, a layout of mixed lines, modulates on alternating concave and convex lines, while the exterior mounts itself continually upwards terminating in the famed “lanternino” (little lantern) with its corkscrew spire. The church was consecrated in 1660 and the following year it received a painting for the altar by Pietro da Cortona, Saints Ivo, Leone, Pantaleone, Luca and Caterina in Gloria.