Un corso, la sua storia, i suoi metodi. Ricerche sulle cappelle gentilizie romane 1570-1620

This short article introduces the seven contributions on Roman aristocratic chapels (1570–1620), selected from a large number of research topics assigned over the past decade in the course Storia e metodi di analisi dell’architettura, taught by the author and Augusto Roca De Amicis at the School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage at Sapienza University of Rome. The article opens with a chronological overview of the course’s evolution from the 1970s to the present, tracing its various name changes up to its current designation, adopted in 1996. That year, Sandro Benedetti redefined the course with a stronger historical-critical emphasis, a distinctive feature that continues to characterize the approach of the current faculty.