The Castel Sant'Angelo was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. Constructed on the right bank of the Tiber from 134-139 AD, the building, once the tallest in Rome, was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle. According to legend the Archangel Michael appeared above it, sheathing his sword as a sign of the end of the plague of 590 AD. In 1753 a new statue of the archangel, visible in this drawing and executed by the Flemish sculptor Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (1710-1793), was installed on the top of the building.
