The coat of arms adorns the corbels (small brackets) supporting the vaults of the portico. The Della Rovere family began to rise in prominence with Francesco, born in 1414 to Leonardo Della Rovere of Savona, a man of humble origins, who later ascended to the papal throne as Sixtus IV. To ennoble the family’s origins, they claimed descent from a distant branch of the Della Rovere of Turin, Counts of Vinovo, and adopted their coat of arms: a blue shield featuring an uprooted golden oak tree. The marble coat of arms above the portal is surmounted by the papal tiara (miter) and crossed keys, the official insignia of the Holy See.
