The works were interrupted on the death of the Pontiff in 1667, then resumed in 1673 under the supervision of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and the cooperation of Carlo Fontana and finished in 1679, except for a belfry that was added in the 18th century.

The coronation took place on December 3, 1659 In July 1825 Pope Leo XII elevated the church to the dignity of minor basilica.

[1] In this church, on 10 August 1905, Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, was ordained a priest; the event is remembered by a plaque affixed during his pontificate.

Since 1953 the church has become the seat of the "Mass of the artists", a singular initiative conceived in 1941 by presbyter and art historian Ennio Francia; after changing several places for worship, the liturgical event took place in the church in Piazza del Popolo, where every Sunday, for over sixty years, this Eucharistic celebration has been celebrated with representatives of the world of culture and art.

The second chapel, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi, was designed by Carlo Rainaldi to honor the Carmelite nun canonized by Pope Clement XI in 1669.

The presbytery is stuccoed with angels by Filippo Carcani and houses the miraculous 15th-century altarpiece of the Virgin of Montesanto, which, according to the tradition, was painted by an 11-year-old girl.