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Abstract: A previously unknown drawing preserved in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden reveals the characteristics of the small temple of San Giovanni in Oleo prior to its eighteenth century restoration: it permits a plausible description of the construction techniques used to build the cupola and elevation between the antique world and the Renaissance. The small octagonal chapel does not appear to be substantially different from the present one except for the hemispheric calotte that covers it. This, more than any other, is the element that has undergone the greatest modifications. The construction history of the oratory is rather complex: the small chapel as it appears to us today is the result of numerous restorations over a period of centuries. In spite of the ancient origin traditionally attributed to the building the first certain record of its construction dates from 1509 when the prelate from Burgundy, Benoit Adam, commissioned its reconstruction by an unidentified architect. Subsequently, in 1658, its appearance would be radically changed by Francesco Borromini, commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Paolucci.