Begun by Peter of Illyria in 425 under Pope Celestine I (422/432) on a Titulus Sabinae maybe built in the house of a matron of the same name of the unlikely Umbrian saint martyr under Hadrian
It is the most perfect type of Christian basilica of the fifth century
Completed by Sixtus III (432/440)
Restored by Leo III (795/816)
Enriched by Eugene II (824/827)
RESTORATIONS: 1441, 1481, 1587 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) on behalf of Pope Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90), 1643 Francesco Borromini (1599/1667), 1914/19 and 1936/37 Antonio Muñoz (1884/1960) who brought it to its original form by removing Fontana's overlays
In the SQUARE mask of St. Sabina" moved here in 1937 from the Roman Forum where it used to stand over the enormous granite basin now in front of the Palazzo del Quirinale
St. Dominic de Guzmán (1170/1221) lived and worked here
In the cloister there is a tree of sweet oranges, which according to tradition, St. Dominic brought from Spain. It is visible from the church through a hole in the wall, protected by glass, in front of the wooden portal. It is considered a miracolous tree because it has continued to bear fruits through other trees born from the original
Legend has it that the five candied oranges donated by St. Catherine to Pope Urban VI (1378/89) in 1379, had been taken by the saint from this plant
To the left of the front door there is a "Round black stone on a spiral column": this is called Lapis Diaboli, i.e., devil stone, because according to legend it was thrown by the devil against St. Dominic in prayer but it hit and shattered a marble slab covering the bones of several martyrs
In fact, the marble slab was broken by Domenico Fontana during the 1587 restoration to move the burial place of the martyrs. He threw away the pieces, later recovered and put back together, and now visible in the middle of the choir
ATRIUM
Portal frame with classical marble frame and sensational "Cypress wood doors" about 450:
Twenty-eight frames in relief (ten were lost) restored in 1836 with parallelism between Moses (the Law) and Christ (the Gospel). The "Crucifixion" with open eyes and without a halo is one of the first visual representations of the Crucifixion existing in the world
In the panel with the "Passage of the Red Sea" the restorer replaced the face of the pharaoh who drowned with that of Napoleon
COUNTER FAÇADE
Only remnant of the mosaics dating back to about 435 with the "Metric inscription" written using the beautiful monumental Philocalian capital font mentioning the Council of Ephesus in 431 maybe by Paulinus of Nola, flanked by two female figures representing the "Ecclesia ex Gentibus" (church of the Gentiles, not Jewish) and the "Ecclesia ex Circumcisione" (church of the Jewish)
The Philocalian capital font was devised by the calligrapher Furius Dyonisius Philocalus also author of the oldest Roman calendar of the Church, the Roman Chronograph of 354
TWENTY-FOUR MARBLE COLUMNS maybe from the nearby TEMPLE OF JUNO REGINA
On top and to the sides of the arches most precious "Frieze in opus sectile (inlaid marble)" fifth or sixth century
In the FLOOR "Tombstone of Brother Muñoz Zamora" who died in 1300
"Pillar" of the pre-existing building embedded in the wall
CHAPEL OF St. HYACINTH
Vault "Triumph of St. Hyacinth" and walls "Stories of St. Hyacinth" Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)
On the altar "Virgin and St. Hyacinth" 1600 Lavinia Fontana (1552/1614)
FURTHER ON, IN THE RIGHT NAVE
"Tomb of Cardinal Auxia" 1484 by an artist of the school of Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)
APSE
"Christ on the mountain surrounded by the apostles" 1560 by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66), restored in 1836 by Vincenzo Camuccini (1771/1844). It repeats the theme of the lost ancient mosaic
CHAPEL D'ELCI or CHAPEL OF St. CATHERINE
1671 G.B. Contini (1641/1723)
On the altar copy of "Madonna of the Rosary with St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena" 1643 by G.B. Salvi aka Sassoferrato (1609/85) now in the Dominican Museum
In the pendentives "Stories of St. Catherine" and in the vault "Triumph of St. Catherine" by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS
In the area north of the church next to the garden remains have been found in cappellaccio stone of the SERVIAN WALLS of the half of the sixth century BC above which tufa stone boulders of Grotta Oscura were stacked when the walls were rebuilt in 378 BC
Both types of material are visible here and are archaeological evidence that can be attached to the written sources describing Rome in the sixth century BC as a huge city with a wall of 11 km (6.8 miles). The walls included an area of 4.26 km ² (1.6 square mile)
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