1943/50 Enrico Pietro
Galeazzi (1896/1986) and Mario Redini
(1911/80)
It was
built to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the episcopal consecration of Pius
XII Pacelli (1939/58), whose baptismal name was Eugenio
It is one
of the largest churches in Rome, with an area for the faithful of about 1,400
m² (15,000 square feet)
It is
theoretically possible to accommodate in it about 4,000 people
FAÇADE
Sculptural
reliefs “Figures of angels” in the center and “Allegory of Justice and Peace”
at the sides by Alessandro Monteleone
(1897/1967)
Sculptural
reliefs “Four Evangelists” in the upper part by Francesco
Nagni (1897/1977)
It is the Church
of the Opus Dei controversial and powerful organization of the Catholic
Church founded by the Spaniard S. Josemaria Escrivà (1902/75) who was canonized
in 2002 by John Paul II (1978/2005)
The tomb of
St. Josemaria Escrivà is in the nearby big church of S. MARIA DELLA PACE (Our
Lady of Peace) incorporated in the building of the Opus Dei in Viale Bruno
Buozzi 75
“Certainly
the architects of St. Eugene were also positively influenced by the character
of the place chosen for the new church, located between very special sights:
the Vineyard of Pope Julius III, the little house by Pirro Ligorio with the
fountain by Ammannati and the architecture of Vignola; everything would in fact
inevitably and quite naturally lead them to the design of a work made of
elements manifesting a certain solidity and a clear definition of forms: in a
nutshell, to a kind of architecture being classic but also modern at the same
time” (Website of the Parish of St. Eugene - www.parrocchiasanteugenio.it)
“Stations
of the Cross” in bronze by Attilio Torresini
(1884/1961) (stations 1-4), Alfredo Biagini
(1886/1952) (5-7), Antonio Berti (1904/90)
(8-10) and Giacomo Manzù (1908/91) (11 - 14)
1st
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Bronze “St.
Frances Xavier Cabrini and an Angel” by Pericle Fazzini
(1913/87)
“The dynamic
group of the saint and of the angel crowning her is very compact in a
composition 'arrow'-shaped and it is made lighter by the insistent pictorial
style with which the assiduous folds of the garments are modeled” (Website of
the Parish of St. Eugenio - www.parrocchiasanteugenio.it)
2nd
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Altar made
out of red marble from the Timava River in Slovenia
Gilded
bronze statue “St. Francis of Assisi back from heaven to earth” by Domenico Rambelli (1886/1972)
“Summoner,
glorifier and transformer of life, his statues and bas-reliefs have a strong
tone of stylistic abstraction which can only be seen in Romanesque or Egyptian
sculptures” (Carlo Carrà)
3rd
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Altarpiece “St.
Agnes and her stories” by Venanzo Crocetti
(1913/2003)
“His
graceful feminine images, earthly creatures caught in attitudes that make them
protagonists of stories set in the immediacy of their becoming - the tying of a
shoe, the drying after bathing, the combing and the undressing, but also the
resting after the dance or the contemplation of the sea - are presented in
rhythms of a mobile and musical geometry from which derive a wide variety of
compositional inventions” (Website www.scultura-italiana.com)
RIGHT
TRANSEPT
Mosaics in
the upper part “Sacred Heart of Jesus”, in the lower part “Works of Mercy” and
in the altar frontal “Last Supper” by Bruno Saetti
(1902/84)
MAIN ALTAR
Huge and
spectacular bronze statue “St. Eugene I (654/657)” and in the altar frontal
relief “Deposition” by Attilio Selva (1888/1970)
IN THE APSE
AND UNDER THE ARCH
“Triumph of
the Cross and symbols of the Passion” 1951 by Ferruccio
Ferrazzi (1891/1978)
“An artist
with such a fecund career should be the pivot of every book about the history
of Italian art of the twentieth century. Why, then, is he not known to most
people as well as his colleagues of his time, Mario Sironi, Massimo Campigli or
Gino Severini? Or at least as his followers who would in fact derive prolific
teaching from him (technical annotations are also relevant, consistent and
intuitive experiments recorded in his diaries) as Renato Guttuso, Alberto
Ziveri or Mario Mafai (from whom, however, it looks as if he himself drew
inspiration)? Yet the brush is firm and distinctive, some ideas are
extraordinarily original (especially in the tones, but also in the modernity of
some nervous gestures) and represent the best painting of the '20s and '30s in
Italy” (Cristiana Curti - www.artincontro.com)
CHAPEL TO
THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR
Frescoes “Stories
of St. Joseph” by Gisberto Ceracchini (1889/1982)
“A primitive
language, with squared and often monumental volumes, rather rigid in the
engraved signs of the sharp contours, smooth and brilliant in the shades of
color, full of references to fifteenth century models and, still, with
influences from Giotto and Masaccio; a rugged design, 'passionately expressive'
- as described by Roberto Longhi (1929) - which embodies 'obsolete and
anachronistic feelings' for their ingenuity and candor” (Susanna Zatti -
Biographical Dictionary of Italian Treccani)
CHAPEL OF
OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Designed by
the Portuguese architect Luiz Benavente (1902/93) for the government of the Republic of
Portugal
At the
center “Statue of Virgin Mary” by Leopoldo de Almeida
(1898/1975)
Around
paintings with, in the upper part, “Portuguese saints Antonio, Nuno Alvares
Pereira, Queen Elizabeth and John of God”, in the lower part “Madonna with
angels and people in the act of worship, after the vision” by Martins Barada
3rd
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Statue “St.
Philip Neri” 1951 and bronze candlesticks by Francesco
Messina (1900/95)
2nd
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Relief “St.
Catherine of Siena in ecstasy” by Enrico Castelli (1890/?)
Frescoes “Stories
of St. Catherine” by Giorgio Quaroni (1907/60)
1st
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Statue “St.
Nikolaus of Flue” by Corrado Vigni (1888/?)
S. Nicholas
of Flue (1417/87) was a Swiss politician and a judge who lived for twenty years
in meditation. He was canonized in 1947 by Pius XII Pacelli (1939/58) who also
proclaimed him the patron saint of Switzerland
CLOISTER
WITH BAPTISTERY IN THE CENTER
Outside of
the baptistery there is a mosaic “Proclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption”
by the Bavarian Josef Oberberger (1905/94)
Bronze
group “Baptism of Jesus with angels” by Giovanni Prini
(1877/1958) and ancient Roman mosaic floor with “Dove”
On the
walls of the baptistery frescoes “Stories of the Old Testament alluding to
baptism” by Giovanni Brancaccio (1903/75)
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