Begun in
1622 by Felice Antonio Casoni (1559/1634) for
the Spanish Franciscans with dedication to the Spanish St. Isidore of Madrid
(1080/1130) canonized in that same year by Gregory XV Ludovisi (1621/23)
St. Isidore
was a farmer who had miraculous powers. He is the patron of farmers
Continued
in 1625 by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) for the
Irish Franciscans led by Father Luke Wadding who transformed the CONVENT into
an institution of study and retreat for the Irish brothers, persecuted at the
time by the English Protestants
Completed
in 1672
Restorations
in the years 1856 to 1949
1704/05 Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)
Statues “St.
Patrick” and “St. Isidore” by Simone Giorgini
(active in Rome 1677/1712)
“The
previous attribution to the sculptor Andrea Bertoni has been questioned on the
basis of the finding of the contract concluded between Giorgini and the
Franciscan Fathers, according to which it is known that he received a payment
of 50 scudi. The size of the statues and the use of stucco refer once again to
the figure of Faith in the Church of St. Ignatius even though, compared to that
statue, the images of St. Isidore have lost their roundness, typical of
Bernini, and seem to be affected at least in part by the severity of Carlo
Maratta, according to the directions followed in that period by other sculptors
including Camillo Rusconi” (Alessandra Uguccioni - Dizionario Biografico degli
Italiani Treccani)
The Nazarenes
lived in the convent from 1810 to 1813
They were
young German artists who lived together as a community and were called
Nazarenes for their eccentric clothing and their long hair, a bit like the
hippies in the late 1960s
VAULT
“Glory of
St. Isidore” 1729 by the French Charles Van Loo
(1705/65)
1st
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH
Above the
altar “Marriage of the Virgin” (copy of the original stolen in 1798)
On the
sides “Flight into Egypt” and “Death of St. Joseph” (copy of the original
stolen in 1798)
In the
lunettes “Nativity” and “Dream of St. Joseph”
In the dome
“Glory of St. Joseph” all works of the years 1650/52 by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713). The decoration of this chapel was one of
his first jobs
“Funerary
Monument of Isabella Ball Thomas and her daughter Isabella” 1868 by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1799/1873)
2nd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ANNA
Designed by
Domenico Castelli (1582/1657)
Altarpiece “Virgin
Mary and St. Anna” and “Scenes from the life of St. Anna” about 1657 by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini (about 1614/about 1684) pupil of
Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona
RIGHT
TRANSEPT
Oval “Glory
of St. John of Nepomuk” by an unknown
seventeenth-century artist inspired by Maratta
To the left
“Tomb of Alfonso Mazanedo” with bust possibly by Giuliano
Finelli (1602/53)
TO THE
RIGHT OF THE MAIN ALTAR - CHAPEL DA SYLVA or OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
1662/64 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Rodrigo Lopez da
Sylva
“Frontal in
cloudy alabaster” with natural veins in the marble that go on over the wall
above
The veins
were left and completed by Bernini in order to obtain a material which shows
connotations creatively artificial, even if taken from nature like the dark
alabaster of Montauto that even mingles with the background color of the
painting by Maratta
Above the
altar “Immaculate Conception” (in a frame with fruits and flowers by the
engraver Antonio Chicari), on the left “St.
Francis”, on the right “St. Anthony of Padua” and in the lunette “Angel
Musicians”, all works by Carlo Maratta
(1625/1713)
On the
walls “Da Sylva Funerary Monuments: Rodrigo and his wife Beatriz de Silveira”
and “Four virtues” (in the eighteenth century the nudities were covered with
draperies in bronze), maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
or more likely by his son Paolo Bernini
(1648/1728) or by his pupils Giulio Cartari (active
1665/78) and Pietro Paolo Naldini (1619/91)
In the dome
and in the spandrels stuccos maybe by Gian Lorenzo
Bernini
MAIN ALTAR
1630 Marco Arconio, in
precious marbles
Sarcophagus
in Carrara and Portovenere marble with bodies of the saints and martyrs Leozio
and Floriano
Tabernacle
1799 by Ippolito Mazzola
Above the
altar “St. Isidore has a vision of the Virgin Mary and Child” about 1623 by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)
LUNETTE
above the altar “Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane” 1856 and DOME “Virgin Mary
and Saints” by Domenico Bartolini (1827/84)
PENDENTIVES
“Evangelists” 1948 by Silvio Galimberti (1869/1956)
TO THE LEFT
OF THE MAIN ALTAR - PAVONI CHAPEL or CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS AND St. PATRICK
1626/28 for
the Pavoni family from Rimini
Fresco “Stigmata
of St. Francis” by an unknown eighteenth-century artist
On the
walls and pillars “Saints” 1948 by Silvio Galimberti
OUTSIDE THE
CHAPEL
“Funerary
Memorial of the Canon Antonio Borani” 1677 by Giovanni
Francesco De Rossi (active 1640/77)
Large
painting “St. Patrick” 1861 by the friar Ippolito from
Poggio Bustone
2nd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY
1692 Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)
Above the altar “St.
Anthony of Padua in ecstasy” by Giovanni Domenico
Cerrini (1609/81)
On the
sides modern paintings with “Miracles of St. Anthony”
In the
lunettes “Healing of the sick child” and “Preaching to the fish” by Gilles Hallet (1620/94)
1st
LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS
Decoration
in golden stucco by Domenico Castelli
(1582/1657) for Costanza Pamphilj, nephew of Innocent X, and for her husband
Nicolò Ludovisi owner of the land in the area
Frescoes in
the dome “Exaltation of the Cross” and lunettes on the left “Agony in the
Garden” and on the right “Crowning with Thorns” 1654/57 by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) who had also painted three
paintings stolen from the chapel during the Napoleonic occupation
LARGE
CLOISTER aka WADDINGHIAN CLOISTER
1630 on
land donated by Nicolò Ludovisi
On the
walls touched up paintings with “Stories from the life of St. Francis and of
the Franciscan friars” 1701 by Friar Giovanni Antonio
Sguary from Padua
CAPITULAR
ROOM
“Portrait
of Father Luke Wadding” by Carlo Maratta
AULA MAXIMA
Large room
for academic meetings
Frescoes of
“Franciscan theologians and scholars at work” and “Immaculate Conception
supported by Sts. Anthony and Francis” by Frair
Emanuele da Como
“The
College of St. Isidore became a center of studies renown in Europe. Here
research took place about theology, philosophy and history, and the so-called
'Scola Scotistica' had remarkable development through lectures held in the Aula
Maxima” (Daniela Matteucci)
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