Wednesday, February 27, 2019

St. LUCY OF THE BANNER

S. LUCIA DEL GONFALONE
Maybe end of the thirteenth century or beginning of the fourteenth century
In 1486 Pope Innocent VIII Cybo (1484/92) granted it to the Compagnia del Gonfalone (Company of the Banner)
It was rebuilt at the end of the fifteenth century and consecrated in 1511
Restorations in 1605 and in the years 1721/23
It was rebuilt again with a new FAÇADE in the years 1761/67 by Marco David (active in Rome 1754/65) for Cardinal Flavio Chigi
In 1911 it was entrusted to the Missionari Figli del Sacro Cuore Immacolato di Maria Padri or Claretiani (Missionary Sons of the Sacred Heart of Mary or Claretian Fathers)
Also known as S. Lucia della Chiavica (St. Lucy of the Sewage) for the adjacent cloaca (sewer) that used to flow into the Tiber River

INTERIOR
Decorated in the years 1859/66 for the architecture by Francesco Azzurri (1831/1901) and for the paintings by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)

Clearly inspired by the work of Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel:
In the central part “Episodes from the history of the Archconfraternity of the Banner: foundation, approval and charitable activity”, between the windows “Constance, Charity, Charity and Faith”, virtues inspirational for the Archconfraternity executed in the years 1863/67 by Cesare Mariani

Frescoes in the upper part “Deborah” and “Judith”, in the lower part “Architecture” and “Painting” and on the pillars “Tobias” and “Daniel” by Cesare Mariani
“Tobias and Daniel are references to St. Lucy representing respectively the healing of the eyes and the prophetic vision, thus alluding to one of the main reasons for the devotion to St. Lucy: the recovery of sight both physically and spiritually” (Daniele Ferrara)
PILLARS THAT DIVIDED THE CHAPEL
Frescoes on the right “Nehemiah” and “Ezra”, on the left “Zerubbabel” and “Jeremiah” by Cesare Mariani
“These figures of the Old Testament, referring to the issues of slavery and redemption of the Jewish people celebrate the work of the Confraternity. The figures are monumental and show evident similarities to models of Michelangelo and Raphael” (Daniele Ferrara)
1st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF Sts. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA AND FRANCIS DE SALES
On the altar “Virgin Mary with Sts. Thomas of Villanova and Francis de Sales” 1765 by Salvatore Monosilio (known from 1744/d. 1776) from Messina in Sicily
On the right “Funerary monument of Bishop Nicholas Maria Nicolai” 1833 by Giuseppe De Fabris (1790/1860)

2nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. LUCY
Statue “St. Lucy” 1861 by Scipione Tadolini (1822/92) in an aedicula in neo-Renaissance style
On the sides frescoes “Chastity” and “Charity” by Cesare Mariani

3rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF Sts. PETER AND PAUL
Above the altar “St. Peter and St. Paul on the road of martyrdom” by the Sicilian Mariano Rossi (1731/1807)
“To Neoclassicism, popular when his artistic personality was already well formed and defined, Rossi granted only the choice of subjects of many of his works according to the patterns that this artistic movement considered to be in vogue, but his style of painting was not affected by the new artistic ideas. Indeed, the Neoclassical painting style was underlaid by well-defined laws that impoverished the means of the painter who, concerned exclusively with such laws, would lose sight of the problems of light, color, fresh air and movement, ending up creating cold and abstract compositions immersed in a frozen light” (Antonella Tedesco - www.abitarearoma.net/s-giuseppe-alla-lungara-e-le-opere-di-mariano-rossi)
Vault of the apse “St. Bonaventure has the vision of the Virgin Mary” by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)
On the wall of the apse two episodes of the history of the Archconfraternity:
“The first episode recalls the role that, according to tradition, the Confraternity had in the peaceful ouster of Luca Savelli (usurper of power in the city during the stay of the Pope in Avignon) and in the appointment on Capitoline Hill of the wise Giovanni Cerrone. The second episode is significant for the importance that the Confraternity had under Sixtus V for the task of freeing the slaves, a subject widely covered on the walls of the nave. Mariani proves to be a skilled painter of history insisting rhetorically on the dramatic effect of the composition, a trend widespread in the artistic culture of the period that finds similarities with the contemporary operas” (Daniel Ferrara)
1881 Giuseppe Rinaldi
In the central aedicula “Virgin Mary of the Banner” copy maybe made​by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79) of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani in S. Maria Maggiore
In the lunette above “God Eternal Father” by Erminia Pompili Maldura

3rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. BONAVENTURE
Above the altar “St. Bonaventure in prayer at the feet of St. Francis of Assisi” 1765 by Giorgio Gaspare von Prenner (1720/66) from Vienna

2nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
Above the altar “Wooden Crucifix” of the sixteenth century
On the sides frescoes “Our Lady of Sorrows” and “St. John Evangelist” by Paolo Mei (1831/1900) pupil of Cesare Mariani

1st LEFT - CHAPEL OF S. CHARLES BORROMEO AND OF THE BLESSED GREGORIO BARBARIGO
Above the altar “St. Charles Borromeo and the blessed Gregory Barbarigo” by Eugenio Porretti (active in the eighteenth century)
For some years contemporary paintings by various artists have been exhibited in the church

SACRISTY
Marco David (active in Rome 1754/65)
On the altar “Crucifixion” maybe by Ermenegildo Costantini (1731/91)

PALAZZETTO DEL GONFALONE (Small Palace of the Banner)
1650 and rebuilt in the second half of the eighteenth century maybe by Marco David (active in Rome 1754/65)
Now is the seat of the Ufficio per la Giustizia Minorile del Ministero della Giustizia (Office for Juvenile Justice of the Ministry of Justice)

No comments:

Post a Comment