St. YVES OF THE BRETONS

S. IVO DEI BRETONI

Vicolo della Campana 8

Formerly known since the year 600 as S. Andrea de Mortariis or de Marmorariis

Granted by Callistus III Borgia (1455/58) to the French nation of the province of Brittany and dedicated to St. Yves (1253/1303) patron saint of lawyers

Next to the church there were a hospice and a hospital for Breton pilgrims, now no longer existing

Restored in the years 1557/61

Entirely rebuilt in smaller size in the years 1875/77 by Luca Carimini (1830/90), who also designed the façade in 1878, at the expense of the French Government to which the church belongs

The internal reconstruction was completed only in 1890

The new church was built with the orientation opposite than the old church

FAÇADE

“Medallion embossed with the Virgin Mary and Child” attributed to the Della Robbia family with “Sts. Bernard and Yves” added in 1878 by Adriano Ferrara (1851/92)

“If the façade is shown as a combination of gentle classical elements, assembled in an orderly manner, the interior is to be a pleasant surprise. The church is rich in color and architectural elements in the purest style of the Roman tradition, with the presence of polychrome marble and granite columns, some of which came from the previous church and reused in order to confuse the unprepared visitor, given the simplicity of the gray exterior” (Massimo Alemanno)

RIGHT CHAPEL - CHAPEL OF THE SACRED HEART

In the basin of the apse, divided into five compartments, there are five medallions embossed with “Angels and scrolls” by Paolo Bartolini (1859/1930) who supervised the stucco decoration of the whole church

In the band under the basin four medallions painted with “French Saints Dionysius, Redegonda, Germaine Cousin and Francis de Sales” by Riccardo Mancinelli

MAIN ALTAR

In the apse fresco “Christ Adored by the French Saints Yves, Martin, Clotilde, Louis, Bernard and Genevieve” 1881 by Ludovico Seitz (1844/1908)

LEFT CHAPEL - CHAPEL OF THE VIRGIN MARY

In the basin of the apse, divided into five compartments, there are five medallions embossed with “Life of the Virgin” by Paolo Bartolini

In the band under the basin four medallions painted with “Sts. John the Evangelist, Anna, Joachim and John the Baptist” by Riccardo Mancinelli