St. MARY IN TRASPONTINA

S. MARIA IN TRASPONTINA

Via della Conciliazione 14

FAÇADE (made with travertine taken, in part, from the Colosseum) and CHURCH UNTIL THE 4^th CHAPEL built in 1566 by Giovanni Sallustio Peruzzi (?/1573), son of Baldassare Peruzzi 

It replaced an earlier church with the same name built closer to Castel Sant'Angelo 

1581/87 building up to the front pillars of the dome by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606)

1635/68 building of the BELL TOWER, TRANSEPT and DOME by Francesco Peparelli (active since about 1626/d. 1641)

The construction of the church lasted therefore 102 years

It was the parish of the gunners of the nearby Castel Sant'Angelo who wanted a low dome, so as not to have their line of fire obstructed

VAULT

“Glory of the Virgin Mary” 1894 by Cesare Caroselli (1847/1927)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. BARBARA

Above the altar “St. Barbara” 1597 one of the masterpieces by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640) for Pietro Aldobrandini

Frescoes “Stories of St. Barbara” 1610/20 by Cesare Rossetti (active 1593/1620) designed by Cavalier d'Arpino

Decorations with military guns, coats of arms and cannons

The breast in full view of the saint worried the patron Pietro Aldobrandini who didn't want his uncle, the Pope Clement VIII (1592/1605), to see the painting

The breast was covered only in the nineteenth century and revealed again in the twentieth century

“The fact that Caravaggio might have found ridiculous the St. Barbara painted by his former employer, can be guessed by the way he quoted her in the first version of St. Matthew and the Angel, destroyed in Berlin during the Second World War: in his cheeky androgynous angel Caravaggio mimicked the drapery and the curvy posture of the plump body of Barbara, a posture known among Mannerist as serpentine, and in particular he mimicked the way the flimsy fabric clung to the soft underbelly and to the just raised thigh, as well as her tousled hair” (Peter Robb)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. CANUTE

On the altar “Ecstasy of St. Canute” 1686 by the Viennese Daniel Seiter (1649/1705)

S. Canute (about 1042/1086) was a Danish king, who was canonized in 1101. He planned to invade England and tried to increase the power of monarchy and church at the expense of nobility and common people

He was murdered in the wooden church of St. Albany in the city of Odense during a popular rebellion

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF CARMEL

In the nineteenth century the “Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel” was put here for veneration

The throne dates to 1922 and the statue, blessed by Pope Pius XI Ratti (1922/39), was crowned on the eve of the Feast of Mount Carmel (July 16) in 1928

On 12 September 2001, the day after the tragedy of the Twin Towers in the U.S., it was once again crowned by Pope John Paul II (1978 /2005), in St. Peter's Square, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the gift of the Scapular

4^th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS

Above the altar “Wooden Crucifix” from the old church

Frescoes “Stories of the Christ” 1649 by Bernardino Gagliardi (1609/1660)

5^th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ALBERT OF TRAPANI

Canvas on the altar “St. Albert of Trapani” and frescoes in the vault “Stories of St. Albert of Trapani” 1614/20 by Antonio Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1568/1629), son of Niccolò Circignani

RIGHT TRANSEPT or CHAPEL OF St. MARY MAGDALENE DE' PAZZI

Built in 1626 on the occasion of the beatification of the Florentine saint

Above the altar “Trinity, Virgin Mary, St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi and St. Joseph” by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609/81) or G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

Vault “Cross and angels with symbols of the Passion of Christ” by Cesare Caroselli (1847/1927)

MAIN ALTAR

1674 Carlo Fontana (1634/1714)

Altarpiece “Icon with the Virgin Mary and Child” 1216 brought from the Holy Land by the Carmelites

Superb ALTAR FRONTAL in opus sectile (inlaid marble)

“Angels” in stucco on the ciborium and in marble at the center by Leonardo Retti (active 1670/1709)

Statues on the doors of jasper at the sides of the ciborium:

On the right “Prophet Elijah” by Antonio Lavaggi (active in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century) and “Prophet Elisha” by Vincenzo Felice (about 1657/1715)

On the left “St. Angelo martyr” by Alessandro Rondoni and “St. Albert of Trapani” by Michel Maille aka Michele Maglia (active in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century)

“An absolute masterpiece is the altar for the Carmelites of S. Maria in Traspontina (...). having started from the very simple idea of a tabernacle, Fontana built a magnificent small temple with double columns in Sicilian jasper, a broken pediment on which there are two angels, by Leonardo Retti, flanking a monumental bronze dome shaped as a crown. The impression made on his contemporaries is evidenced by the initiative of the Confraternity of the Agonizing of S. Maria del Pianto that, in 1675, commissioned to Fontana 'a small temple with columns and a crown as dome' to celebrate the release of a person sentenced to death” (Helmut Hager - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

CHOIR BEHIND THE ALTAR

“Stalls in walnut” 1651 by Filippo Gagliardi (about 1607/1659) also known as Filippo Bizzarro or Filippo delle Prospettive

On the walls to the left “Sacrifice of the Prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel” and “Birth of Jesus”, to the right “Liberation from the plague of the island of Cyprus thanks to S. Pier Tommaso” and “Birth of Mary” 1760/61 by Angelo Papi

LEFT TRANSEPT or CHAPEL OF St. ANDREW CORSINI

Above the altar “Virgin Mary appears to St. Andrew Corsini” by Giovanni Paolo Melchiorri (1664/1745)

Vault “Apparition of St. Andrew Corsini in the Battle of Anghiari” 1697 by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721)

5^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANGELO OF SICILY

Above the altar “Preaching of St. Angelo martyr” and on the sides and vault “Stories of St. Angelo” 1612 by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624), who was buried in this chapel in a tomb now lost

4^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. THERESA OF JESUS

Above the altar “Ecstasy of St. Theresa” 1698 masterpiece by Antonio Gherardi (1638/1702)

Ovals to the side of the beginning of the eighteenth century by Placido Celi

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF Sts. PETER AND PAUL

Columns to which St. Peter and St. Paul would have been tied

Above the altar “Flagellation of Sts. Peter and Paul” and frescoes “Stories of Sts. Peter and Paul” by G.B. Ricci

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ELIJAH

Above the altar “Prophet Elijah between St. Antonio Abate and the blessed Carmelite Franco Lippi from Siena” by Giacinto Calandrucci (1646/1707) a pupil of Carlo Maratta

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE PIETÀ

Above the altar “Pietà” in terracotta of the fifteenth century

“Angels in wood” painted in imitation of marble by artists of the school of Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)

Frescoes of the years 1700/16

ORATORIO OF THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

To the right of the church

Frescoes by the brothers Luigi Garzi (1638/1721) and Sebastiano Garzi

“Glorification of St. Albert” by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)

St. MARY IN THE LITTLE TEMPLE

S. MARIA IN TEMPULO

Via di Valle delle Camene 3/5 - Deconsecrated

End of the sixth century, mentioned by the sources as S. Agata 

Maybe built on the ruins of a temple, from which the name probably derives

Two sides of the BELL TOWER of about 1155 remain

Here was the Fons Camenarum, spring sacred to the Muses (the Camenae were goddesses identified with the Greek Muses): the waters, believed to be miraculous, were used by the Vestal Virgins for their worship 

Attached to the church was a Benedictine monastery until 1222, when it was abolished by Honorius III Savelli (1216/27)

The icon of the Virgin Mary with the Child which used to be here is now preserved in the church of S. Maria del Rosario a Monte Mario 

The church has therefore been deconsecrated for almost 800 years 

Over the centuries it was occupied by private households, used as a barn or even as a studio for artists

Now it belongs to the City of Rome and it is used for civil weddings

St. MARY IN PUBLICOLIS

S. MARIA IN PUBLICOLIS

Via in Publicolis 46

Originally built in the twelfth century

It was known as S. Maria De Publico maybe for the nearby PORTICUS MINUCIA or, more likely, for the nearby VILLA PUBLICA rebuilt here by Domitian (81/96) after replacing the original one (destroyed by the Campus Martius fire in the year 80 AD) with the Diribitorium

In the thirteenth century it came under the patronage of the Santacroce Publicola family who claimed a somewhat unlikely descent from the Roman gens (extended family) of the Valerii Publicolae

Completely rebuilt 1642/43 by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616/95) for Monsignor Marcello Santacroce, who conceived it as a private chapel of the Santacroce family, whose symbol was the pair of pelicans represented also in the façade

Restored in 1727 for Prince Scipione Publicola Santacroce

The fresco on the FAÇADE, “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) from Bologna, has almost disappeared

ON THE RIGHT

“Tomb of Prince Scipione Publicola Santacroce” 1749 by G.B. Maini (1690/1752) with ornamental elements executed in 1750 by Tommaso Righi (1727/1802)

ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

Altarpiece “St. Helena adores the Cross miraculously found on Mount Calvary” 1644 by Raffaello Vanni (1587/1673) from Siena

Helena was the name of the mother of the patron Marcello Santacroce, and it was furthermore believed that the merit of carrying the Cross to Rome was of members of the Santacroce family

MAIN ALTAR

Altarpiece “Birth of the Virgin Mary” 1644 by Raffaello Vanni

“The event of the birth of the Virgin Mary is represented with particular effectiveness by making a interesting fusion of images with a highly symbolic meaning, as the angel holding a crown of stars on the head of the fledgling Virgin Mary, and the scene of domestic life that revolves around St. Anna, lying on bed after giving birth” (Alfredo Marchionne Gunter)

Polychrome marble altar table made in 1727

On the right “Four portraits in oil on copper of lay members of the Santacroce family”

On the left “Four portraits of clergy members of the Santacroce family” 1680 by Alessandro Grimaldi son of Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi

The first portrait of clergyman on the right is Monsignor Prospero Publicola Santacroce, the one who introduced the use of tobacco in Rome from Portugal where he was nuncio. Tobacco was then called Santacroce Grass

ALTAR ON THE LEFT

Altarpiece “St. Francis in Meditation” 1655 by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) a copy of a lost original by Annibale Carracci

ON THE LEFT

“Tomb of the spouses Antonio Publicola Santacroce and Girolama Nari” about 1709 by Giovanni Francesco Zannoli who was inspired by the Bolognetti monuments in the Church of Jesus and Mary

Busts by Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736) with “Winged Death” by Andrea Fucigna (about 1660/1711)

Below “Confessional “ 1708/09 by Giovenale Gauthier

“Among other burials there is also the one of the beautiful Giulia Santacroce, who was said to be the mistress of Cardinal de Bernis. The cardinal would have first met her during a reception at which she showed up with an ample cleavage emblazoned with a cross of diamonds, and he would have rather boldly said: “Princess, I do not know if I should venerate more the Cross or the Calvary...” (Willy Pocino)

St. MARY IN MONTICELLI

S. MARIA IN MONTICELLI

Via di S. Maria in Monticelli 28

Maybe built in the seventh century AD over ruins which determined the mound where the church is and from which it took the name monticelli (mounds)

Maybe they were the ruins of a temple in the area of the Circus Flaminius such as the TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE. Filippo Coarelli reckons the Temple of Neptune was actually located in the area of the Manilis' House

In 1089 Pope Urban II (1088/99) transferred here the relics of five martyrs from Palermo

Restored in 1101 for Paschal II (1099/1118)

It was known as Sancta Maria in Monticellis Arenulae de Urbe

1715 transformed for Clement XI Albani (1700/21) by Matteo Sassi (1646/1723) who also designed the FAÇADE with the collaboration of Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753)

1860 restoration by Francesco Azzurri (1831/1901) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) with polychrome marble taken from the columns of the previous church, as they were found embedded in the pillars of the eighteenth-century restoration

Since 1726 it is officiated by the Fathers of the Christian Doctrine

VAULT

“Six heroines of the Old Testament: Esther, Bathsheba, Deborah, Jael, Abighail and Judith” representatives of the main glories of Our Lady, 1860 by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)

“Highly regarded by the popes, Cesare Mariani began his copious activities under Pius IX in the mid-1800s, and continued until the end of the century under Leo XIII, literally covering of paint vaults, pillars and domes of 13 Roman churches. Appreciated by the House of Savoy, he also contributed to the definition of the image of the emerging unitary Italian state, winning the competition for the first public commission of the new kingdom: the frescoes in the Hall of the Majority, at the current Treasury Palace, where the first ever Council of Ministers Italian met. (...) An artist who played an important role in that particular historical moment of transition between the papal city and the 'Third Rome' (...) His art is defined by critics as 'very flexible', as he knew to adapt it to any client with great ease” (Lauretta Colonnnelli - Corriere della Sera on 3/25/01)

COUNTER FAÇADE

Above the organ “Moses and the Burning Bush” and “Jacob's Dream” by Cesare Mariani

On the choir “St. Cecilia among the angels” by Tommaso Minardi (1787/1871)

To the left of the entrance there is a medieval fragment of a fresco representing perhaps “Paschal II”

FRESCOES ON THE PILLARS

“Evangelists” 1860 by the nineteenth-century painter Ercole Ruspi

1^st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Above the altar “Agony in the Garden” by Odoardo Vicinelli (1683/1755)

On the right wall “Assumption” maybe by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Above the altar “Flagellation” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist maybe Antonio Carracci (about 1589/1618), son of Annibale

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Above the altar “S. Ninfa refuses to sacrifice to idols” by G.B. Puccetti (1593/about 1670)

On the left wall “Madonna and Child with martyrs of Palermo” by Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774) formerly on the main altar

AT THE END OF THE RIGHT NAVE - CHAPEL OF JESUS ​​OF NAZARETH

Altarpiece “Jesus Christ” by an unknown seventeenth century artist

This image is famous for a miracle which took place in 1854: apparently the eyes of Jesus in this painting moved

Frescoes of the beginning of the twentieth century by Eugenio Cisterna (1862/1933)

“Tombstone of Gregoria de' Rusticelli” of the fifteenth century

APSE

Fragment of mosaic of the twelfth century with “Head of the Redeemer”

MAIN ALTAR

Relics of the martyrs of Palermo bishop Maximilian, Eustosius, Proculus, Golbodeus and the young girl Ninfa

Above the altar “Presentation of Mary in the Temple” by Alfredo Bea

Walls of the presbytery on the right “Mothers offer their children to Jesus”, on the left “Jesus teaches in the Temple” by Cesare Mancini

AT THE END OF THE LEFT NAVE - CHAPEL OF CESARE DE BUS

Founder of the Congregation of Priests of the Christian Doctrine, exhumed in 1975 when he was beatified

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “Preaching of St. John the Baptist” by G.B. Puccetti (1593/about 1670)

Under the altar body of S. Fortunato martyr of the second century

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “Wooden Crucifix” traditionally attributed to Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/about 1325) in front of which it seems St. Bridget used to pray

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “Flagellation” by the Frenchman Jean Baptiste Van Loo (1684/1745), who studied in Rome with Benedetto Luti

St. MARY IN MONTERONE

S. MARIA IN MONTERONE

Via Monterone 75

Mentioned in the sources for the first time in 1186

Rebuilt in 1682

It was entrusted in 1728 to the Mercedari monks of the Congregation of Holy Mary of Mercy for the ransom of slaves

Restored with the raising of the floor in 1754 maybe by Domenico Gregorini (1692/1777)

Restored again in 1848

The church is located at the center of the area where there was once the STAGNUM AGRIPPAE, an the ancient artificial lake of the Baths of Agrippa

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Tombstone of Giovanni Bazzano” d. 1406 originally embedded in the floor

EIGHT ANCIENT COLUMNS

RIGHT NAVE - ALTAR OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

Painting “Assumption” 1830 by Giovanni Gagliardi

AT THE END OF THE RIGHT NAVE - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH

Above the altar “Madonna with Child, St. John the Baptist and an Angel” of the end of the seventeenth century

On the right wall “Tomb of Anna Moroni” 1647

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ALTAR

“Memory funeral of John Rinuccini” 1730

MAIN ALTAR

“Sts. Peter Nolasco, Peter Paschasius and two slaves in chains venerating the Virgin Mary and Child” maybe by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87) or of his pupil Gaspare Serenari (1707/59)

TO THE LEFT OF THE ALTAR

“Tomb of Cardinal Stefano Durazzo” 1667, with winged skeleton

AT THE END OF THE LEFT NAVE - CHAPEL OF St. ALPHONSUS MARIA DE' LIGUORI

1848 Pietro Camporese il Giovane (1792/1873)

Above the altar “Stories of St. Alphonsus” 1848, on the right “St. Alphonsus in ecstasy in front of the Virgin Mary” and on the left “St. Alphonsus gives the rule to the Redemptorists” by Donato De Vivo

On the left “Tomb of Vincenzo Campanari” 1858

BUILDING OF THE CONVENT OF S. MARIA IN MONTERONE

To the right of the church

1735 Francesco Bianchi for the brothers Mercedari, with bizarre and interesting decoration on the façade

St. MARY IN MONTSERRAT

S. MARIA IN MONSERRATO

Via di Monserrato 115

Begun in 1518 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane (1483/1546) on the area of the Ospizio di S. Nicola dei Catalani (Hospice of St. Nicholas of the Catalans) of mid-1300s to emulate the Church of St. James (S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli) in Piazza Navona sponsored by the Crown of Castile

Completed with the vault of the presbytery in the years 1673/75 by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)

Remodeled in the years 1820/22 by Giuseppe Camporese (1763/1822) with his nephew Pietro Camporese the Younger (1792/1873)

LOWER PART OF THE FAÇADE

Two levels 1585/93 by Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da Volterra (1535/94)

PORTAL

Maybe by G.B. Contini who would have also designed the sculpture with “Madonna and Child cutting the rock with a saw” in memory of the sanctuary of Montserrat, which is Spanish for mountain sawn

The saw that is part of the sculpture is a genuine carpenter saw

UPPER PART OF THE FAÇADE

1929/35 by Salvatore Rebecchini (1891/1977)

Originally it was the church of the Aragonese and Catalans, now it's the Spanish national church

INTERIOR

Nineteenth-century decoration by Giuseppe Camporese

CENTRAL NAVE

On the right “Death of the Virgin Mary” by Francesco Nappi (about 1565/1630), on the left “Coronation of the Virgin” by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

1^st RIGHT - ROCCI CHAPEL

Above the altar “St. Diego of Alcantara” 1606 07 by Annibale Carracci (1560/1609) and maybe Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641), formerly in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli

On the right “Mausoleum of the two popes of the Spanish Borgia family: Callistus III (1455/58) and Alexander VI (1492/1503)” 1889 by Felipe Moratilla

The sarcophagus contains mixed in the same coffin, the bones of both popes, uncle and nephew, transferred here in 1881. The names of the two popes under the medallions were mistakenly reversed

Below “Tomb of Alfonso XIII” King of Spain from his birth in 1886 until 1931 when he was deposed by the Second Spanish Republic and he went to exile in Rome, where he died in 1941. He was the last Spanish king before Franco's dictatorship

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE MOST HOLY MARY OF THE ANNUNCIATION

“Annunciation”, “Birth of Mary” and “Assumption” by Francesco Nappi (about 1565/1630)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF PILAR

“Our Lady of Pilar and Saints” by Francisco Preciado (1713/89), a pupil of Sebastiano Conca

On the right “Assumption” by Frans Van De Casteele (1541/1621), on the left “Triumph of the Immaculate Conception” by Louis Cousin aka Luigi Gentile (1606/67), both Belgian painters

MAIN ALTAR

“Crucifixion” 1564/65 by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80) a pupil of Perin del Vaga

The painting was originally in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli and it reveals its full adherence to the precepts of the Council of Trent which had just ended, in 1563

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JAMES

Statue of “St. James” masterpiece by Jacopo Tatti aka Jacopo Sansovino (1486/1570)

On the left “Tomb of Bishop Alfonso de Paradinas” about 1486 by Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)

On the right “Tomb of Juan de Fuensalida” d. 1498, secretary of Alexander VI Borgia maybe by Luigi Capponi (active end of 1400s/beginning of 1500s), a pupil of Andrea Bregno

“Funerary monuments” by the school of Andrea Bregno

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF MONTSERRAT

Magnificent stucco decoration of the beginning of the eighteenth century maybe by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)

Lunettes and spandrels by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

On the right fresco “Miracle of St. Raymond of Peñafort”

On the left “View of the mountain of Montserrat” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANNA

Sculptural group “Virgin Mary, St. Anne and the Child” 1544 by Tommaso Boscoli aka Maso (about 1501-03/after 1578), formerly in S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli

According to Vasari Tommaso Boscoli would have cooperated with Michelangelo in carving the recumbent figure of the pope of the Mausoleum of Julius II in the church of S. Peter in Chains

“This work, derived from the similar group of Andrea Sansovino in St. Augustine in Rome, with references also to that of Francesco da Sangallo in Orsanmichele in Florence, and in some details referring to Michelangelo's patterns, shows uncertainty of composition and an archaic taste” (Giancarlo Bojani - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Spanish College

CONFERENCE ROOM

Bas-relief “Crucifixion and Saints” with the upper part maybe executed by Paolo Taccone aka Paul Romano (about 1415/77)

“Tomb of Cardinal Pietro Montoya” d. 1630 with architecture by Nicola Torriani (active in Rome about 1601/1636) and outstanding bust sculpted in about 1621 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680), an early work showing already a fine technique and his ability to reveal a psychological insight of the sitter

The marvelous busts “Damned Soul” and “Blessed Soul” now in the Palazzo di Spagna were also part of the monument

“He shows those qualities of realism noted in the Santoni's portrait but with such clarity and accuracy that make the previous portrait look like rough and unrefined. (...) It is sharp and clear as a whole and in its parts; it was considered the apex of realistic portraiture” (Howard Hibbard)

St. MARY IN DOMNICA

S. MARIA IN DOMNICA

Via della Navicella 10

Maybe built in the seventh century over the BARRACKS OF THE FIFTH COHORT OF THE FIRE FIGHTERS, part of the Praedia Dominica, i.e. the areas belonging to the emperor, hence the name of the church

Rebuilt in about 820 for Pope Paschal I (817/824)

Restored 1514 by Andrea Contucci aka Andrea Sansovino (1460/1529) for Leo X Medici (1513 /21)

CEILING

Wood paneled with symbols inspired by the Marian litanies 1566 for Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici

Frieze by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) and Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546)

MAIN NAVE

Decorative frescoes with “Litany to the Virgin” 1876 by Alessandro Mantovani, Giovanni Brunelli and Luigi Roncati

COLUMNS

Sixteen made out of gray granite and two of pink granite of Aswan

FRESCOES OF THE SIDE ALTARS

1920/30 Gisberto Ceracchini (1889/1982)

“He interrupted his studies after primary school to devote himself to painting as an autodidact. As he himself said, (Marsan, 1983) he had no other masters but nature and himself. His Tuscan origin was also instrumental in orienting him towards studies and the choice of the great artistic-figurative local tradition as a source of inspiration. Since 1915 he settled in Rome, where he met the circle of artists and writers hanging out in the 'third room' of the Aragno Coffee Bar (in Via del Corso), a circle which would have great influence in his cultural formation” (Susanna Zatti - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani)

MOSAICS

Above the arch “Christ between two Angels and Apostles”, below “Moses and Elijah”, in the apse “Mary and Child Enthroned with Angels and Pope Paschal I kneeling down” dating back to the years 817/824 during the pontificate of Paschal I

“Looking at the people, Paschal I (depicted with the square nimbus to indicate that he was living when the mosaic was made) appears as if he is delivering the Virgin Mary to the faithful and, through Her, Jesus. (...) The features of both the Virgin Mary and the angels are executed according to the artistic canon Byzantine and monastic and not according to the Roman iconography of Mary as Queen. It could be the work of Asian artists who came to Rome during the iconoclast persecution” (Official web site of S. Maria in Domnica - www.santamariaindomnica.it )

FRESCOS IN THE APSE

Three episodes from the life of Sts. Lawrence and Ciriaca from the left: “Healing of St. Ciriaca kneeling in front of St. Lawrence”, “Washing of the Feet”, “Distribution of goods to the poor by St. Lawrence according to the directives of Pope Sixtus II”

In small lateral lunettes “St. Zachary with priestly vestments and censer, with, in the lower part, St. John the Baptist and the angel inspiring St. John the Evangelist” maybe by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703) or by his pupil G.B. Lenardi. The paintings were irretrievably ruined by some repainting applied in later periods

“In the paintings of S. Maria in Domnica are present some of the compositional features typical of both Lazzaro Baldi and G.B. Lenardi as the construction of a space created with a vanishing point, denied, however, by architectural elements which make up almost wings of a stage set within which the scene takes place. It is a scheme also appearing in the canvas by Baldi 'Solomon worships idols' and 'St. John of God cure plague victims' kept in the Galleria Spada in Rome” (Andreina Draghi)

At the end of the naves “Ancient Roman Sarcophagi”

St. MARY IN COSMEDIN

S. MARIA IN COSMEDIN

Piazza Bocca della Verità 18

Sixth century AD over the ARA MAXIMA OF HERCULES (Hercules' High Altar) an extremely ancient temple, rebuilt in the second century BC

Enlarged in 782 by Adrian I (772/795) and called Kosmidion (adorned) for the beautiful decorations: to make building material for the extension, a large marble temple, which used to be behind the church, was burned for an entire year

Restored in about 860 by Nicholas I (858/867), who also built the adjacent building known as the PALACE OF NICHOLAS I which he used occasionally as his dwelling

“He built it as a large and spacious house where, when necessary, the popes could take refuge and settle comfortably with their families. He fortified it and supplied it with ramparts and with a ring of walls and battlements. It was built over previous constructions by Hadrian and over the Ara Massima” (Giuseppe Massimi)

Restored further in about 1119 by Gelasius II (1118/19), who raised up to two meters the floor level, and in 1123 by Callistus II (1119/24) who consecrated it and transformed the Palace of Nicholas I in PALAZZO DIACONALE (Diaconate Palace). It was later changed profoundly and it is currently known as PALAZZO DELLA PANTANELLA

In 1719 the FAÇADE of the church was rebuilt by Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753)

In the years 1893/99 it was restored to the Romanesque style by G.B. Giovenale (1849/1934)

It is officiated with the Greek-Melkite Rite

BELL TOWER

Twelfth century. Bell dating back to 1289 still working

PORTICO

“Monument of the prelate Alfano” about 1120, camerarius (assistant of the pope and administrator of the church's assets) of Callistus II, perhaps the promoter of the renewed Roman classicism of the early twelfth century

In an ARCH there are traces of paintings with “Annunciation” and “Nativity” of the fifteenth century

Opposite the main door two fragments of a jaw of a large toothed whale are hung, maybe a sperm whale

“Nothing can be said for sure about their provenance. They are well preserved and not fossilized. It will not be out of place to mention here that close by there was the large inland port of the Emporium and the Forum Piscatorium (fish market), and that in the latter, precisely in the walls of the church of S. Angelo in Pescheria, is still stuck a Roman tombstone which reads in Latin: 'The heads of fish longer than this marble are given to the Conservatives until the wee fins'. Will there be any relation between these facts and the bones?” (Giuseppe Massimi)

Famous “Mouth of Truth” placed here in 1632

It weighs about 1,300 kg (1.4 tons)

It is a marble manhole cover of the classical age representing the face maybe of a river god or of Okéanos (ocean). It is connected to the famous legend according to which the hand would be cut to the liars who would introduce it into the slot representing the mouth

Recently it has been convincingly suggested that this famous manhole cover was originally placed in the center of the floor of the Pantheon. Others believe it comes from the nearby Temple of Hercules Victor or Olivarius

BARBARIC PORTAL

Maybe of the ninth century with sculptures “Evangelists and decoration with plants and animals” signed by Johannes de Venetia

FLOOR

Eighth century in opus sectile (inlaid marble), one of the best preserved in all of Rome

NAVE

Remains of frescos of the centuries VIII, IX and XII

“The cycle of the twelfth century overlaps a previous decoration, comprising heads of prophets within medallions, which appear also on the right wall, dated by G.B. Giovanale at the time of Nicholas I (858/867). Hélène Toubert, in her fundamental study of the early Christian revival in Roman painting of the twelfth century, judged the cycle of S. Maria in Cosmedin as the most extraordinary demonstration of the ability of Roman workshops to borrow from the classical repertoire: this is revealed especially in the compositional idea that unifies the levels and the individual stories in an ornamental texture of an absolutely antique flavor” (Serena Romano)

“Ten columns” of the Flavian period (69/96) inserted into the central and left naves, believed to have belonged to the Statio Annonae (the seat of the prefect), but more likely to a SHRINE IN CONNECTION WITH THE ALTAR OF HERCULES

ALTAR TO THE LEFT 

In a glass case is visible a “Skull attributed to St. Valentine”, a Roman priest, who was martyred in Rome, not to be confused with the patron saint of lovers, who lived during the same period and whose relics are kept in the city of Terni 

In the church there are plenty of other bones believed to be relics of saints

CANOPY

1294 by Deodato Cosma the Younger, signed Deodatus me fecit on the left side of the base of the front pediment

MAIN ALTAR

1123 in red granite

CHAIR

Dedication to the Virgin Mary, engraved for camerarius Alfano

APSE

Frescoes of the eleventh century, much restored

CHAPEL OF THE CHOIR ON THE RIGHT

1687 Tommaso Mattei

“Madonna and Child” fifteenth century, known as Theotókos (Mother of God), much restored

SACRISTY

“Epiphany” one of the fragments of mosaic with gold background of about 705 from the destroyed chapel of Pope John VII (705/707)

The Chapel of John VII was also known as Oratory of the Virgin Mary and it used to be in the right part of the ancient Basilica of St. Peter, near the entrance

This is the best preserved fragment. The others are in the Vatican Grottoes, in the church of S. Marco in Florence and in the Duomo of Orte

“It survives in it all the finesse and excellence of Roman art from the best times of the empire. This finesse and excellence survived the centuries and ignoring the rigidity of Byzantine forms, in the heydays of that stiff style, it gave us this masterpiece” (G.B. Giovenale)