Monday, March 11, 2019

St. MARY OF THE OAK TREE

S. MARIA DELLA QUERCIA
Original church built in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, known then as S. Niccolò de Curte
Rebuilt in the years 1727/30 by the great Neapolitan architect Filippo Raguzzini (1680/1771)
Completed in 1731 first by an unknown architect maybe Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758), who had been Raguzzini's assistant, and later by Domenico Gregorini (1692/1777)
Consecrated in 1738
Church of the University of Butchers since 1532 and of the Brotherhood of Butchers since 1800
It was originally facing a small square that enhanced the façade in a much more distinctly theatrical way than the present clearing, connected with Piazza Capodiferro, does now
Radical interior restoration in 1864 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911) who closed four windows and had Paolo Croppi Lega make some colorful stuccos which covered the shades of gray designed by Raguzzini
Restoration 1960/61 after a long period of neglect
“The four small balconies that frame the altar and the entrance were put in place probably after the master left the direction of the works in 1730. The decoration in polychrome marble is very similar to that of the choirs of the Basilica of S. Bartolomeo in Benevento, definitely the work of Raguzzini. The appearance of the church today is quite different from how it was conceived by the Neapolitan architect who had used mild effects blended with shades of gray on gray, visible today in the church of S. Gallicano in Rome by the same architect” (Maria Rita David Sponzilli)
COUNTER FAÇADE
“Wooden Choir” 1731 by Domenico Gregorini, one of the most beautiful in all of Rome
“Via Crucis” with fourteen paintings by Pietro Barbieri (1684/1730) a pupil of Carlo Maratta and by another anonymous follower of Maratta

DOME
“Litany of Our Lady” and SPANDRELS with “Prophets” 1864 by Guido Molinari

ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
Altarpiece “Baptism of Jesus” beginning of 1700s maybe by Pietro Barbieri or by an anonymous artist of the circle of Marco Benefial
In the lunette “Marriage with Joseph” 1864 by Guido Molinari

UNDER THE RIGHT BALCONY
“Wooden Crucifix” by an anonymous artist of the sixteenth century

MAIN ALTAR
On the altar venerated “Our Lady of the Oak Tree in Viterbo” of the beginning of the seventeenth century
Lunette “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” 1864 by Guido Molinari
Relics of Martyrs Sts. Fermus and Fruttuoso

ALTAR ON THE LEFT
On the altar “Crucifixion” beginning of the eighteenth century by an anonymous artist of the circle of Marco Benefial, maybe Filippo Evangelisti (1684/1761)
Lunette “Presentation in the Temple” 1864 by Guido Molinari

CHAPEL ENTRANCE TO THE LEFT
Statue “St. Joseph migrant” by the contemporary sculptor from Vicenza Gianni Visentin (1938)

SACRISTY
Seventeenth and eighteenth century paintings including “Madonna Enthroned with St. Francis” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist from the Emilia region

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