The first
mention of the church in the sources dates back to 1192
The name
derives from the name of the neighboring tenth region of Augustus, the Capitolium
Restored
and re-consecrated in 1216 by Honorius III Savelli (1216/27)
Rebuilt in
the years 1619/48 on the current location with a different orientation: the
façade of the first church overlooked Piazza Lovatelli
It was
rebuilt again by the will of Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) as a vow after the
plague of 1656
Begun in
1662, opened incomplete in 1667. It is the masterpiece of Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) who designed the FAÇADE as well
It was
consecrated only in 1728
“Carlo
Rainaldi after his father's death in 1655, developed an independent and
grandiose style as it combines stylistic elements of the late sixteenth century
and Baroque ones. The receding surface of the façade confined by the pillars
shows influences from Pietro da Cortona (Sts. Luke and Martina), while the
theme of the double aedicula on the two levels is common in northern Italy. In
addition, the abundant use of columns, typical of the Roman style, with the
projecting pediments adds volume to the structure punctuated by dramatic
luministic variations. Inside, the visitor's gaze, driven by the progression of
the free-standing columns and by the rhythm of the arches decorated in gold,
goes up to the domed sanctuary at the back of the church” (Carlo Bertelli,
Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“One of the
most interesting and significant of the seventeenth century in Rome. In this
façade Rainaldi, elaborating the style of the churches of the sixteenth century
(e.g. the church of S. Susanna by Carlo Maderno), articulates the plain
structure, assimilating it to the most original and complex linguistic research
of the period. He uses, in fact, a double Corinthian order that he inserts,
alternatively, both inside and outside of the building mass, as if to replicate
a sophisticated operation of excavation: a solution, in fact, aimed at
determining the presence of composition on three levels. This complexity is
also to be found in the design of the interior space, visible in the assembly
of three independent architectural units, detectable in the layout”
(Enciclopedia Treccani)
“Monument to
Francesco Nardi” of the early nineteenth century
Above the
altar “St. Michael banishes
the devil” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)
The
painting was designed for the church of St.
Eustace and it was moved here in 1738
Designed by
Carlo Rainaldi with stucco decorations by Michel
Maille aka Michele Maglia (active in Rome in the second half of the
seventeenth century), Lorenzo Ottoni
(1648/1736), Francesco Cavallini (active 1672/1703) and Francesco
Baratta (about 1590/about 1663)
Above the
altar “St. Anna, Joachim
and Mary” 1685 by the Neapolitan Luca Giordano
(1634/1705)
“After
attending the studio of Jusepe de Ribera, only thirteen years old, in 1645, he
went to Rome, where, after having exercised copying from the great masters,
especially the careful study of the works of Raphael, Michelangelo, the
Carraccis and Polidoro da Caravaggio, he collaborated with Pietro da Cortona.
He visited Bologna, Parma and Venice (...). In Florence (1684/86) he decorated
the ceiling of the hall of Palazzo Medici-Riccardi; in Spain (1692/1702), where
he was called by Charles II, he painted at the Escorial, at the Royal Palace of
Madrid, in the Cathedral of Toledo. In 1702 he returned to Naples passing for
Genoa (he worked in Palazzo Balbi, later Palazzo Reale). The last among its
great projects is the fresco paintings in the Chapel of the Treasury in S.
Martino in Naples (1704). We also want to mention the destroyed the frescoes of
the church in the Abbey of Monte Cassino (1667 and 1691). (...) In his works
there was a range of interpretation and a pictorial gusto that marks the
transition from the Baroque to the Rococo style. He was also known by the
nickname of Luca Fapresto (Luca hurry up!), from his father's exhortations to
work” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
Vault “Glory of St. Anna” maybe by Giovanni
Coli (1636/81) and Filippo Gherardi (1643/1704)
or, less likely, by Michelangelo Ricciolini
(1654/1715)
On the left
there is a cast of the Altar of
Apollo
whose original, now in the church of S.
Galla, was used as an altar in the destroyed church of S. Maria
in Portico
Above the
altar “Virgin Mary with
Sts. John the Baptist and Nicholas” by an unknown artist
of the early nineteenth century
In the FOUR
SPACES IN CORRESPONDENCE OF THE TWO ARCHES OF THE DOME: discs with reliefs representing
the four plants to which the Virgin Mary is compared in the verses of
Ecclesiastes: olive, vine, cedar of Lebanon and rose
Above the
altar “St. Zita” by an unknown nineteenth-century artist
Tombs of
the Vaselli family including ROMOLO VASELLI:
From being
a carter he became one of the biggest landowners and builder in Italy, thanks
to fascism from which he obtained as a result also the title of Count in
exchange for substantial funding
He was
president for only three months of the football A.S. Rome, from which he
resigned after his three sons toasted publicly after the victory of S.S. Lazio,
the team they used to support, in the Rome derby
The son
Mario Vaselli was vice president and chief financier of S.S. Lazio in the years
1954/60, during which the team managed to get its first title ever, the Coppa
Italia in 1958
The
Vasellis were owners of all the land on which later arose the neighborhood of
Tor Bella Monaca. All in all it has been calculated they owned the property of
about 30,000 apartments in Rome, Ostia and Anzio
ON THE
RIGHT IN THE AREA OF THE DOME
“Tomb of Cardinal
Bartolomeo Pacca” 1863 by the American Ferdinando Petrich (1798/1872)
in Purist style
Bartolomeo
Pacca was the mastermind in 1820 of the first protection legislation ever
enacted against the indiscriminate export of works of art
At the end
of the nave on the right SMALL CHAPEL OF THE RELICS
“Baroque Machinery” 1667 by Carlo
Rainaldi (1611/91) maybe designed by the Maltese Melchiorre Caffà (1636/67) or by Giovanni
Antonio De Rossi (1616/95) and executed by Ercole
Ferrata (1610/86) and Giovanni Paul Schor
(1615/74)
Ercole
Ferrata maybe executed faithfully the sculptural model that Melchiorre Caffà
had designed in 1667
In the
middle picture in foil and enamel “S. Maria in Portico
in Campitelli” of the eleventh century known as Salus Populi Romani (Health of
the Roman People), or even Romanae Portus Securitatis (Safety of the
Port of Rome)
It was
originally located in the Portico
d'Ottavia and it was worshiped during the plague in the later
destroyed church of S. Maria in Portico, hence the official name of the
new church of S. MARIA IN PORTICO IN CAMPITELLI (St. Mary at the Portico
in Campitelli)
APSIDAL
BASIN
“Alexander VII offers
the model of the new church to the Virgin Mary” 1925 by G.B.
Conti
Above the
altar “Birth of St. John
the Baptist” 1698 by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio
(1639/1709) formerly in the Altieri Chapel
Underneath “Tomb of Cardinal
Massimo Massimi” with bas-relief of Guido Veroi
Designed by
Mattia De Rossi (1637/95)
Above the
altar “Conversion of St.
Paul”
about 1685 by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97)
Vault “Glory of St. Paul” by Michelangelo
Ricciolini (1654/1715)
At the
sides “Pyramidal tombs of Cardinal Raimondo
Capizucchi and of his mother Ortensia Marescotti” by Mattia De Rossi
Designed by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)
Above the
altar “Glory of the Blessed Giovanni Leonardi” 1861 by the Roman Marcello Sozzi pupil of Tommaso Minardi, replacing the
altar piece by Baciccio which was moved to the area of the dome
The body of the Blessed Giovanni Leonardi, the patron saint of pharmacists,
is exposed under the canvas
In the
vault fresco “Glory of St. John
the Baptist” about 1698 by Ludovico Gimignani
Statues of “Angels”
by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725)
On top of
the frame “Angels” by Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736)
and Antonio Lavaggi (active in Rome in the
second half of the seventeenth century)
About 1698 Sebastiano Cipriani (about 1660/1740)
Marble
altarpiece “Holy Family and
Ludovica Albertoni” by Lorenzo Ottoni
Vault “Assumption of the
Virgin Mary” and “Angels” 1702 by Giuseppe Passeri
(1654/1714)
On the left
“Tomb of Angelo Altieri” by Giuseppe
Mazzuoli with drapery by Michel Maille
aka Michele Maglia (active in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth
century)
On the
right “Tomb of Vittoria
Altieri Parabiacchi” by Antonio Lavaggi
ROOM TO THE
LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE
“Tomb of Cardinal Giuseppe Bofondi” by Francesco Fabj-Altini (1830/1906)
SACRISTY
Designed by Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)
It was
called Sala Baldini (Baldini Hall) by the name of the parish priest who
helped and protected many Jewish people during World War II
HALL OF THE
TREASURY
“Reliquary”
of the thirteenth century to house a relic of the wood of the Cross
“Pseudo
altarpiece of Gregory Nazianzen” by the aurifex Gregorio executed
with the technique of micro-mosaic
CONVENT OF
THE MOTHER OF GOD
To the right of the church
Formerly
belonging to the Order of Regular Clerks of the Mother of God, now divided into
apartments
External
decorations and windows 1724 by Filippo Raguzzini
(1680/1771) and Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758)
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