St. LAWRENCE AT THE SOURCE

S. LORENZO IN FONTE

Via Urbana 50

Known as Oratory of St. Lawrence since 1318

1543 Domenico De Ario from Ticino for Cardinal Juan Alvarez de Toledo

Renovated in 1630 by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44)

The church is also known as Sts. LAWRENCE AND HIPPOLYTUS and it seems that originally there were two separate oratories in the area dedicated to the two saints: the Oratory of St. Hippolytus of the fourth century and the Oratory of St. Lawrence corresponding to this church

SMALL BELL TOWER of 1734

FAÇADE

It was rebuilt in the nineteenth century

In the basement dating back to the ancient Roman times there is the well in which, according to tradition, St. Lawrence was imprisoned in the year 258 AD

The urban prefect had ordered him to deliver the riches of the church and he showed up with a group of poor people. With the water of the well he had baptized his jailer Hippolytus who converted and was executed also

COUNTER FAÇADE

“Madonna and Child” an early work by the Venetian Carlo Saraceni (1579/1620)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY IMMACULATE

Restored in 1951

Above the entrance of the chapel “Funerary memory of Cardinal Giustino Olivieri” 1632 by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS

In the vault fragment of a fresco with “Eternal God”, the only remnant of the disappearance decoration of about 1628 by G.B. Speranza (about 1600/40)

MAIN ALTAR

“St. Lawrence baptizes Hippolytus and his family” by Andrea Camassei (1602/49)

“The painting is a typical example of the Roman Classicism of the thirties of the seventeenth century, and it took place in the cultural area that referred to Domenichino and Nicolas Poussin, the leading exponent of which was Andrea Sacchi” (Sandra Suatoni)

On the right “Martyrdom of St. Lawrence” and on the left “Charity of St. Lawrence” by Marco Marco aka Marco del Ruspoli from Civita Castellana (1712/78) little known pupil of Marco Benefial

“Judging from the rare works attributed to him (the only other painting that is certainly his is the Blessed Joseph Calasanz in the Church of the Stigmata), Caprinozzi was an eclectic artist who mixed components of the seventeenth century derived from Bologna with strong references to Benefial and Trevisani in the coloring and in the pathetic cadences” (Sandra Suatoni)

CHAPEL OF THE LEFT

Altarpiece “The Martyrdom of Sts. John and Paul” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

ON THE LEFT WALL

“Virgin Mary between Sts. Margaret and Elizabeth of Hungary” by an anonymous artist of the end of the seventeenth-century

SACRISTY

“Marble bust of Pope Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44)” by an unknown artist from the workshop of Gian Lorenzo Bernini

St. EGIDIO

S. EGIDIO

Piazza S. Egidio 3a

1630 for Filippo Colonna who also wanted to dedicate it to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

It was built in the area of the older church S. Lorenzo in Janiculo or De Curtibus

TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE

“Funeral Monument of Veronica Rondinini Origo” by Carlo Fontana (1634/1714)

MAIN ALTAR

“Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Simon Stock” about 1630 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49)

In the chancel “Virgin and Sts. Teresa and Joseph” by Andrea Pozzo (1642/1709)

CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“St. Egidio” by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio (1552/1626)

In the monastery, since 1968, there are the headquarters of the Comunità di S. Egidio (Community of St. Egidio) a “public association of lay people of the Catholic Church” formed by about 50,000 members living in more than 70 countries around the world, dedicated to communicating the Gospel and its implementation in practice, helping the poor, the sick and those in need of help

In the MONASTERY there is also the

Museo di Roma in Trastevere

Museum of Rome in the Trastevere District

Section of the Museo di Roma (Museum of Rome) opened in 1977 in the wing renovated by Attilio Spaccarelli (1890/1975)

It show aspects of everyday Roman life from the late 1700s to the end of 1800s

Six “Roman Scenes” depicting life-size aspects of everyday Roman life in the nineteenth century:

A pharmacy, the depot of a wine wagon, the courtyard of an inn where one could dance the saltarello (a Roman folk dance), the interior of an inn, a public square with a public scribe and two pipers in front of a shrine

“Nativity scene” set in Rome in the nineteenth century

Materials belonging to the Roman poet Trilussa (1871/1950) donated after his death to the City of Rome, shown in part in the so-called TRILUSSA ROOM including a “Vase of the deers” in bronze 1903/06 by Duilio Cambellotti (1876/1960)

Terracotta sculpture by Achille Pinelli (1809/41)

PAINTINGS

Series of paintings of “Vanished Rome” of the end of the nineteenth century by Roesler Franz (1845/1907)

“Night View of Rome” by Amedeo Simonetti (1874/1922)

“Fantastic view of the Palatine Hill” by Carl Friederch Seiffert (1809/91)

Watercolor “The fishmonger in Portico d'Ottavia” about 1824 by the Englishman Samuel Prout (1783/1852)

“Piazza Colonna at night” by Pasquale Ruggero (1851/1915)

“Lunch in the country” in 1858 by Vincenzo Morani (1809/70)

Small views by Diego Angeli (1869/1937)

“The seller of hot chestnuts in Via Sistina” 1867 by Arnoldo Corrodi (1846/74)

PANTHEON (third part)

4^th AEDICULA ON THE LEFT

Statue “S. Anastasio” 1717 by Francesco Moderati (about 1680/after 1724)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Crucifix” of the fifteenth century

On the left painting “Pentecost” 1790 by the Roman Pietro Labruzzi (1738/1805) who was court painter to the king of Poland Stanislaw August

On the right “Monument to Cardinal Ercole Consalvi” 1824 Secretary of State of Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23) who had signed for the pope in the agreement with Napoleon in 1,801 and relief “Returning to Pius VII of the provinces of the Papal States” works by the Danish Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770/1844)

3^rd AEDICULA ON THE LEFT

Statue “Virgin Mary of the Rock” 1523/24 by Lorenzo Lotti aka Lorenzetto (1490/1541) for Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) who had asked Lorenzetto to sculpt the statue to be located above his own tomb

On the right “Plaque in memory of Maria Bibbiena”, nephew of the powerful Cardinal Bernard Bibbiena and “girlfriend” of Raphael. In fact, the artist's letters show that, despite the pressure of the cardinal, he was absolutely determined not to get married

Below is the inscription of the “Tomb of the immense Annibale Carracci (1560/1609)” who wished to be buried here in 1609 alongside Raphael, his great inspiration

On the left “Bust of Raphael” 1833 by Giuseppe De Fabris (1790/1860)

“To Raphael we return for the beautiful forms he lent to antiquity as we had dreamed them, and as long as the world of the Greeks and the Romans will be for us (...) not just a cultural thing, but an aspiration and a desire, until then, when we will read the Greek and Latin poets, we will picture their images as Raphaelite images, or derived from these, and we will see that world as Raphael saw it: a world in which the birds at dawn never cease their singing” (Bernard Berenson)

On the tomb of Raphael is engraved in Latin a couplet by Pietro Bembo, which translated into Italian reads: Here lies Raphael the one by whom, the great mother of all things, Nature, feared to be won and, once he died, she feared to die herself

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Tomb of Umberto I” (king of Italy 1878/1900) 1900 by Giuseppe Sacconi (1854/1905), the same architect of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, with a slab of alabaster and reliefs at the sides with female allegorical figures “Goodness” by Eugenio Maccagnani (1852/1930) and “Bounty” by Arnaldo Zocchi (1851/1922)

“Tomb of Margherita of Savoy” 1926 wife and cousin of Umberto I

On the occasion of a visit of Queen Margherita of Savoy in Naples, the Neapolitan pizza makers invented PIZZA MARGHERITA with the colors of the Italian flag: mozzarella for white, tomato for red and basil for green

In front of the tombs “Altar of porphyry” with the royal insignia by Guido Cirilli (1871/1954) who executed Sacconi's project of the tombs

2^nd AEDICULA ON THE LEFT

Statue “St. Agnes” by Vincenzo Felici (active 1667/1702)

On the left “Funerary monument of Baldassare Peruzzi (1481/1536)” 1921 made from a cast of Giovanni Dupré (1817/1882)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT – CHAPEL OF THE VIRTUOSI OF THE PANTHEON or CHAPEL OF S. JOSEPH OF THE HOLY LAND

Marble group “St. Joseph and the Child Jesus” 1550/60 by Vincenzo De Rossi (1525/87)

On the sides:

Oil paintings on the wall “Nativity” and “Adoration of the Magi” about 1660 by Francesco Cozza (1605/82)

On the side walls:

Stuccos “Rest from the Flight into Egypt” 1728 by Carlo Monaldi (about 1690/1760) and “Joseph's Dream” 1728 by Paolo Benaglia (?/1739)

Above:

“Sibyl of Cuma” 1674 by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97)

“Moses” 1674 by Francesco Rosa (active since 1674/d. 1687)

“Eternal Father” 1674 by G.B. Peruzzini (1629/94)

“David” 1674 by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

“Sibyl from Eritrea” 1674 by Giovanni Andrea Carlone aka Genovese (1639/97)

Funerary epigraphs:

Tombstones of “virtuosi” Flaminio Vacca (1538/1605) 1605, Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66), Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) buried here

Here are also buried the composer Arcangelo Corelli, and the architect Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73)

“The Congregation of the Virtuosi of the Pantheon was established in 1543 by Pope Paul III (1534/49). It was an association of painters, sculptors and architects who were celebrating the feast of St. Joseph with an exhibition of works of art in the portico of the Pantheon, to which, in the seventeenth century, participated also Velásquez and Salvator Rosa. These exhibitions are historically significant because they constitute one of the first signs of a free market for works of art in Rome. Offices of the Congregation, with the historical archive and an interesting collection of works, is located in the Pantheon in some rooms within the porch” (Giovanni Belardi, Federico De Martino)

1^st AEDUCULA ON THE LEFT

Oil on canvas painting “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” 1638 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49)

BARBERINI PALACE - NATIONAL ART GALLERY (twelfth part)

Room XIV - Garofalo

Vault: in the center “Creation of the World” 1769 by Laurent Pécheux (1729/1821), in the frame “Stories of Adam and Eve” Nicolò Ricciolini (1687/1772)

They replaced a fresco by Viviani destroyed the year before by a fire caused by lightning

“Circe transforming Pico into a woodpecker”, “Ascension of Christ”, “Adoration of the Magi”, “Sts. Anthony of Padua, Anthony the Great and Cecilia” and “Vestal Claudia Quinta towing a boat with the statue of Cybele” about 1535, all works by Benvenuto Tisi aka Garofalo (about 1481/1559)

“This painting celebrates the female chastity through the narration of an episode recounted in Ovid's Fasti. The Vestal Claudia, accused of infidelity, proved her innocence by moving from the mouth of the Tiber the ship carrying the statue of Cybele from Phrygia. In the ship there was the black stone as a pledge of the fate of Rome in the Second Punic War. The Vestal implored the goddess to help her and Cybele gave her superhuman strength” (Official website of the Barberini Gallery - www.galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it)

“Benvenuto Tisi was a friend of Giorgione, Titian, Giulio Romano, Raphael, the latter known in Rome in 1512 (...). Thanks to the influences of these artists, Benvenuto Tisi managed to bring out the unique ability to blend new soft colors of Venetian painting and the refined classicism of Raphael, so as to become one of the most appreciated painters by the kings Alfonso I and Ercole II d'Este. Vasari tells how he particularly appreciate Garofalo's ability to synthesize, even calling it 'Modern'. For fifty years then Garofalo painted, with solutions of striking originality, enchanted Madonnas, saints, children, cherubs, animals and characters that seem to come from stories by Ariosto” (Carole Dazzi - www.artericerca.com)

Room XV - Painters from the Veneto Region

Vault: “Creation of Angels” by Andrea Camassei (1602/49) pupil of Domenichino. He was the favorite painter of the Barberini family

“Agony in the Garden”, “Resurrection of Lazarus”, “Massacre of the Innocents” and “Christ carried to the tomb” by Ippolito Scarsella aka Scarsellino (1551/1620)

“Agony of Christ in Gethsemane” by Leandro da Ponte aka Leandro Bassano (1557/1622) son of the more famous Jacopo Bassano

“Sacred Conversation with Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria” 1524 by Lorenzo Lotto (about 1480/1556)

“It is interesting to note the detail of the medallion hanging from the waist of the dress of St. Catherine which is one of the symbols of the symbolic significance typical of Lotto's works. The winged cherub shown is a theme dear to the painter (...). The theme of Wisdom and Justice, alluded to by the cherub with his feet on the scale, is well suited to the learned saint and is here combined with a particular assortment of clothes and jewelry for which Lotto had careful care and for which he often required a separate compensation” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Sacred Conversation” about 1528 by Giovanni Busi aka il Cariani (about 1485/1548)

“Christ and the adulteress” about 1547 by Jacopo Robusti aka Tintoretto (1518/94)

“Tintoretto did not hesitate to turn every biblical episode into a scene he could have seen in his life, nor hesitated to show in it his emotions. His concept of the human form was gigantic. The effect it must have produced on his contemporaries, and that most of his work has on us is of wonderful truth as well as of impetuous vigor and strength. The figures, although so colossal, are so full of energy and such spontaneous movement. The effects of perspective, light and atmosphere bind the figures so much that the eye adapts itself immediately to those dimensions and we are made partakers of strength and health of heroic proportions” (Bernard Berenson)

“St. Dominic penitent” by Domenico Robusti aka Tintoretto (1560/1635) son of the more famous Jacopo

“Massacre of the Innocents” by Jacopo Negretti aka Jacopo Palma the Younger (1544/1628)

“Venus and Adonis” by Tiziano Vecellio (about 1490/1576)

“Copy of the prototype in the Prado in Madrid and painted for King Philip II. The myth is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses: the scene depicts the moment when Venus in vain tries to prevent Adonis from hunting, aware of the tragic fate that awaits the young man, who shortly thereafter would be mortally wounded by a wild boar” (Official website of the Barberini Gallery - www.galleriabarberini.beniculturali.it)

“Lute Player” about 1510 by Andrea Solario (about 1465/1524)

“Sts. John and Bartholomew with patrons” by Giovanni Luteri aka Dosso Dossi (about 1486/1542)

“He was an elegant interpreter of the court culture of the Po Valley in the Renaissance. He worked almost exclusively in the court of the Este Dukes of Ferrara. (...) The art of Dossi has a personal aspect: the figures, burned by the sun on the compact and dense pictorial surfaces, are intended to be dramatic effects, in contrast of colors and artistic that renders them with no gradations of light and shadow” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

PALATINE HILL - St. SEBASTIAN

S. Sebastiano

Known in the Middle Ages as S. Maria in Pallara from the Palladium of Troy, which was in the Temple of the Sun

The Palladium was a statue which, according to ancient beliefs, was able to defend an entire city

Rebuilt 1624/30 for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) by Luigi Arrigucci (1575/after 1643) retaining the original apse of the tenth century with traces of frescoes

COUNTER FAÇADE

Watercolors nineteenth-century copies of those of the seventeenth century, which were themselves copies of the destroyed medieval frescoes

Paintings in the PRESBYTERY and in the SPANDRELS

“God the Father and angels”, “Virtues”and “St. Sebastian” 1633/36 by Bernardino Gagliardi (1609/1660)

BEHIND THE MAIN ALTAR

Traces of “Frescoes with scenes of Christ” dating back to the end of the tenth century

ALTARPIECE ON THE LEFT WALL

“Martyrdom of St. Sebastian” 1633 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49) with the episode of the whipping that actually killed St. Sebastian and is rarely represented

The arrows with which he had previously been wounded in fact had not killed him