St. MARY OF THE CONCEPTION

S. MARIA DELLA CONCEZIONE

Via Vittorio Veneto 27

1626/30 Antonio Felice Casoni (1559/1634) for Cardinal Antonio Barberini on land donated to the Capuchin Friars Minor by his brother Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) who laid the first stone of the church and celebrated the first Mass here in 1630

It is also called the CHURCH OF THE CAPUCHINS

The Capuchins were a group of Franciscans who, from the Twenties of the sixteenth century, set out to live the Rule of St. Francis with great rigor and simplicity

It was consecrated in 1636

With the opening of Via Veneto in the years 1886/90 it has lost the old suburban context

“The church provides an excellent insight into the various trends in easel painting between 1630 and 1640: the old Bolognese Classicism close to the Baroque Classicism of Sacchi and the elegant and haughty style of the last period of Reni's life close to the vigorous versions of Baroque given by Lanfranco and Cortona” (Rudolf Wittkower)

VAULT

“Assumption of the Virgin Mary” 1796 by Liborio Coccetti (1739/1816)

Adorned by Nicola Mattonelli who also painted the vaults of the side chapels

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

Above the altar “St. Michael the Archangel” 1635 by Guido Reni (1575/1642)

It is a very famous painting of which there are hundreds of copies around the world

It was a tribute from Reni to the painting of the same subject by Raphael now in the Louvre: the face of the devil is none other than Cardinal G.B. Pamphilj who, nine years later, would become Pope Innocent X. He had ill-treated Reni himself and the Barberini family, patron of the artist

“Close to Carracci's Classicism, he was able to give a personal and controlled interpretation of it. Beyond the study of the classics, his interpretation showed a real appreciation of the Baroque fullness, within an elegant and rigorous structure and of a very high quality use of color. (...) In 1601 he was called to Rome by Cardinal P. E. Sfondrato to execute paintings in St. Cecilia (...); with brief interruptions he remained in the city until 1614 (...), and he returned in 1621 and 1627. Here he enriched his experiences, to the point of being compared with Caravaggio (...): the use of solutions inspired by Caravaggio is blended and balanced in the personal and idealizing style of the artist. From the third decade Reni introduced in his paintings the use of silvery light as well as plain and precious tones” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

On the left “Christ Mocked” by Gerrit Van Honthorst aka Gherardo Delle Notti (1590/1656)

2^nd RIGHT - TRANSFIGURATION CHAPEL

Above the altar “Transfiguration of Christ” by Mario Balassi painter from the circle of Guido Reni

On the right “St. Bernard of Corleone” late eighteenth century by Fra' Luigi da Crema Capuchin friar

On the left “Nativity” 1632 by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647)

Lanfranco replaced his “rival” Domenichino who had resigned and had left for Naples

Under the painting “Early Christian Sarcophagus”

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS

Above the altar “St. Francis Stigmatized” about 1628/31 by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641) who maybe painted also the fresco on the left with “Death of St. Francis”

According to Giovanni Pietro Bellori the canvas with St. Francis Stigmatized was donated by Domenichino himself to thank St. Francis after healing from a serious illness

“Well-learned artist, he aimed not so much to resurrect, as to evoke the sixteenth-century Classicism and understand its deeper meaning. Due to these capabilities Domenichino was able to merge figures and landscape into a sincere naturalism that takes a remarkable part in his works, especially in paintings (...) and in frescoes of mythological subjects. Often even in small paintings of lesser commitment he obtained results that seem to us precursors of modern taste, composing the landscape with wide classic sense and open sensitivity to the problems of light and color” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

On the right “Theologians confer with the Blessed Crispin” by Fra' Luigi da Crema

Under the altar there were the relics of Blessed Crispin of Viterbo (1695/1750). Since 1985 they are in his hometown

4^th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF JESUS ​​IN THE GARDEN OF OLIVES

Above the altar “Agony in the Garden” about 1632 by Baccio Ciarpi (1574/1654)

On the right “Christ crowning St. Veronica Giuliani” 1839 by Peter Herzog

On the left “Funeral relief of Giovanni and Costanza Serafini” 1855 by Antonio Bisetti

5^th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY OF PADUA

Above the altar “St. Anthony” about 1635 by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)

“He marks the beginning of a new trend in the context of the Roman Baroque style: Sacchi's compositions are fully seventeenth-century for the spatial structure, for the rhetorical commitment and for the warm and rich color of Venetian ancestry, consistent trait of his style. However, it is clear there is a specific reference to Raphael and to the sixteenth-century Classicism, in the simplicity of compositions and in the psychological essentiality given to the concentration of the event in a few figures. (...) Sacchi's influence, which extended even to artists followers primarily of Cortona and Bernini, gave a basis for the subsequent development of Classicism, from the archaic paintings by Sassoferrato to the ones of his pupil Carlo Maratta” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

On the floor funerary slab of the great sculptor Camillo Rusconi (1658/1728)

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ARCH

“Tomb of Johann Freiherr von Goess” cardinal of S. Pietro in Montorio d. 1699 with 1823 relief by Francesco Massimiliano Laboureur (1767/1831)

MAIN ALTAR

Maybe by Fra' Michele da Bergamo with marble from St. Peter's Basilica building site

Above the altar “Immaculate Conception” 1814 by Gioacchino Bombelli that replaced the altar piece of the same subject by Giovanni Lanfranco destroyed in a fire the year before

On the ground in front of the altar tomb with a Latin inscription “Here lie dust, ashes and nothing else” for Cardinal Antonio Barberini d. 1646 brother of Urban VIII who had the church built at his own expense and who commissioned almost all the paintings of the altars to the best artists of the time, all working for the Barberini family

TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR

“Monument of Alexander Sobieski” 1714 by Camillo Rusconi (1658/1728)

Alexander Sobieski was the brother of the King of Poland John III (1674/1696)

5^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. BONAVENTURE

Above the altar “Apparition of the Virgin Mary to St. Bonaventure” 1635/36 by Andrea Sacchi including buildings painted with illusionistic effect maybe by the “specialist” Filippo Gagliardi (about 1607/1659) aka Filippo Bizzarro (Bizarre Philip) o Filippo delle Prospettive (Philip of the Perspectives)

On the right “St. Joseph of Leonessa” by Fra' Raffaele da Roma

On the left “Communion of St. Lawrence of Brindisi” maybe by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

4^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF HOPE

Nineteenth-century altar piece

In the floor funerary slab of the great architect Gabriele Valvassori (1683/1761)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST

Above the altar “Deposition” 1632/35 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49)

On the left “St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata” about 1570 by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92) from the church of S. Croce and S. Bonaventura dei Lucchesi, former seat of the Capuchins

“Very expressive for unifying the landscape with the Biblical event. The effect is especially strong in the face of the saint, which expresses a somewhat ecstatic and supernatural emotion” (Hermann Voss)

2nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. FELIX OF CANTALICE

Above the altar “St. Felix of Cantalice” about 1634 by Alessandro Turchi aka Orbetto (1578/1649)

St. Felix of Cantalice was the first saint of the Capuchin order and his remains are preserved in the underlying “Sarcophagus of the third century AD”

On the right “Healing of the paralytic” by Fra' Simplicio da Verona

On the left “S. Felix gives sight to a child” by Fra' Luigi da Crema

1st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. PAUL

In the vault “St. Stephen” by Liborio Coccetti (1739/1816)

Above the altar “Ananias restores St. Paul's sight” about 1631 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

“The paintings of Cortona with their brilliant pictorial qualities, their main characters vigorously designed and their concentration on the center of the action belong to the highest class of history painting, where the most coveted traditions of Raphael, Correggio and Annibale Carracci find their legitimate continuation. The keynote of the painting is, quite characteristically, Raphael's reminiscences soaked in Venetian taste for colors” (Rudolf Wittkower)

CHOIR OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (behind the main altar)

Above the altar “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” about 1578 by Terenzio Terenzi

On the right

“Portrait of Pope Urban VIII” by Antonio Alberti aka Barbalonga (1600/49) the best pupil of Domenichino

“St. Matthew” and “St. Luke” by Lucio Massari pupil of Guido Reni

“Noli Me Tangere” maybe by Marco Pino aka Marco da Siena (about 1525/87) or Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)

On the left

“Annunciation” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta

“St. John the Evangelist” maybe by Lionello Spada aka Scimmia del Caravaggio (1576/1622)

“Cardinal Antonio Barberini with the church and convent of the Conception” and “Urban VIII” by Antonio Alberti aka Barbalonga

ORATORY OF URBAN VIII (to the right of the seventeenth century choir)

Secret chamber for the pope's prayers used as well by Queen Margherita di Savoia

Above the altar “Holy Family” traditionally attributed to G.B. Salvi aka Sassoferrato (1609/85)

SACRISTY

“St. Bonaventure” maybe by Paolo Piazza (1557/1621)

Two fragments of the destroyed “Immaculate Conception” by Giovanni Lanfranco saved from the fire of 1813

Museo e Cripta dei Cappuccini

Museum and Crypt of the Capuchins

FIVE CHAPELS with the bones of about 4,000 monks who died in the 342 years between 1528 and 1870

The skeletons dating back to the period before the construction of the church were brought here between 1627 and 1631 from the church of S. Croce and S. Bonaventura dei Lucchesi, former seat of the Capuchins, making “three hundred carts trips”

The soil in the floor was apparently brought from the Holy Land

The writing at the exit reads: “You are what we were, you will be what we are”

CONVENT

Eight of the rooms of the convent are included in the museum

“Nazarene” by Jacopo Negretti detto Jacopo Palma il Giovane (1544/1628)

“St. Francis” about 1605 copy maybe painted by Bartolomeo Manfredi (1587/about 1620) from the original by Michelangelo Merisi aka Caravaggio (1571/1610) found in 1968 in Carpineto Romano and now in Palazzo Barberini

There are some scholars who claim that neither of the two is original

St. ISIDORE

S. ISIDORO

Via degli Artisti 41

Begun in 1622 by Felice Antonio Casoni (1559/1634) for the Spanish Franciscans with dedication to the Spanish St. Isidore of Madrid (1080/1130) canonized in that same year by Gregory XV Ludovisi (1621/23)

St. Isidore was a farmer who had miraculous powers. He is the patron of farmers

Continued in 1625 by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) for the Irish Franciscans led by Father Luke Wadding who transformed the CONVENT into an institution of study and retreat for the Irish brothers, persecuted at the time by the English Protestants

Completed in 1672

Restorations in the years 1856 to 1949

FAÇADE

1704/05 Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)

Statues “St. Patrick” and “St. Isidore” by Simone Giorgini (active in Rome 1677/1712)

“The previous attribution to the sculptor Andrea Bertoni has been questioned on the basis of the finding of the contract concluded between Giorgini and the Franciscan Fathers, according to which it is known that he received a payment of 50 scudi. The size of the statues and the use of stucco refer once again to the figure of Faith in the Church of St. Ignatius even though, compared to that statue, the images of St. Isidore have lost their roundness, typical of Bernini, and seem to be affected at least in part by the severity of Carlo Maratta, according to the directions followed in that period by other sculptors including Camillo Rusconi” (Alessandra Uguccioni - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

The Nazarenes lived in the convent from 1810 to 1813

They were young German artists who lived together as a community and were called Nazarenes for their eccentric clothing and their long hair, a bit like the hippies in the late 1960s

VAULT

“Glory of St. Isidore” 1729 by the French Charles Van Loo (1705/65)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH

Above the altar “Marriage of the Virgin” (copy of the original stolen in 1798)

On the sides “Flight into Egypt” and “Death of St. Joseph” (copy of the original stolen in 1798)

In the lunettes “Nativity” and “Dream of St. Joseph”

In the dome “Glory of St. Joseph” all works of the years 1650/52 by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713). The decoration of this chapel was one of his first jobs

“Funerary Monument of Isabella Ball Thomas and her daughter Isabella” 1868 by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1799/1873)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ANNA

Designed by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657)

Altarpiece “Virgin Mary and St. Anna” and “Scenes from the life of St. Anna” about 1657 by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini (about 1614/about 1684) pupil of Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona

RIGHT TRANSEPT

Oval “Glory of St. John of Nepomuk” by an unknown seventeenth-century artist inspired by Maratta

To the left “Tomb of Alfonso Mazanedo” with bust possibly by Giuliano Finelli (1602/53)

TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAIN ALTAR - CHAPEL DA SYLVA or OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

1662/64 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Rodrigo Lopez da Sylva

“Frontal in cloudy alabaster” with natural veins in the marble that go on over the wall above

The veins were left and completed by Bernini in order to obtain a material which shows connotations creatively artificial, even if taken from nature like the dark alabaster of Montauto that even mingles with the background color of the painting by Maratta

Above the altar “Immaculate Conception” (in a frame with fruits and flowers by the engraver Antonio Chicari), on the left “St. Francis”, on the right “St. Anthony of Padua” and in the lunette “Angel Musicians”, all works by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)

On the walls “Da Sylva Funerary Monuments: Rodrigo and his wife Beatriz de Silveira” and “Four virtues” (in the eighteenth century the nudities were covered with draperies in bronze), maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini or more likely by his son Paolo Bernini (1648/1728) or by his pupils Giulio Cartari (active 1665/78) and Pietro Paolo Naldini (1619/91)

In the dome and in the spandrels stuccos maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

MAIN ALTAR

1630 Marco Arconio, in precious marbles

Sarcophagus in Carrara and Portovenere marble with bodies of the saints and martyrs Leozio and Floriano

Tabernacle 1799 by Ippolito Mazzola

Above the altar “St. Isidore has a vision of the Virgin Mary and Child” about 1623 by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)

LUNETTE above the altar “Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane” 1856 and DOME “Virgin Mary and Saints” by Domenico Bartolini (1827/84)

PENDENTIVES “Evangelists” 1948 by Silvio Galimberti (1869/1956)

TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR - PAVONI CHAPEL or CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS AND St. PATRICK

1626/28 for the Pavoni family from Rimini

Fresco “Stigmata of St. Francis” by an unknown eighteenth-century artist

On the walls and pillars “Saints” 1948 by Silvio Galimberti

OUTSIDE THE CHAPEL

“Funerary Memorial of the Canon Antonio Borani” 1677 by Giovanni Francesco De Rossi (active 1640/77)

Large painting “St. Patrick” 1861 by the friar Ippolito from Poggio Bustone

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY

1692 Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)

Above the altar “St. Anthony of Padua in ecstasy” by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609/81)

On the sides modern paintings with “Miracles of St. Anthony”

In the lunettes “Healing of the sick child” and “Preaching to the fish” by Gilles Hallet (1620/94)

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY CROSS

Decoration in golden stucco by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) for Costanza Pamphilj, nephew of Innocent X, and for her husband Nicolò Ludovisi owner of the land in the area

Frescoes in the dome “Exaltation of the Cross” and lunettes on the left “Agony in the Garden” and on the right “Crowning with Thorns” 1654/57 by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) who had also painted three paintings stolen from the chapel during the Napoleonic occupation

LARGE CLOISTER aka WADDINGHIAN CLOISTER

1630 on land donated by Nicolò Ludovisi

On the walls touched up paintings with “Stories from the life of St. Francis and of the Franciscan friars” 1701 by Friar Giovanni Antonio Sguary from Padua

CAPITULAR ROOM

“Portrait of Father Luke Wadding” by Carlo Maratta

AULA MAXIMA

Large room for academic meetings

Frescoes of “Franciscan theologians and scholars at work” and “Immaculate Conception supported by Sts. Anthony and Francis” by Frair Emanuele da Como

“The College of St. Isidore became a center of studies renown in Europe. Here research took place about theology, philosophy and history, and the so-called 'Scola Scotistica' had remarkable development through lectures held in the Aula Maxima” (Daniela Matteucci)

St. BERNARD AT THE BATHS

S. BERNARDO ALLE TERME

Via Torino 94

Built in the years 1598/1602 for Caterina Nobili Sforza S. Fiora, nephew of Julius III Del Monte (1550/55), using one of the four corner towers of the ancient enclosure of the Baths of Diocletian (284/305) built from 298 to 306 AD

The tower was maybe a Sphaeristerium, a gym for some ball game, or a room for reading and studying

Restorations for the consolidation of the dome were carried out in 1857: the lantern of the sixteenth century that burdened too much the ancient dome was taken off

It is dedicated to the Burgundian St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090/1153) the founder of the Cistercian Order

It is also known as the Church without Windows

DOME (diameter 22 m - 72.2 feet)

Along the perimeter “Eight statues of saints” in stucco over 3 m (10 feet) tall, about 1599/1602 masterpiece of Camillo Mariani (1567/1611)

From the right: “St. Augustine”, “St. Monica”, “St. Mary Magdalene”, “St. Francis”, “St. Bernard”, “St. Catherine of Alexandria”, “St. Catherine of Siena” and “St. Jerome”

“He was born in Vicenza and in the study of Rubini he had the inestimable advantage of going through the discipline of the school of Alessandro Vittoria. Shortly after his arrival in Rome he made these noble figures of monumental saints, his masterpieces. The Venetian touch is visible to all but it was strengthened with a new emphasis and a fine psychological insight, so that these works raise well above the average contemporary production and are linked to the intensity of the transitional style in painting in which we find crystallized the true spirit of the great reformers” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“Camillo Mariani was instrumental in the formation of another great sculptor, Francesco Mochi, who, some scholars speculate, might have been a young assistant of the master in S. Bernardo. Mindful of the painting of the Venetian masters such as Veronese, Titian and Tintoretto, Mariani here realizes 'the achievement of monumentality combined with naturalness, the bright distinction of matter combined with a noble stylization' (Nava Cellini). It is a style that would leave a deep imprint in the Roman scene and it would be a source of inspiration and reflection for many seventeenth-century sculptors, including Bernini himself” (Sergio Lombardi)

ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

“Vision of St. Bernard” about 1705 by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731), a pupil of Baciccio

In 1718 Odazzi was commissioned to add a lunette in the upper part of the painting, which was originally rectangular. The addition is well connected and the painted angels help to give a buoyancy to the composition

“Odazzi, faithful follower of Baciccio, shows here that he was influenced by the master in the figures of angels and in the bright colors he used, as well as in the setting of the theatrical scene” (Sergio Lombardi)

The painting is flanked by two beautiful columns in verd antique (ancient green) marble from the Baths of Diocletian

ON THE 5th PILLAR ON THE RIGHT

“Tomb of S. Giovanni della Barrière” 1626 with painting maybe by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)

BEHIND THE MAIN ALTAR

At the sides canvas “Death of Joseph” second half of seventeenth century by anonymous and “Madonna of Loreto” beginning of seventeenth century by Carlo Saraceni (1579/1620)

UNDER THE 3rd NICHE ON THE LEFT

“Monument of the sculptor Carlo Finelli (1785/1853)” by Rinaldo Rinaldi (1793/1873)

Carlo Finelli from Carrara was part of a family of sculptors including the great Giuliano Finelli precious collaborator of Bernini in the extraordinary group of Apollo and Daphne in the Galleria Borghese

ALTAR ON THE LEFT

“Mystic Marriage of St. Robert with the Virgin Mary” 1710 by Giovanni Odazzi

In 1730 Giovanni Odazzi was commissioned to add, just like in the opposite painting, a lunette in the upper part

This painting, like the one in front, is flanked by two beautiful columns in verd antique (ancient green) marble from the Baths of Diocletian

To the right of the Presbytery

CHAPEL OF S. FRANCIS

Family chapel of the Nobili, built in 1647 for Vincenzo Nobili, grandson of Caterina Nobili Sforza

“Statue of St. Francis in Ecstasy” about 1647 by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli (1619/71), who also sculpted the statue of the Nile in the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

On the left “Tomb of the painter Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789/1896)” 1869 by the German Karl Hoffmann (1815/86), his friend and collaborator

On the walls “Busts of Nobili family members: Vincenzo junior, Pierfrancesco, Sforza, Roberto and Vincenzo” who had initiated the construction of the chapel, 1647/49 by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli who also made the rich stucco decoration of the ceiling that frames the painting “St. Francis in Glory with Angels” and “Angels with Instruments of the Passion” in the square panels 1897 by Mario Adami

The altars on the left and on the right exhibit considerable seventeenth century frontals in scagliola, a type of fine chalk that mimics inlaid marble