S. MARIA IN COSMEDIN
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
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)
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
Eighth
century in opus sectile (inlaid marble), one of the best preserved in
all of Rome
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)
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
1294 by Deodato Cosma the Younger, signed Deodatus me fecit
on the left side of the base of the front pediment
1123 in red
granite
CHAIR
Dedication
to the Virgin Mary, engraved for camerarius Alfano
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)
