St. SUSAN

S. SUSANNA
Via XX Settembre 15

Built in the ninth century for Leo III (795/816) over two ancient Roman houses (ad duas domos) belonging, according to legend, to the family of S. Susan, beheaded under Diocletian (284/305) for refusing to marry the son of the Emperor

The two houses date from the late first century AD and the beginning of the second century AD and would later belonged to the father of Susan, Gabinius, and her uncle, Pope Caius (283/296), brother of Gabinius

Rebuilt with the elimination of the side naves for Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84) who assigned it to the Hermits of St. Augustine

In 1587 it was assigned to the Brotherhood of St. Bernard

Restored in 1595 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) for Cardinal Girolamo Rusticucci
The renovation works was begun by his cousin Domenico Fontana (1543/1607)

Since 1922 it is assigned to the Paulist Fathers, and it is the National Catholic Church of the USA

FAÇADE
1603 Carlo Maderno first manifestation of the future spatial conception of the Baroque style

“In addition to being the first great effort of his career, this work can be considered his more courageous and representative one. (...) The façade of St. Susanna was understood primarily as an opportunity for Maderno to characterize the surrounding environment, to achieve then one of those urban centers that Sixtus IV had imagined for his road network. Maderno's concern for urban planning can be seen in two main characteristics (...): the lateral flaps that give body to the top of the façade (...), and the wings that gradually introduce the monumental transition from the building to the surrounding urban fabric. (...) Introduced by the inhibited cadence of the wings, the façade snaps forward (...), gets charged with plastic tension, with chiaroscuro vibrations” (Paolo Portoghesi)

“With this unique work, the masterpiece of Maderno, architecture managed to keep the pace with the revolutionary events of painting in those years. In contrast with many Mannerist buildings, the principle that governs this structure is easy to follow: it is based on a gradual concentration, an almost mathematical clarity of intercolumniations, architectonical orders and decorations focusing towards the center” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“It is plain to see in comparing the façade of St. Susanna, with that of the Gesu Church, absolutely flat and devoid of ornamentation painting, how here there has been really a break with the tradition of the Renaissance. What an exuberant richness of movement and painterly effects in Maderno, what innovations in the use of traditional motifs, what a safe and pondered use of the decorative element as a compositional factor in its own right! Here and not in Vignola or Della Porta must be sought the decisive moment that opened the way to the great masters of the Roman Baroque” (Hermann Voss)

STATUES ON THE FAÇADE:
At the bottom on the left “St. Susan”, on the right “S. Felicita” by Giovanni Antonio Parracca the Younger aka Valsoldino
At the top on the right “St. Gabinius”, on the left “Pope St. Caius” by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636)

CEILING
1596 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) with coat of arms of Cardinal Rusticucci, relief with S. Susan and decorations by Giovanni Guerra (1544/1618) and Orazio Gentilone

FRESCOS IN THE COUNTER FAÇADE AND IN THE NAVE
“Six stories of the Old Testament of Jewish Susan”:
“Daniel sent by God takes up the defense of Susan led to martyrdom”
“Susan unjustly accused by the Elders”
“Susanna is threatened by the Elders as she bathes in the garden”
“Susan’s thanksgiving”
“Stoning of the Elders”
“Daniel questioning the Elders”
They were all painted in about 1595 by Baldassare Croce (about 1553/1628) between geometrical divisions as to simulate tapestries by Matteo Zaccolini da Cesena (1574/1630), probably painted after the stories

PLASTER STATUES ON TOP
On the right “Isaiah” and “Jeremiah” about 1597 maybe by Giovanni Antonio Parracca aka Valsoldo (?/1642-46)
On the left “Ezekiel” and “Daniel” about 1597 by Flaminio Vacca (1538/1605)

ON THE RIGHT WALL
“Tomb of the sculptor Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768) and of his daughter, the painter Camilla” by an anonymous eighteenth-century artist
“Commemorative plaque of Giulia Poiana de Crispolti” 1692

ON THE RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY
Paintings on the vault “Angels in glory with instruments of the Passion of Christ” and on the pillars “Vision of St. Benedict” and “St. Bernard and the Miracle of the Crucifix” beginning of 1700 by the Venetian Domenico Paradisi (active in the first half of the eighteenth century)
Frescoes side “St. Bernard” and “St. Benedict” by an anonymous artist of the late nineteenth century

PRESBYTERY
Painted in the years 1593/97 with, from the right:
“Martyrdom of St. Felicity” by Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601)
“St. Susan refuses to worship idols” and “St. Susan rejects the marriage proposal of the son of Diocletian” by Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)
“Torture and death of St. Gabinius” by Baldassare Croce (about 1553/1628)

APSE
“St. Susan in glory” and vault “Savior” by Cesare Nebbia
Statues in the pillars of the arch of the apse “St. Peter” and “St. Paul” maybe by Camillo Mariani (1567/1611)
Interior walls of the pillars of the arch of the apse and the triumphal arch with paintings of martyrs converted by St. Susanna and her father Gabinius: “Serena, Maximus, Claudius, Alexander and Prepedigna Cuzia”

MAIN ALTAR
“Death of St. Susan” by the Sicilian Tommaso Laureti (about 1530/1602), a pupil of Sebastiano Del Piombo

“Emblematic work of Tommaso Laureti, a painter who was Sicilian, but educated in Bologna, in which a fine prospective exercise puts emphasis on the dramatic detail of the decapitated head and on the obelisk in the background, references alluding to the theme of martyrdom and to the pontificate of Sixtus V” (Angela Catalano)

ON THE LEFT – PERETTI CHAPEL OR St. LAWRENCE CHAPEL
Decorated from 1590 for Camilla Peretti sister of Pope Sixtus V 
Above the altar “Martyrdom of St. Lawrence” by Cesare Nebbia (1536/1614)
On the right “Martyrdom of St. Eleutherius” and on the left “Baptism of S. Genesio” by G.B. Pozzo (1561/91) who died before he had a chance to finish his work, which was completed by Cesare Nebbia

CRYPT
Trompe d’oeil vault with “Glory of Cherubim”
On the altar in the tabernacle “Sts. Susan, Gabinius and Felicity”
High in the ciborium “Blessing Christ between angels with Christological symbols” everything maybe by Baldassare Croce (about 1553/1628)

St. MARY OF THE VICTORY

S. MARIA DELLA VITTORIA

Via XX Settembre 17

1608/1620 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) for Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese (1577/1633) as a chapel dedicated to St. Paul

During the work for the construction of the chapel the ancient statue of the Hermaphrodite was found to the great joy of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who included it in his collection of ancient statues. It is now in the Louvre

FAÇADE

1625/26 G.B. Soria (1581/1651) and re-consecration of the church dedicated to the “Image of Our Lady” found in the trash of the Castle of Pilsen, to which was attributed the victory of the armies of Ferdinand II of Habsburg over the Protestant City of Prague on November 8, 1620

Above the doorway relief “Adoration of the Child” 1627/29 by Domenico De Rossi (1659/1703)

VAULT

“Triumph of the Virgin Mary on heresies and fall of the Rebel Angels” executed for the Holy Year of 1700 by the brothers Andrea Orazi (1670/after 1724) and Giuseppe Orazi (seventeenth century)

DOME

“Glorification of St. Paul” 1654/55 by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609/81)

COUNTER FAÇADE

Spectacular ORGAN of the nineteenth century with Baroque choir made in 1680 by Mattia De Rossi (1637/95)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. TERESA OF THE CHILD JESUS ​​OR OF LISIEUX

She was canonized in 1925

Above the altar “St. Therese of the Child Jesus” 1926 by Giorgio Szoldatics (1873/1930)

In the vault stucco “Stories of Mary Magdalene” by an anonymous artist of the seventeenth century

Prior to 1926, the chapel was dedicated to Mary Magdalene. In the “Noli Me Tangere” scene Jesus is curiously represented as a gardener with a big shovel

2^nd RIGHT - MERENDA CHAPEL

Under the patronage of the lawyer Ippolito Merenda

Above the altar “Madonna and Child with St. Francis” 1629/30, the last work in Rome by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

On the sides, to the right “St. Francis in Ecstasy” and to the left “St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata” by Antonio Alberti aka Barbalonga (1600/49), maybe from cartoons of his master Domenichino

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION

Altar of the 1800 by Pio Piacentini (1846/1928)

Sculpture “Virgin Mary giving the scapular to St. Simon Stock” 1895 by Alfonso Balzico (1825/1901)

On the left “Funerary memory of Cardinal Girolamo Vidoni” with bust by Pompeo Ferrucci (about 1566/1637)

On the right “Bust of Giovanni Vidoni” maybe also by Pompeo Ferrucci

In the vault stucco “Coronation” at the center and “Apparition of the Assumption to St. John the Evangelist” and “St. Jerome penitent” on the sides, maybe by Pompeo Ferrucci

RIGHT TRANSEPT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH

1694 G.B. Contini (1641/1723) in imitation of the Cornaro Chapel in the left transept

Marble group “Dream of St. Joseph” 1699 by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

On the sides there are marble groups:

On the right “Flight into Egypt”, on the left “Adoration of the Shepherds” 1699 by Pierre-Étienne Monnot (1657/1733)

Under the altar wax statue with remains of St. Vittora martyred under Diocletian (284/305)

In the vault fresco “St. Joseph taken to heaven by angels” about 1695 by Bonaventura Lamberti (about 1653/1721)

MAIN CHAPEL

Restored in the years 1840/68 by Carlo Nicolò Carnevali for the Torlonia family

APSE

“Our Lady of Victory enters Prague with the Catholic armies after the battle of the White Mountain” 1880 by Luigi Serra (1846/88)

MAIN ALTAR

1884 for Prince Alessandro Torlonia and his wife Teresa Colonna

On the altar “Image of Our Lady of Victory” copy made for the Torlonia family from the original destroyed by fire on June 29, 1833

CHOIR BEHIND THE ALTAR (normally not open to visitors)

“Abduction of St. Paul to the third heaven” 1620 by Gerrit Van Honthorst aka Gherardo Delle Notti (1590/1656) for Cardinal Scipione Borghese

“Christ in Glory with Sts. Anthony Abbot, Francis and a Carmelite saint” by an unknown seventeenth-century artist

“Prophets in expectation of the Messianic event” maybe by the eighteenth-century painter Francesco Ferrari

LEFT TRANSEPT – CORNARO CHAPEL

For the Venetian Cardinal Federico Cornaro, the first on the left in the right balcony

Sculptural group “Ecstasy or Transverberation of St. Teresa of Avila (1515/82)” 1644/52 absolute masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)

He was helped by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli (1619/71), Lazzaro Morelli (1608/90), Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86), Baldassarre Mari, Giovanni Antonio Mari (active since 1635/d. 1661) and a woman identified as Francesca “Bresciana” (from Brescia)

In the vault painting “Glory of the Holy Spirit” by Guidobaldo Abbatini (1600/56)

“The paintings of the vault penetrate deep into the architecture. As sculpture was for him a kind of pictorial art in three dimensions, painting was a sculptural art projected on a surface” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“Translated in the erotic Baroque marble, Caravaggio's conception expressed in the image of Lena of the Magdalene in Ecstasy lost its quality and its radical disfiguring distress (...), and immediately became more mystical, more sensual, more theatrical (...). In line with the institutions of power in his time as much as Caravaggio was rather estranged from the ones of his time, in the great Ecstasy of St. Teresa Bernini had a double debt to Caravaggio: the joyful angel teenager who was about to pierce the saint was a suitably refined baroque descendant of the grinning Cecco holding tight his arrows in Amor Vincitore (Love winner)” (Peter Robb)

Bernini used alabastro nuvolato (cloudy alabaster) in the alcove behind the statue and in the panels of the side walls as if it belonged to the space of the apparition, in continuity with the clouds on which the group rests

“The heavens painted within the niche, the sculpture and the architecture come together in a compact spatial image resulting in a total spectacle. The observer is involved in an impressive network of relationships. Bernini translated with unsurpassed analytical mind those feelings, that spiritual and sensual trouble that Teresa described in her literary works. Natural light coming through a hidden window becomes mysterious light, heavenly, designed pictorially, a light which strikes and glorifies, fulfilling a dramatic and transient function for the group and materializing in the gold rays. Polychrome marbles add a warm and harmonious ambience to the experience of the viewer, the statuary group is asserting itself in its supernatural candor. It's a great living tableau: the observer located in the central axis may have a vision of divine revelation and can be witness of a realistic and convincing religious experience” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“No more talk of sculpture in the conventional sense, but a pictorial scene framed by architecture that includes us believers in the religious drama that is not so much acted, as it is revealed. Bernini used painting, sculpture, architecture and added the natural resource of light to create a hallucinatory revelation” (Howard Hibbard)

On the floor “Hatches with skeletons in opus sectile (inlaid marble) symbolizing the resurrection” by Gian Lorenzo Bernini executed by the stonemason Gabriele Renzi

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY TRINITY

Above the altar “Holy Trinity” 1637/38 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666)

On the right “Portrait of Cardinal Berlingero Gessi” 1641 maybe by Guido Reni (1575/1642). Cardinal Gessi had the patronage of the chapel

On the left “Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary and St. John” copy made by an anonymous Capuchin Father from the original by Guido Reni now in Great Britain

Above the arch, allegorical statues “Prudence” and “Justice” about 1635 by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654) who also made the stuccos of the ceiling framing frescoes representing in the center “Transfiguration” and in the sides “Nativity” and “Baptism of Christ” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80)

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN OF THE CROSS

Above the altar “Apparition of Christ to St. John of the Cross”

On the left “Death of St. John of the Cross”, on the right “Virgin Mary saves St. John of the Cross” about 1667 by the French François Nicolas de Bar aka Nicolas Lorrain or Niccolò Lorenese (1632/95)

Sculptures of “Angels” on the pediment by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725)

In the golden wood shrine “Holy Infant of Prague” donated in 1890 by the bishop of Prague

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANDREW

Above the altar “St. Andrew waiting for the punishment” by an anonymous Capuchin Father who replaced a painting by Cavalier D'Arpino stolen by the French

On the sides “Gravestones of the deacon Luca Angelo Maraldi and of the priest Marcantonio Maraldi” with portraits in oil on copper by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

CORRIDOR BEHIND THE RIGHT TRANSEPT

“Tomb of Cardinal Sebastiano Antonio Tanara” 1743/44 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) with bust by Agostino Corsini (1688/1772)

NEW SACRISTY

Various paintings with the Battle of Prague

Relics of the war against the Turks

“Maximilian of Bavaria gives the horse to Father Dominic of Jesus and Mary before the Battle of the White Mountain” about 1730/40 by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

OLD SACRISTY

Marble altarpiece “Assumption of St. John the Evangelist and St. Jerome” 1629 and frontal with “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Pompeo Ferrucci (about 1566/1637) originally in the third chapel on the right

The CARMELITE CONVENT was suppressed and the premises were occupied by the Geological Museum. The garden of the convent was expropriated for the construction of the Ministry of Agriculture which was built in the years 1907/14

St. LUCY AT THE COBBLESTONES

S. LUCIA IN SELCI

Via in Selci 82

End of the fifth century

Diaconia established by Pope St. Symmachus (498/514) and confirmed by Pope Honorius I (625/638) on a site of ancient origin known as in silice for the large flint blocks which used to pave the Clivus Suburanus

A diaconia was an establishment for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in the Middle Ages

In the thirteenth century a monastery was attached to the church and, since 1568, it was granted to the Augustinian cloistered nuns

Rebuilt 1604/16 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629)

“From 1637 to 1643 the presence in the building of Francesco Borromini is known; as an architect of the convent, he was probably commissioned to restore and redefine as a whole the internal aspect of the church. Specifically his interventions are documented for the Chapel of the Trinity and for the high altar now lost” (Simona Ciofetta)

St. Lucy, according to tradition, was martyred in the year 304 AD under Diocletian (284/305) stabbed in her throat after having suffered terrible tortures

She became the patron saint of eyesight perhaps for the similarity of her name with the word light (Lucia=luce), although a medieval legend has it that she herself uprooted her eyes and sent them to her boyfriend, who had exasperated her with praises on the beauty of her eyes

ATRIUM

Wheel of the exposed, for the babies abandoned in this swivel mechanism that allowed one not to be identified from within

On the left “Portal of the church” with the original doors by Carlo Maderno

CEILING

In the center round painting “Triumph of St. Lucy” by an anonymous artist of the nineteenth-century

COUNTER-FAÇADE

“God the Father” about 1635 by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640) and elegant BALCONY FOR THE CHOIR maybe by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)

In the first two arches on the right and on the left inscriptions regarding the history of the church surmounted by angels painted with the palms of martyrdom in their hands and dish with the eyes of St. Lucy

1^st RIGHT - ALTAR OF St. LUCY or VANINI ALTAR

“Martyrdom of St. Lucy” 1632 by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647)

2^nd RIGHT - ALTAR OF St. AUGUSTINE or CELSI ALTAR

“Vision of St. Augustine” about 1635 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49)

MAIN ALTAR

Nineteenth century, replacing the one by Borromini

Above the altar “Annunciation” 1606 by Anastasio Fontebuoni (1571/1626)

2^nd RIGHT - ALTAR OF St. JOHN THE EVANGELIST

“St. John the Evangelist gives Communion to the Virgin Mary” about 1635 by Andrea Camassei

Spectacular “Architectural Tabernacle” with golden statuettes maybe designed by Carlo Maderno

1^st RIGHT - LANDI CHAPEL

1637/39 by Francesco Borromini

Above the altar “Holy Trinity and Sts. Augustine and Monica” by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

MONASTERY

Nuns' choir with walnut stalls of the seventeenth century and seven paintings of saints about 1618 by Baccio Ciarpi (1574/1654)

St. JOHN OF THE FLORENTINE PEOPLE

S. GIOVANNI DEI FIORENTINI

Piazza dell'Oro 1

Commissioned by Pope Leo X Medici (1513/21) who chose the project by Jacopo Tatti aka Jacopo Sansovino (1486/1570) for the Arciconfraternita di S. Giovanni Battista della Pietà dei Fiorentini (Confraternity of St. John the Baptist of the Mercy of the Florentine People)

The Confraternity was founded after the plague of 1448 and originally had its headquarters in the now disappeared Church of S. Pantaleone

Projects for the church had also been presented by Raphael, Baldassarre Peruzzi and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

Begun in 1519 by Jacopo Sansovino and continued in 1521 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) until Leo X's death on that same year when the works for the church were interrupted

The works continued from 1534 until 1546, year of the death of Sangallo

In 1559 Pope Pius IV Medici (1559/65) commissioned a new project to Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564), which was carried out slowly from 1560 until 1564, the year of the death of the master

Between 1564 and 1575 S. Filippo Neri (known as St. Philip Neri in English) was rector of the church

From 1583 to 1598 Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) resumed the works according to the plans by Sangallo

From 1598 to 1614 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) completed the works with the Dome 1612/13, the choir, the transept and also, since 1607, the Ospedale di S. Giovanni Battista della Nazione Fiorentina (Hospital of St. John the Baptist of the Florentine Nation) demolished during the Fascist period

The church is also famous for the fact that entry to pet animals is allowed

It is the National Church of Florence

FAÇADE

1734 Alessandro Galilei (1691/1737)

“Having excluded the possibility, suggested by Giovanni Bottari, of adapting Michelangelo's project for San Lorenzo in Florence, Galilei opted for a basilica, referring to Roman solutions of the sixteenth century and especially the works of Sebastiano Serlio and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger but making a strong simplification. (...) The primacy of architecture over decoration, the free interpretation of the Renaissance treatises as well as the tradition, the rationalism of scientific matrix, the repeated use of the geometry of the elements and symmetry relationships represent, as a whole, some of the emerging features of the work of Galilei aimed at obtaining a measured and rigorous language, that would combine Florentine, Roman and English influences” (Silvia Cusmano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Coat of arms of Clement XII Corsini (1730/40) on the façade 

Statues on the left side from the left:

“S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi” by Salvatore Sanni

“St. Philip Benizi de Damiani” by Francesco Queirolo (1704/62)

“S. Pietro Igneo” by Simone Martinez (1689/1763)

Statues on the pediment from the left:

“Charity” and “Fortress” 1749/51 by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)

Statues on the right side from the left:

“S. Bernardo degli Uberti” by Gaetano Altobelli

“Blessed Eugene deacon” by Pietro Pacilli (1716/after 1769)

“S. Caterina de' Ricci” by Giuseppe Canard

Reliefs from the left:

“Visitation to St. Elizabeth” by Paolo Benaglia (?/1739)

“Baptism of Christ” by Pietro Bracci (1700/73)

“Preaching of John the Baptist in the Desert” by Filippo Della Valle

“Beheading of John the Baptist” by Domenico Scaramuccia

The three bells of the small BELL TOWER were bought in 1583 and come from English churches

Above the entrance ORGAN in golden wood dating back to 1673

FLOOR

Half of 1800s from a design by Gaspare Salvi (1786/1849). Restored in 1893

Right Nave of the Church

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. VINCENT FERRER

Above the altar “St. Vincent Ferrer” about 1604 by Domenico Crespi aka Passignano (1559/1638)

On the floor “Tombstone of the Marquis Onofrio Del Grillo” and thirteen coats of arms of Florentine families

This is the Marquis Del Grillo made famous in Italy by the film Il Marchese del Grillo in 1981 by Mario Monicelli with Alberto Sordi

PILLAR BETWEEN 1^st and 2^nd CHAPEL

Cross that once belonged to S. Filippo Neri (1515/95)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. PHILIP BENIZI DE DAMIANI

Above the altar “Glory of St. Philip Benizi de Damiani” end of seventeenth century by an unknown Florentine artist

On the vault frescoes “Fall of the Idols”, “Martyrdom of St. Simeon” and “Martyrdom of St. Jude Thaddeus”

On the sides “Stories of Sts. Simon and Jude Thaddeus”:

On the left “Baptism of the King of Persia and his general Barbadach” and on the right “Legend of the baby, who miraculously exonerate Eufrosinus, the deacon of the two apostles” 1611/28 by Orazio Lomi aka Orazio Gentileschi (1563/1639)

“The frescoes by Gentileschi are very interesting for the expressiveness of the characters and the representation of the clothing. Stylistically, one notes, next to a moderate Caravaggio trend, the obvious influence of the frescos in the nave of S. Maria Maggiore (1593) and in the transept of St. John Lateran (1599/1601), collective enterprises to which Gentileschi himself took part. From the cycle in the Lateran basilica, he took important cues from the Cavalier d'Arpino, who was the construction manager and from Giovanni Baglione” (Daniele Ferrara)

Coats of arms of Florentine families on the floor. The first from the left near the balustrade is the coat of arms of Carlo Maderno's family

PASSAGE TO THE SACRISTY

Memory funeral on aedicula of the years 1749/50 with “Bust of Pope Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)” about 1742 by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JEROME

Above the altar “St. Jerome penitent” 1599 by Santi di Tito (1536/1603) who also worked on the small paintings on the side with moralistic-apocalyptic scenes echoing the contemporary sermons of Girolamo Savonarola, namesake of the saint to whom the chapel is dedicated

“Santi di Tito and his pupils aspire to a chromatic style light, bright, perfectly in tune with the ancient traditions. This gives the paintings of this school an archaistic character, as if they were stained glass windows, which continues until the seventeenth century and it is even transplanted into Roman land by artists such as Agostino Ciampelli” (Hermann Voss)

To the right “St. Jerome writing the Vulgate in the study with three virtues” 1599 by Ludovico Cardi aka Cigoli (1559/1613)

To the left “Construction of the church with Michelangelo and St. Jerome” 1599 by Domenico Crespi aka Passignano (1559/1638)

Stucco and frescoes of the end of 1500s maybe by Stefano Pieri (1542/1629)

4^th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. PHILIP NERI

Above the altar “Virgin Mary appears to St. Philip Neri in heaven with Sts. Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene” copy from an original by Carlo Maratta at Palazzo Pitti

LAST PILLAR ON THE RIGHT

“Monument to Francesca Riccardi” 1700 previously attributed to Ercole Antonio Raggi, but recently assigned to the Florentine Lorenzo Merlini (1666/1745)

“The result of a sophisticated cultural language, the figure of the attractive marquise, even if clearly inspired by the Roman sculptors Lorenzo Ottoni and Camillo Rusconi, seems to contract debts mainly from the Florentine style, evident not only in the Verrocchio-like neo-Renaissance air, but also in the hedonistic composition of the image evidently derived from his knowledge of works of his master G.B. Foggini, not immune to references to classical statuary and to the new pre-rococo French style” (Sandro Bellesi – Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

RIGHT TRANSEPT

Altarpiece “The Martyrdom of Sts. Cosmas and Damian” 1669 by Salvator Rosa (1615/73)

This painting was the subject of a famous and controversial “challenge” to Michelangelo: Salvator Rosa boasted of being able to paint a better nude figure than those of the great master

“One of the rare altar paintings by the Neapolitan artist, which in this Roman work - criticized by his contemporaries - joined the baroque emphasis of the composition with the expressive naturalism of the characters” (Daniele Ferrara)

Niches in the upper right “Bust of Ottaviano Acciaioli” about 1659 by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86) and in the upper left “Bust of Ottaviano Corsini” about 1641 by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)

Presbytery and Side Chapels

TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAIN ALTAR – CHAPEL OF OUR LADY

1612/14 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) and Matteo Castelli (1560/1632) with fifteenth-century “Madonna and Child” by an unknown artist with style similar to the Lippis, linked to a miraculous event:

The image was hit by a bocce player who was paralyzed until he obtained, through prayer, forgiveness from the Virgin Mary

Frescoes “Stories of the Virgin Mary” 1615 by Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630) and stucco work by Pietro da Siena

To the right “Death of the Virgin Mary” 1616 by Anastasio Fontebuoni (1571/1626)

MAIN ALTAR

Planned already in 1634 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

A sham structure remained in place until 1656, the year in which Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) took over. He changed slightly the project and worked on it until his death, when Pietro da Cortona returned

It was completed in the years 1673/76 by Ciro Ferri (1634/89) pupil of Pietro da Cortona, who followed the project of his master

Because of the quarrels over this project, the long friendship between Pietro da Cortona and Borromini, the two great masters of Baroque art, was affected

It is the first example of theatrical conception of an altar with light coming from hidden windows, later used in a similar way by Bernini

“If Bramante universalism tends to identify a system of rules and reasoned exceptions, Baroque is by its nature away from the role of binding rules and opens a space for experimentation from which new rules arise continuously. The centripetal situation of the sixteenth century is replaced in the seventeenth century by a centrifugal situation consecrating the freedom of the artist” (Paolo Portoghesi)

Impressive marble group “Baptism of Christ” 1667/69 by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86)

The group had been originally commissioned to Francesco Mochi but he was not able to see his work located in the spot it had been commissioned for. It is now visible in Palazzo Braschi

ON THE PEDIMENT

Statues “Justice” to the right by Michelangelo Anguier and “Fortitude” on the left by Leonardo Reti

AT THE SIDES

“Falconieri Monuments” begun by Francesco Borromini and finished by Ciro Ferri:

To the right “Orazio Falconieri and his wife Ottavia Sacchetti” with “Statue of Charity” 1665/69 by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

The monument in the lower part dates back to 1733

To the left “Monument of Cardinal Lelio Falconieri” with “Statue of Faith” about 1667 by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)

UNDER THE ALTAR - CRYPT OF THE FALCONIERI FAMILY

Francesco Borromini. The crypt is not used because it is subject to flooding

TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR – CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX or SACCHETTI CHAPEL

Above the altar “Bronze Crucifix” maybe by Paolo Sanquirico (1565/1630) from the model by Prospero Antichi detto Prospero Bresciano (active from 1580/d. after 1592), who maybe made also other stucco decorations in the chapel representing “Episodes from the Ancient Testament”

To the left “Road to Calvary” with lunette “Crowning with Thorns”

To the right “Agony in the Garden” with lunette “Derision of Christ” 1621/24 masterpieces by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) who also made “Evangelists” in the spandrels and “Ascension” in the vault for the Sacchetti family

“The decoration of Lanfranco is an important step in the evolution of the artist that would soon lead to the baroque decoration of the Assumption in the dome of S. Andrea della Valle: the 'breakthrough' of the vault inspired by Correggio and the figure of Christ floating with the angels in golden sky, represent the terminal phase of a thematic route that begins from the images on the walls” (Daniele Ferrara)

IN A NICHE

“Reliquary with the foot of St. Mary Magdalene” which, as the sign on the side says, was the first foot to enter the tomb of the Risen Christ

Under the DOME

Tombs of Francesco Borromini and Carlo Maderno

In the church the painter Ludovico Cardi aka Cigoli (1559/1613) is also buried

Left Nave of the Church

LEFT TRANSEPT

Above the altar “Assumption of St. Mary Magdalene to Heaven” about 1662/65 maybe by the Sienese Astolfo Petrazzi (1583/1665)

Sculptures in the upper part “Angel Musicians” by Giuseppe Ghezzi (1634/1721)

Niches at the top:

To the right “Funerary monument of Antonio Barberini” 1629 maybe by Giuliano Finelli (1602/53) commissioned by Carlo Barberini

To the left “Funerary monument of Pier Francesco Rossi” 1673 by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

LAST PILLAR

To the left “Monument of Girolamo Samminiati” 1733 by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)

To the right “Monument of Alessandro Gregorio Capponi” 1746 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) with sculptures by Michelangelo Slodtz (1705/64)

5^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS

Above the altar “St. Francis” maybe by Santi di Tito (1536/1603) or by Jacopo Ligozzi (1547/1627)

Frescoes “Stories of St. Francis”:

To the left “Honorius III Savelli (1216/27) confirming the Franciscan rule” and to the right “Preaching of St. Francis before the Sultan” about 1586/87 by Niccolò Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1520/98)

“The frescoes by Circignani are an important stage of his artistic career, at this stage geared toward rigorous monumentality, based on architectures that enhance the depth of perspective” (Daniele Ferrara)

At the center of the vault “Angels musicians bearing roses” about 1684/87 by Giuseppe Ghezzi (1634/1721)

ON THE PILLAR BETWEEN THE 5^th AND THE 4^th CHAPEL

“Funerary Monument of Marco Panvini Rosati” 1826 by Pietro Tenerani (1789/1869)

4^th LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY OF EGYPT

On the altar “Death of St. Anthony of Egypt” 1612 by Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630)

“It's undoubtedly the most successful Roman altarpiece of the Florentine painter. The simple, expressive manner, in which the event is represented in the lower half of this painting has an immediate impact as few works of Ciampelli, generally more proficient than deep. Even the gentle ascent of the soul (in the guise of a cute boy) helped by groups of angels has the power to steer with the beautiful rhythm of his movement” (Hermann Voss)

Frescoes in the vault “Stories of St. Lawrence”: in the center “Glory of St. Lawrence”, on the right “St. Lawrence shows the judges the poor to whom he distributed the goods” and on the left “St. Lawrence meets St. Sixtus II (257/258)” about 1612 by Antonio Tempesta (about 1555/1630)

Statues at the sides of the altar “St. Francis” and “St. Dominic”, “Angels” on the pediment and side pictures in stucco with “The Calling of St. Peter” and “Conversion of St. Paul” about 1659/63 by Giovanni Angelo Canini (1609/66)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

On the altar “Preaching of St. John the Baptist” by Salvio Savini

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF S. MARIA MADDALENA DE’ PAZZI

Above the altar “Virgin Mary and S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi” first half of 1600s by Francesco Curradi

Frescoes in the vault “Stories of St. Egidio, St. Luke and the Virgin,” on the left “Clothing of Carlomanno” and on the right “Virgin Mary and St. Luke” about 1592/98 by the Florentine Giovanni Balducci aka Cosci (about 1560/after 1631)

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. SEBASTIAN

On the altar “St. Sebastian Tended by the Holy Women” about 1650 by G.B. Vanni

On the right “St. Stephen I” by an unknown artist

On the floor twelve coats of arms of Florentine families

Museo d'Arte Sacra

Museum of Sacred Art

In the building to the right of the church built in 1939 by Bruno Maria Apollonj Ghetti (1905/89)

It replaced the demolished Ospedale di S. Giovanni Battista della Nazione Fiorentina (Hospital of St. John the Baptist of the Florentine Nation)

48 WORKS ON DISPLAY IN 7 ROOMS, including:

“Bust of Antonio Cepparelli” 1622 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680)

“Bust of Antonio Coppola” 1614 by Pietro Bernini (1562/1629), attributed by some art historians to Gian Lorenzo Bernini who would have painted when he was sixteen

“St. John as a child” about 1500 attributed in the past to Mino del Reame, Donatello and Jacopo Sansovino but now attributed by some scholars, based on recently discovered documents, to none other than a young Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564)

“Bust of Pietro Cambi” 1627 by Pompeo Ferrucci (about 1566/1637)

“Relief depicting Madonna and Child with St. Anne” maybe by Pierino da Vinci (about 1530/53)

 Various precious reliquaries