S. AGOSTINO
The original
church dates back to 1296, built for Boniface VIII Caetani (1294/1303)
Enlarged
and restored in the years 1479/83 by Giacomo da
Pietrasanta (active from 1452/d. about 1497) and Sebastiano Fiorentino (active 1479/83) for the powerful and
extraordinary wealthy Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville, chamberlain of Sixtus
IV Della Rovere (1471/84) and protector of the Augustinians
The FAÇADE was built with marble taken from
the Colosseum
“This is one
of the first Renaissance façades in Rome, really interesting because it shows,
even with some disproportions and a lack of consistency on the whole, the
typical desire of the time to research and experiment with new architectural
solutions” (Valeria Annecchino)
Transformed
in 1756/61 by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700/73) who
reworked also the bell tower. He was at the same time engaged in the
construction of the humongous Royal Palace of Caserta and he had therefore
entrusted the work on his behalf to Carlo Murena
(1713/64)
It was
restored again in the nineteenth century until 1870
St.
Augustine (354/430), one of the fathers of the church, was born in Africa, in
Algeria and died in Ippona, in Sardinia, where he was bishop. He is buried in
Pavia. He founded the Order of the Hermits focused mainly on charitable
activities and the study of theology
In the past
the church had a unique feature in Rome: it was the only one to admit
courtesans and it houses the tombs of some of them: Fiammetta, the lover of
Cesare Borgia, Giulia Campana with her daughters, Penelope and the famous
Tullia d'Aragona
It was the
first church in Rome for which a dome was built. The present dome was rebuilt by Luigi Vanvitelli
It was a
church so important that even Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) was
commissioned a painting for the church, the “Entombment”, unfinished and now in
the National Gallery in London
On the left
“Madonna of
Childbirth”
1521 by Jacopo Tatti aka Jacopo Sansovino
(1486/1570), pupil of Andrea Sansovino (he inherited his nickname) for the
heirs of the Florentine merchant Giovanni Martelli who had built the chapel
The statue
was originally known as Madonna del Sasso (Our Lady of the Stone) and is
still very much venerated among Roman pregnant women who frequently leave
messages of prayer or thanksgiving at the statue
The
tradition began in 1820 after a husband, worried about the pregnancy of his
wife, had his prayer answered. He had kept a lamp on in front of the statue day
and night
Probably
Jacopo Sansovino was inspired by an ancient statue in porphyry representing
Apollo seated, kept in a Roman palace at the time and now in the Archaeological
Museum of Naples
To the left
of the Madonna of Childbirth “Tomb of Francesca
Faggioli” d.
1661 wife of the painter Francesco Cozza
(1605/82) who painted the portrait on the monument
The very
large ORGAN dates back to 1905
STOUPS
Two basins
shell-shaped in black marble supported by two angels in white marble: “Raphael”
on the left 1650 by Cosimo Fanzago (1591/1678)
and “Gabriel” on the right 1660 by pupils of Fanzago
“In the
Renaissance church more light had been planned, not only from the windows now
closed on the right-end side, but also from the windows, now closed as well,
which opened in every chapel. Brightness was widespread and enhanced by the
whiteness of the pillars, covered with travertine up to a third of their height
and by the whitewashed walls. The Renaissance church expressed in full, with
its harmonious proportions and its diffuse light, the ideal of composed beauty
of Christian humanism, for which aesthetic was deeply connected to the values
and truths of faith. Medieval reminiscences perhaps due to the building
traditions of the architect and workers, are visible in the strong upward
thrust of the architectural framework as well as in the use of external
buttresses at the sides” (Valeria Annecchino)
The church
was painted in the years 1855/68 by Pietro Gagliardi
(1809/90) helped by his nephew Giovanni and Enrico Marini with
the following works:
On the
walls of the nave “Stories from the Life of the Virgin Mary”, whose sketches
are kept at the Museum of Rome, which
correspond to “Jewish Heroines” foretellers of the Virgin Mary, and on the
VAULT “Abraham and David”
3rd PILLAR
ON THE LEFT
Fresco “Isaiah the Prophet” of 1512 Raffaello
Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) clearly inspired by the figures by
Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel
In the
parchment unrolled by the prophet are these word in Hebrew: “Open the doors so
people who believe enter” (Isaiah - XXVI, 2)
There is an
interesting contrast between the realistic facial features of St. Anne and the
beautifully and abstractly classic look of the Virgin Mary
Both works
were commissioned by Giovanni Goritz from Luxembourg
The day of
St. Anne all the poets of Rome used to hung their poems around the statue, they
would go to Mass and then they would all eat at Goritz's home near Capitoline
Hill
PULPIT
Completed
in 1644 and maybe designed by Vincenzo Della Greca
(1592/1661) who, at that time, was the architect of the monastery
“Monuments
of Stefano and Lorenzo Mutini” beginning of 1600s
“St. Catherine of
Alexandria”
oil on slate, on the right “St. Lawrence” and on the left “St. Stephen” oil on
paper, about 1550/60 by Marcello Venusti (about
1512/79)
2nd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH
“Madonna of the Roses” 1589 copy by Domenico Spagnolo from the original Madonna of the
Veil that Raphael did for S.
Maria del Popolo. Now it is in Chantilly
In the apse
three round panels “Stories of the
Virgin Mary”
frescoes about 1587/88 by Avanzino Nucci
(1552/1629) for Cardinal G.B. Castagna later Urban VII (1590), who was pope for
only twelve days, the shortest papacy in history
On the
right “Tomb of Pietro
Gagliardi”
who had painted the two side paintings now moved into the sacristy after the
discovery of the frescoes by G.B. Montagna
1672 G.B. Contini (1641/1723). S. Rita after praying to
share the sufferings of Christ on the Cross was given a thorn from the crown in
her forehead and kept it there for fifteen years
“Ecstasy of S. Rita” about 1674 by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91) for the princess Camilla Orsini Borghese
In the
pediment table “God the Father” of the end of 1400s by the school of Pinturicchio
“Wooden cross” end of 1400s, before which St.
Philip Neri used to pray during the period of his studies in the adjacent
convent
Renovation
begun in 1636 by Vincenzo Della Greca
(1592/1661)
Cardinal
Giuseppe Renato Imperiali was the great-grandson of Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali
buried in the left transept
To the right of the main altar
S. Nicholas
of Tolentino (1249/1305) was the first Augustinian saint to be canonized and he
is patron of the souls in Purgatory
The
extraordinary decorative apparatus can well mask the fact that the right side
of the chapel is longer than the left
1627 maybe Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) or Orazio Torriani (about 1601/about 1657)
On the
broken pediment two statues of “Angels kneeling” by the great Giuliano Finelli (1602/53) from terracotta models of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
On the
doors on the sides “Two pairs of putti” on the left by Pietro
Bracci (1700/73) and on the right by Bartolomeo
Pincellotti (known from 1735/d. 1740)
In the
upper part stained glass window “St. Augustine
defeats heresy” by the master glassmaker Antonio
Moroni (1825/86) who also made windows in other churches in Rome
