St. MARY OF THE SEVEN PAINS

S. MARIA DEI SETTE DOLORI

Via Garibaldi 27

1643/49 by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) helped by Antonio Del Grande (about 1625/79) the architects also of part of the CONVENT (façade - chapel and vestibule) for Camilla Savelli Virginia-Farnese, completed only in 1667 by Francesco Contini (1599/1669)

“Despite the difference in the plant, it is in a sense a simplified version of S. Carlo Quattro Fontane although, above the cornice, the comparison does not hold. This project comprised possibilities that were further developed in the Church of Propaganda Fide” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“In Borromini's language the theme of plastic and linear continuity between the elements of the architecture gains such importance as to place some of the works of the master close to the logic of Gothic architecture” (Paolo Portoghesi)

INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH

Repainted and restored in 1845

LEFT ALTAR

Altarpiece “St. Augustine” by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)

CONVENT

Painting “Our Lady of Sorrows with angels and symbols of the Passion” by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

In 2009 the convent was reconverted into the Hotel Donna Camilla

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. JEROME OF CHARITY

S. GIROLAMO DELLA CARITÀ

Via di Monserrato 62a

A small church was built on the site where, according to tradition, St. Jerome on the year 382, was a guest in the house of the saint matron Paola

Known since 1492

Assigned in 1524 to the Arciconfraternita della Carità (Archconfraternity of Charity)

The church is linked to the figure of S. Filippo Neri (1515/95), known as St. Philip Neri in English

He lived for 33 years in the adjacent convent, in a room where there used to take place frequent meetings between four saints: Filippo Neri, Charles Borromeo, Ignatius of Loyola and Felice da Cantalice

In a barn adjoining the church S. Filippo Neri established the institution of the oratory

A fire in 1631 damaged the church

Rebuilt in the years 1632/37 by Francesco Peparelli (active since 1626/d. 1641)

Restored in the years 1652/60 by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657)

FAÇADE

1660 completed by Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) after the death in 1657 of Domenico Castelli who had already designed in 1647

FLOOR

Made of marble, 1660 by Alessandro Sarti

CEILING

1587 by the master carpenter Andrea Tozzi

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY or SPADA CHAPEL

1654 Giovanni Somazzi for Virgilio Spada

It is traditionally attributed to Francesco Borromini (1599/1667), of whom in fact there is only one project for the front of the altar and nothing else

Above the altar

“Madonna and Child” by an anonymous Sienese painter of the fifteenth century

At the sides of the altar

“Two medallions embossed with Sts. Francis and Bonaventure” by Pietro Paolo Naldini (1619/91)

On the right wall

“Tomb of Giovanni Spada” by Cosimo Fancelli (1620/88)

On the left wall

“Tomb of Lorenzo Bernardino Spada” by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)

“Ferrata proved to be a faithful executor of the drawings supplied to him, showing a remarkable ability to adapt his style to the task requested. It is however acknowledged in him a tendency to tone down excessively dramatic and pathetic images in the name of that idea of Classicism of which he was then the main representative in Rome” (Gerardo Casale - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Above the graves

“Six medallions embossed with illustrious ancestors of the Spada family”, three on each side:

“Amadore I with his brother Aleramo Spada” and “Pietro di Cecco and Serrone di Pietro Spada” by Pietro Paolo Naldini

“Amadore with his son Mengo Sword” by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86)

“Amadore II Spada” by Francesco Baratta (about 1590/about 1663)

“Mutio with his nephew Antonello Spada” by Ercole Ferrata

“Ghino di Mengo Spada” by Giuseppe Perone

On the threshold of the chapel

Sculptural group in bloodstone with “Angels kneeling and tending tablecloth for the Eucharist” by Antonio Giorgetti (known from 1660/d. 1669), a pupil of Alessandro Algardi

The angel on the left has movable wooden wings in faux marble used as small door of the chapel

“Borromini had little to do with the project (...) and anything with its execution. The lavish style of the chapel is very different anyway from the one of the architect from Canton Ticino in his late period. It remains a masterpiece of Baroque Roman for the highly theatrical effect and the use of pictorial marquetry and marble slabs with fake damasks” (Olga Melasecchi)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS

It was remodeled in 1717, the year to which frescos and stuccos date back to

Above the altar “Wooden crucifix” mid-1400s in front of which tradition has it that S. Filippo Neri used to celebrate Mass

RIGHT TRANSEPT

“Tomb of the Earl Asdrubale from Montauto” 1629 Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

“The baroque style is detectable in the original cyma around the portrait, with the ends curled and the hanging festoons, imitated by Carlo Maratta for his own grave at S. Maria degli Angeli” (Olga Melasecchi)

TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAIN ALTAR

CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE BAPTIST formerly CASALI CHAPEL and later MARESCOTTI CHAPEL

Altarpiece “Madonna and Child with Sts. Joseph, John the Evangelist and John the Baptist” by Durante Alberti (1538/1616) who also painted the frescoes with “Stories of Jesus” damaged by a fire in 1630 and by some bad restorations in the eighteenth century

MAIN ALTAR

1645/47 Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) for Fantino Renzi and his nephew Scipione Gisleni who are buried here and whose “Busts” by the school of Algardi are inserted in the walls

“Communion of St. Jerome” 1797 copy by Antonio Corsi from the famous 1614 original by Domenichino which was originally here and is now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana

TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR

ANTAMORO CHAPEL

1707 by the great architect Filippo Juvarra (1678/1736)

“He solved the narrowness of the available space creating movement with the ellipsoidal shape of the plan, opening a large oval window at the end and expanding the stucco decoration in the lantern where it ends in a glory of cherubims. The concave shape of the altar is a counterpoint of the convex part of the steps” (Olga Melasecchi)

Statue of “S. Filippo Neri” by Pierre Legros (1666/1719) perhaps also the author of the reliefs with “S. Filippo Neri in the Catacomb of St. Sebastian” and “S. Filippo Neri sees the souls of his penitents going to heaven” also attributed to Camillo Rusconi (1658/1728)

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. CHARLES BORROMEO or MALAGOTTI CHAPEL

“Madonna and Child appearing to Sts. Carlo Borromeo and Filippo Neri” by an unknown artist of the first half of the seventeenth century

On the sides “Fake perspectives” and “Annunciation” about 1748 by Girolamo Mengozzi aka Colonna (1688/1774) from Ferrara

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. PETER

“Handing of the keys” maybe by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92)

Prospective frescoes by Girolamo Mengozzi aka Colonna

SACRISTY

Walnut furniture attributed to Filippo Juvarra (1678/1736)

“S. Filippo Neri in adoration of the Madonna and Child” about 1639 maybe by Pietro Barbieri (1684/1730) pupil of Carlo Maratta

CONVENT

In Via S. Girolamo della Carità 63

Rebuilt in the years 1632/37 by Francesco Peparelli (active since 1626/d. 1641)

Paintings with connections to S. Filippo Neri including “S. Filippo Neri in adoration of the Madonna and Child” about 1640 by Emilio Savonanzi (1580/1660) from Bologna

St. JOHN AT THE LATIN GATE

S. GIOVANNI A PORTA LATINA

Via di Porta Latina 17

End of fifth century

Repeatedly transformed and restored

In 1190 Celestine III Orsini (1191/98) had the relics of Sts. Gordian and Epimachus placed under the altar

In the years 1940/41 the church was stripped of the Baroque decorations

“The current building, in spite of the too drastic restorations, is essentially a well-preserved basilica, of a type that Krautheimer (1980) sees characteristic of a group of parish churches (S. Stefano del Cacco, S. Salvatore in Onda) already since the end of the eleventh century, and that at Porta Latina it appears even in a convent church. The Romanesque masonry is considered by Krautheimer similar to that of St. Clement, therefore of the first decades of the twelfth century. One would have to conclude that the architectural renovation was earlier than the time of the dedication, perhaps to bring back to the period (1144) in which the church is to join the Lateran Chapter, and that the placement of the relics of Gordian and Epimachus and the subsequent consecration would mark the end of a vast work of renewal of the church” (Serena Romano)

At the end of the sixteenth century a group of Portuguese men had founded in the church, abandoned at the time, a gay fraternity

They used to celebrate gay marriage during which they would take communion, read the gospel of the wedding and then they would sleep and dwell together in the premises

PORCH

Gable end with palm leaves, lilies and roses globe (coat of arms of the patron) from the nearby Oratory of S. Giovanni in Oleo 1658 by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) for Cardinal Francesco Paolucci

MAIN NAVE

Two rows of five ancient columns each: the first two made out of pavonazzetto marble from Turkey, the others of cipolin marble and granite

“The basilica is characterized by a sense of recovery of the ancient, which is the main theme of the culture of the twelfth century and here is revealed above all in the use of ancient columns with Ionic capitals (four really beautiful, to support the round arches in the portico and ten in the nave) but also in the relief with scrolls and small heads adapted as step in the chancel” (Serena Romano)

Important fresco cycle “46 scenes from the Old and New Testament” about 1190

PRESBYTERY

Frescoes “Symbols of the Evangelists” and “The 24 Elders of the Apocalypse” about 1190

Floor of the presbytery in opus sectile with colored marbles

“The cycle of Porta Latina is a very important milestone in the group so called 'Umbrian-Roman' of the testamentary cycles. (...) Each cycle of this group combines common traits, especially iconographic, with particular characteristics, and certainly, from the point of view of style, each of them was done a different workshop: and the one of Porta Latina appears attentive to elaborations from the classicist and antiquarian heritage, whose elements are preserved and handed down especially through the decorative repertoire and the systems of fiction and architectural illusion” (Serena Romano)

St. CHARLES AT THE FOUR FOUNTAINS

S. CARLO ALLE QUATTRO FONTANE

Via del Quirinale 23/angolo Via Quattro Fontane

Also known as S. Carlino (St. Little Charles) for the small size

1638/41 masterpiece by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) for the Spanish Discalced Trinitarian Fathers in place of a small church built in 1612

Borromini had also built the convent in the years 1634/36 which was later expanded in the early eighteenth century

The church was consecrated in 1646

FAÇADE

1664/67 Francesco Borromini

It was still under construction when he died and it was completed in 1682 by his nephew (the son of his brother) Bernardo Castelli (1643/1709), who also designed the bell tower in 1670

It was the first work ever that Borromini designed alone and also his last. He worked for free, refusing any compensation

“He used a medieval, simple method of construction conceived on the rule of triangulation, which shared a geometric configuration in geometric subunits. The elliptic plan of the church is the result of two equilateral triangles with common base corresponding to the transverse axis; the relationship between these units carry a unitary conception of space that includes contraction or expansion. Compression and expansion of space is also evident inside the church: the dropping of the constraints imposed by the Renaissance proportional rules flows into the privilege of the form, highlighted in its visual qualities. Overall, the visitor has an organic and total vision, culminating in the uniformity of light that reigns in the dome” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

Above the portal statue “St. Charles Borromeo” 1675/80 by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86)

On the sides statues on the left “St. John of Matha” and on the right “St. Felix de Valois” 1682 by Sillano Sillani

St. John of Matha and St. Felix de Valois founded the Order of Holy Trinity for the redemption of slaves, which was approved by Pope Innocent III of the Counts of Segni (1198/1216) in 1198. Its activity was focused on the liberation of Christians kept as captives slaves in Muslim countries

The order was reformed in 1596 and it became the Congregation of Discalced Trinitarians

Sculptures of “Angels that support the oval at the top” 1676 by Giovanni Doni, Cesare Doni and Francesco Fontana

There used to be a painting in the oval, “Holy Trinity” 1677 by Pietro Giarguzzi, but now it is almost entirely disappeared

“Borromini combined three different types of structures: the lower wavy zone, whose origin lies in ancient layouts as the hall of the Golden Square in Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli; the intermediate zone of the pendentives that derives from a Greek cross plan, and the oval dome which, according to tradition, should set itself on a plan of the same shape. Nowadays it is difficult to assess fully the boldness and freedom in the handling of three structures generically different in such a way that they appear merged into an infinitely suggestive unity. With this bold step, Borromini opened up completely new horizons that were further explored later in the century in Piedmont and in northern Europe rather than in Rome” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“Bernini's buildings you admire with your eyes, those of Borromini you perceive with the whole body” (Anthony Blunt)

FLOOR 1898

“The gilding on the arches and on the doorposts of the three niches of the altars also date back to the nineteenth century, while Borromini, true to his conception of an architecture made and decorated with 'poor' materials, had predicted that only the gilding the frames of the pictures made out of carved stucco, along with the wrought-iron gates of the chapels would be the only elements that would interrupt the white plaster. The architect himself anyway declared: 'The real work is illuminated only by the light of the heart and of the sky. It needs no gold or other preciousness'“ (Sergio Lombardi)

CHAPEL TO THE RIGHT OF THE ENTRANCE

On the altar “Crucifixion”, on the left “Christ at the Column” and on the right “Crown of Thorns” 1653 by some Giuseppe Milanese, influenced by the Nordic painting

RIGHT ALTAR

“Ecstasy of Blessed Michele de Santi” in 1847 by the painter of academic culture Amalia De Angelis

MAIN ALTAR

“Sts. Charles Borromeo, Felix of Valois and John of Matha in adoration of the Most Holy Trinity” about 1646 by Pierre Mignard (1612/95)

PENDENTIVES

Oval panels in stucco with scenes from the life of the Order of Trinitarians:

From the left “Meeting of St. John de Matha with St. Felix de Valois”, “Innocent III inspired by God to approve the order”, “Approval of the order and dressing of the two founders” and “Redemption of slaves” 1640 by two stonemasons known as Mastro Matteo and Mastro Domenico Rossi who worked under the direction of Giuseppe Bernascone who was responsible for all the stucco decoration of the church

“The dome in its beautiful whiteness and its uniform light without deep shadows immaterially seems to hover above the massive forms and compact of the space in which the visitor moves” (Rudolf Wittkower)

CHAPEL TO THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR

“Rest on the Flight into Egypt” about 1642/44 by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

Under the altar there is a casket containing the body of Blessed Elisabetta Canori Mora (1774/1825), who was beatified in 1994

LEFT ALTAR

“Ecstasy of Blessed Juan Bautista de la Concepción” 1829 by Prospero Mallerini (1761/1836)

“This is the last known work of this little known painter, particularly attentive to the representation of objects (see the table, skull, books and flagellum), sometimes represented as veritable 'still-lives'“ (Sergio Lombardi)

LOWER CHURCH

Two chapels, in the smallest of which Borromini had perhaps designed his burial place. He eventually ended up being buried in S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini

CONVENT

1662/64 Francesco Borromini

Medallion with mosaic on the façade “Christ between two freed slaves” 1663/64 by Fabio Cristofari (about 1615/89)

Two wings of the convent were added over the years 1710/21 by Alessandro Sperone

In the hallway two paintings formerly on the side altars of the church “St. Ursula” 1642 and “Apparition of the Holy Family with Sts. Agnes and Catherine” 1643 as well as “Ecce Homo” about 1643 all works by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini (1609/81)

“In the St. Ursula are obvious the pictorial enrichment and the attention to atmospheric values ​​captured in the mobile shadow cast on the statuary limbs of the saint and of the martyrs lying on the ground, where it is remarkable the glimpse of the corpses piled up on the left” (Evelina Borea)

Cycle of “Eighteenth-century portraits of venerable fathers of the Trinitarian order”

Plaster statues “St. Felix de Valois” and “St. John de Matha” made at the beginning of the twentieth century, the work of the Spanish sculptor Isidoro Uribesalgo (1873/1928). They have recently moved here from the niches on either side of the main altar

CLOISTER

1635/36 Francesco Borromini

“It is an example of the revolutionary qualities of his language. The matched columns are arranged so as to form an octagon and are linked by a single cornice which gives uniform continuity of movement; the corners of the octagon are replaced by convex curvatures; minor are the transitions of light and shadow. Borromini created therefore a new unit of the structural elements enclosing the space, by considering the space itself as something malleable” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

REFECTORY

Transformed into SACRISTY by Bernardo Castelli

Altarpiece “St. Charles Borromeo worshipping the Trinity” in 1611 masterpiece by Orazio Borgianni (1578/1616) formerly on the high altar of the church built here before this one

“Virgin Mary and Child with St. Simon of Roxas” 1767 by Francisco Preciado (1713/89), a pupil of Sebastiano Conca

St. ANNE OF THE GROOMS

S. ANNA DEI PALAFRENIERI

Via S. Anna - Città del Vaticano

Begun in 1572 by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) for the Confraternity of the Palafrenieri (Grooms)

Finished in 1583 after his death by his son Giacinto Barozzi (about 1535-40/after 1584)

It was the first church in Rome to have an elliptical plan

It was the church of the palafrenieri (grooms) or the papal sediari (carriers of the papal chair), people that supported the gestatorial chair of the pope and accompanied the pope's carriage

In 1929, following the Conciliation between the Italian state and the church, S. Anna became the parish church of the Vatican and Pius XI Ratti (1922/39) assigned it to the Swiss Guards, designating for the palafrenieri the church of S. Caterina della Rota

FAÇADE

1700/31 Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729), who also added the portal, the balustrade and the bell towers

DOME

1763 by Giovanni Domenico Navone (active since 1706/d. 1770)

Above the doors stucco panels 1746 by G.B. De Rossi

NEAR THE ENTRANCE

“Plaque in memory of the Marquis Del Grillo Onofrio (1714/87)”

He was an eccentric character famous for his practical jokes, a member of the palafrenieri and immortalized in the great 1981 film Il Marchese del Grillo directed by Mario Monicelli with the comedian Alberto Sordi. His tomb is in the church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini

ON THE WALLS

Four frescoes “Scenes from the life of St. Anna” by Ignazio Stern (1679/1748)

MAIN ALTAR

“S. Anna and the Virgin Mary girl” 1927 copy by Arturo Viligiardi (1869/1936) from an original by Alessandro Franchi

Outside to the left of the church there is the unknown but extraordinary FOUNTAIN OF THE BEES by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) who had also prepared a project for the façade of the church

To the right of the church S. ANNA's GATE 1931 by Giuseppe Momo (1875/1940)

It is the church of the SWISS GUARDS in Vatican territory

The Swiss Guards are currently 110 and are at the service of the pope since 1506

During the sack of Rome in 1527 they saved the life of Clement VII Medici (1523/34): 147 died and only 42 survived, escaping with the pope in Castel Sant'Angelo

To be admitted to the corps one must be male, have Swiss citizenship, be of Catholic faith, have served in the Swiss army obtaining a certificate of good conduct, be between 18 and 30 years of age, have minimum height of 174 cm (5.7 feet), being unmarried (marriage is only permitted for corporals and higher ranks), have a certificate of professional capacity or high school diploma and be ready for a minimum service of 25 months