St. NICHOLAS OF THE PREFECTS

S. NICOLA DEI PREFETTI

Via dei Prefetti 34

Maybe built in the eighth century. Mentioned in the sources for the first time in the twelfth century

The name probably derives from some relationship with the nearby headquarters of the Prefecture of Rome

In the years 1524/26 it was occupied by St. Cajetan of Thiene and his companions becoming the first church of the order of the Regular Clerks also known as Theatins founded in 1524 by St. Cajetan of Thiene and Gian Pietro Carafa, later Paul IV (1555/59)

1729 rebuilt and rededicated by Pope Clement XIII Orsini (1758/69)

FAÇADE

1674 inserted between the wings of the former Dominican convent

INTERIOR

1860/62 restoration by Paolo Belloni

Pictorial decoration 1914/17 by Cleto Luzzi (1884/1952)

VESTIBULE

“Funerary epigraphs of the poet Francesco Lorenzini and the Canon Giuseppe Paolucci, one of the founders of the Academy of Arcadia” 1746

COUNTER FAÇADE

Paintings “St. Pius V in prayer” between “Angels musicians” in monochrome by Cleto Luzzi

VAULT

In the center “Glory of St. Nicholas of Bari” about 1730 by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746), a pupil of Benedetto Luti, who maybe also painted the boards with the “Stations of the Cross”

Six medallions “Four Cardinal Virtues” and “Two angels with inscriptions” by Cleto Luzzi

1^st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Modern plaster statue of the “Sacred Heart”

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Above the altar “St. Nicholas of Bari resurrecting three children” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ALTAR

“Funerary monument of Giovanna Ripario” who died in 1863, when she was twenty years old exactly on the day of her wedding, with a bust by an anonymous nineteenth-century artist

PRESBYTERY

On the altar most venerated “Seventeenth-century wooden Crucifix” of the Confraternita del Santissimo Crocifisso Agonizzante (Brotherhood of the Holy Cross in Agony)

It is related to a miracle which occurred in 1740: the Crucifix remained unharmed during a fire in the Oratory at St. Nicholas in Arcione that melted down even the bronze candlesticks and a bronze medallion hung on the Crucifix. It was moved here in 1848

Under the Crucifix there is a painting of the Virgin Mary known as “Mater Misericordiae” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

Walls painted on the right “Pietà”, on the left “Agony in the Garden” and in the lunette “Choir of Angels” 1914/17 by Cleto Luzzi

TO THE LEFT OF THE ALTAR

Monumental “Funerary memory of the spouses Antonio Cassetta and Maria Teresa Sturbinetti” 1868 by Luca Carimini (1830/90) inspired by the Renaissance monuments of Andrea Bregno

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE ROSARY

Gorgeous “Altar frontal in gilt bronze” of the second half of the nineteenth century by unknown Roman craftsmen

Eighteenth-century altar sculpture “Madonna of the Rosary” with dress decorated in silver and gold

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “Madonna and Child with Sts. Joseph and James” 1859 by Vincenzo Pasqualoni (1819/80), a pupil of Tommaso Minardi

St. LUCY OF THE DYE

S. LUCIA DELLA TINTA

Via di Monte Brianzo 61

The first mention of the church is on an inscription of the year 1002

Restored 1580 for the Society of the Coachmen

Rebuilt in 1628 for the Borghese family

Restored again in 1911

The church took its name from the ancient neighborhood of the dyers of fabrics that included Via Condotti of which Via Monte Brianzo is the continuation

It was also called Sanctae Luciae ad quattuor portas (St. Lucy by the Fourth Door) because it was close to the four small gates (posterule) that opened on the ancient walls that lined the banks of the River Tiber from the Pons Aelius (Sant'Angelo Bridge) to Porta Flaminia (Flaminia Gate)

The church was dedicated in 1394 to St. Lucy, Roman aristocrat martyr, not to be confused with the eponymous saint from Syracuse

FAÇADE

Rebuilt in 1715 maybe by Tommaso Mattei (1652/1726) a pupil of Carlo Fontana, for the prince G.B. Borghese

CEILING

1781 ornaments by Pietro Rotati and central canvas “St. Lucy assists to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary” by the Polish Tadeusz Kuntze aka Taddeo il Polacco (1732/93) who also painted the oval boards with “Angels in flight”

1^st ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

“Wooden painted crucifix” of the beginning of the eighteenth century

2^nd ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

Canvas “St. Lucia and an angel” about 1675 by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

PRESBYTERY

In the floor “Fragment of cosmatesque mosaic” of the twelfth century

MAIN ALTAR

Above the altar very ruined fresco detached from a house in the Via di Campo Marzio “Virgin Mary Queen of Angels with Sts. John the Baptist, Joseph, Catherine of Alexandria and donor” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

Following the restoration of 1983 it was possible to verify that the Madonna and Child were painted in the second half of the fifteenth century and that the other figures were added perhaps following the crowning of the image occurred in 1667

2^nd ALTAR ON THE LEFT

Canvas “St. Lucy and St. Geminianus” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

1^st ALTAR ON THE LEFT

Canvas “Madonna Salus Infirmorum and Child, Sts. Egidio, Yves, Gimnesius and the souls in Purgatory” about 1723/25 by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746), a pupil of Benedetto Luti

BARBERINI PALACE - NATIONAL ART GALLERY (twenty-sixth part)

Room XXXIII - Fabrizio and Fiammetta Lemme Donation. Designing Great Art

Preparatory sketches for paintings on canvas in the nave of St. Clement executed in the years 1711/16 including “Glory of St. Clement” by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727) for the ceiling of the church

“As it has been pointed out, the central figure is derived from the assumption of Annibale Carracci in S. Maria del Popolo, but the reference point is the Allegory of Mercy painted by Carlo Maratta in Palazzo Altieri in 1676. Fidelity to the text of his teacher borders here on plagiarism, or perhaps indicates the use of the original cartoons, in the group of two putti supporting the anchor down” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Stories of St. Clement and St. Ignatius of Antioch” for the walls of the church by some of the best painters in Rome in the second decade of 1700s:

“Death of S. Servolo” by Tommaso Chiari (1665/1773) brother of Giuseppe

“St. Clement imposes the veil to St. Domitilla” by Pietro de Pietri (1663/1716)

“Among the works of this cycle it is one of those that show 'more intensely maratta-like' features. With a composition of light classical approach proposing 'in decidedly eighteenth century tone, the golden language of Raphael'. The peculiar character of this sketch that marks also other works by De Pietri (for example, the Madonna and Child with Saints in S. Maria in Via Lata) is this intimate aspect, and it is one of the most original outcomes of Maratta's period' (Casale)” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Martyrdom of St. Clement” by Giovanni Antonio Grecolini (1675/1725)

“Translation of the body of St. Clement” by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)

“The sketch shows less freshness than the final version as a fresco. Some indecisions show up affecting mainly the faces of St. Clement and the prelate behind. The prelate knelt before the body of St. Clement recalls a figure of G.B. Gaulli, the St. Nicholas, in the altarpiece in St. Mary Magdalene, which inspired Odazzi some other times as well” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Trajan condemning St. Ignatius of Antioch” by Giovanni Domenico Piastrini (1678/1740)

“St. Ignatius of Antioch meets St. Polycarp in Smyrna” by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746) pupil of Benedetto Luti

“Giacomo Triga, little-known pupil of Benedetto Luti, a virtuoso of the Pantheon, worked for the Patrizi and the Theodoli families, and in some Roman churches such as the Basilica of Sts. John and Paul, St. Francis of Paola and S. Marcello al Corso” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Martyrdom of St. Ignatius of Antioch” by Pier Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755)

“As Casale mentioned, this painting by Ghezzi in the Clementine series is presented as 'the less academic and more whimsical of the group' and 'hard to the limits of unpleasantness. But original' due 'to an compositional vehemence impatient of conventions and rules of composition” (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Miracle of St. Clement in the Crimea” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

“It has been emphasized the differentiation of this sketch from the rest of the series for both the bright colors with respect to the general preference for crayon-like colors, and for the adoption of a small size that allows the presence of several figures without creating a scrum. ( ...) It as also noted by Casale (1998) that it is the masterpiece of the clementine series, a work in which the author reconciles the update on Maratti's reforms with a style that 'shows an early Rococo expression' (Sestieri)” (Francesca Mochi Onori)

The “Abandonment of Moses” and the “Sacrifice of Isaac” by Domenico Corvi (1721/1803) from Viterbo

They are models for the paintings in the side chapel of the Virgin of Seven Sorrows in S. Marcello al Corso, showing with their bright colors the influence of Corrado Giaquinto's painting

Extraordinary “Assumption of the Virgin” by Ludovico Mazzanti (1686/1775) a Gaulli's student, sketch for the 1720 fresco on the ceiling of the left transept of S. Ignatius

“Death of S. Joseph” 1712 by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746) from Istria

It is a study for the altarpiece of the second chapel on the right in the church of St. Ignatius

Sketch of “Last meeting of Sts. Peter and Paul” for the 1766 canvas in the church of S. Lucia al Gonfalone, and preparatory sketch of '“Adoration of the Magi”, a work in S. Giuseppe alla Lungara, by the Sicilian Mariano Rossi (1731/1807)

“In the Last meeting of Sts. Peter and Paul mix, in a studied intersection of levels that follow the development of the action, relations with the work of Corrado Giaquinto but, as Giancarlo Sestieri pointed out, in an 'extreme simplification of form, based on an essentially linear conciseness' and 'developed especially in the footsteps of Marco Benefial and Francesco Mancini'“ (Lorenza Mochi Onori)

“Allegories of the four elements: water, air, fire and earth” 1767/68 by the Roman Stefano Pozzi (1699/1768) for the lunettes of the vault of a Cabinet in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj

BASILICA OF Sts. JOHN AND PAUL

BASILICA SS. GIOVANNI E PAOLO

Piazza dei Ss. Giovanni e Paolo 13

About 398 for the senator Bizante and his son Pammachius senator as well. Pammachius was a leading figure of the Christian community, a friend of St. Jerome and a saint himself for the Catholic Church

The church was built over the TITULUS PAMMACHI. According to a late tradition it was the Titulus of the two officers of Constantine (306/337) John and Paul. They would have been martyred and buried here in 362 during the persecution of Julian the Apostate (361/363)

It was damaged by the sack of the Goths of Alaric in 410, by an earthquake in 442 and by the Normans in 1084

Paschal II (1099/1118) rebuilt the MONASTERY and began the BELL TOWER which was completed in about 1150 for the Cardinal Giovanni dei Conti di Sutri along with the porch, which was maybe executed by Nicola d'Angelo

The foundations of the TEMPLE OF CLAUDIUS were kept as a base for the bell tower

The church was consecrated again in 1157

"Between 1099 and 1118 some monastic buildings were erected near the Church of Sts. John and Paul. The massive ruins of the Claudianum, an old water cistern built with large blocks, were used, creating a formidable defensive stronghold. The complex was further strengthened in the mid-thirteenth century, when the buildings were enlarged and the lower tower built fifty years before was raised to the imposing height it still has today" (Richard Krauutheimer)

Restored about 1199/1216 for Cencio Savelli later Pope Honorius III (1216/27)

In the years 1950/52 Cardinal Francis Spellman Archbishop of New York had the early Christian façade restored

Since 1946 with Cardinal Spellmann the church has always been the seat of the Cardinal Archbishop of New York. Before Spellmann the titular cardinal for 10 years (1929/39) was Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII (1939/58)

The current titular is Edward Michael Cardinal Egan Archibishop of New York

INTERIOR

Restoration 1715/18 Antonio Canevari (1681/1759) and Andrea Garagni for Cardinal Fabrizio Paolucci

Other minor changes were made later

The FLOOR dates back to the thirtheenth century, but it was almost completely rebuilt in the nineteenth century

OCTAGONAL VESTIBULE

At the beginning of the right nave "Busts of Cardinal Paolucci and Pope Innocent XII Pignatelli (1691/1700)" 1725 Pietro Bracci (1700/73)

1st ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

"St. Saturninus destroys the idol" 1716 by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

CHAPEL OF St. PAUL OF THE CROSS second half of nineteenth with body of St. Paul of the Cross

AT THE CENTER OF THE NAVE

Plaque commemorating the site of the martyrdom of Sts. John and Paul

APSE

"Christ in Glory" 1588 by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio (1552/1626)

MAIN ALTAR

Made out of a porphyry tub with relics of Sts. John and Paul

Above the altar "Martyrdom of St. John" 1726 by Giovanni Domenico Piastrini (1678/1740)

At the sides "Martyrdom of St. Paul" 1726 by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746) and "Conversion of Terenziano" 1726 Pietro Andrea Barbieri (1684/1730)

"Angels" in stucco 1726 by Pietro Bracci

AT THE END OF THE LEFT NAVE

Room with remarkable painting "Christ enthroned between six Apostles" about 1255

"The group of Apostles, inserted between arches, is rendered with such graphic emphasis that it is possible to perceive some trends already visible in the paintings in the chapel of St. Sylvester at the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati" (Enrico Parlato)

LEFT NAVE

Paintings by Aureliano Milani (1675/1749) and Tommaso Conca (1734/1822)

SACRISTY

Painting on wood "Madonna and Child with Saints" by Antonio Aquili aka Antoniazzo Romano (1452/1508)