Left
End Side of the Church
To the left of the main altar
Frescoes on
the side walls:
On the left
“St. Monica comforted by a bishop” and “Vision of St. Augustine converted”, on
the right “Conversion of St. Augustine” and “Death of St. Monica” in the altar
wall “S. Navigio and S. Perpetua” other children of S. Monica about 1850 by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)
On the left
“Tomb of St. Monica” (mother of St. Augustine) with sculpture
maybe by Isaia da Pisa (active 1447/64) on the very strigillated
sarcophagus
in which St. Monica was originally buried after her death in 387 in Ostia
waiting to embark with his son for Africa
The remains
of the saint were moved during the restoration of Vanvitelli in the “Urn of
ancient green marble” under the altar
Leftmost chapel
BONGIOVANNI
CHAPEL
The effect
of optical illusion was diminished when the large tomb of Cardinal Lorenzo Imperiali
was built and reduced the visibility of the chapel from the outside. Originally
the effect was spectacular as only a balustrade was separating the chapel from
the church
“In the
vault Lanfranco built the first Baroque dome in Rome, transforming elements of
Correggio illusionism in a style attributable to an influence of Annibale
Carracci. The side paintings are instead dominated by a Caravaggio-like
chiaroscuro atmosphere. A first version of the altar piece with only Christ
crowning the Virgin (without God the Father) and a different location of the
two adoring saints in the lower part, which did not please the clients and the
Augustinians, is now in the Louvre” (Eric Schleier - Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani)
Marble
decoration by Giovanni Maria Baratta (active
since 1644/d. after 1679) with the statue of “St. Thomas of
Villanova and Charity” outstanding masterpiece of Melchiorre Caffà
(1636/67) finished by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)
The poor Melchiorre
Caffà died after completing St. Thomas and having sketched the woman who was
executed by Ferrata who also sculpted the statues on the pediment
The chapel
was dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanova after his canonization in 1658
“The female
figure is not an anonymous woman of the people: in an act of poetic
identification of the donor with the recipient, she appears in the traditional
role of Charity. Placing her outside the central niche and turning her toward
the saint, the artist has transformed her as a link between real life and the
fictional world of art. Instead of worshiping a cult image the poor who pray
here are encouraged to identify with the one who receives alms and to
participate in charitable work of the active Church. These figures exhibit a
super sensitive spirituality, an almost morbid sensitivity, compared to which
the works by Bernini appear massive, strong and manly” (Rudolf Wittkower)
The eagle flying out of the tomb represents
the soul of the Cardinal
LEFT SIDE
VESTIBULE
Four “Doctors
of the Church” by Isaia da Pisa (active 1447/64)
originally part of St. Monica's tomb
“Two busts
of Augustinians” by Gaspare Sibilla (about 1723/82)
“Crucifix
between Sts. Cosmas and Damian” in marble maybe by Luigi
Capponi (active end of 1400s/beginning of
1500s)
Above the
door relief with “Christ dead held by two angels” maybe by Giovanni Duknovich
aka Giovanni Dalmata (about 1440/1510)
S.
Apollonia was a martyr of the third century in Alexandria
She had her
teeth torn before spontaneously throwing herself into the fire. That's why she
was declared patron saint of the dentists
St. Clare
of Montefalco gives her heart to Christ in search of a place to plant the
Cross, disturbing and morbid subject chosen by Sebastiano Conca for one of his
last Roman works before returning to Naples
St. Clare
was beatified in 1742, a period which was the arrangement of the chapel, and
was canonized only in 1881
1643 Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(1598/1680) for Angelo Pio. Bernini
probably entrusted the construction of the chapel to Andrea
Bolgi (1606/56)
Apse with
frescoes and stucco “Angelic Glory” about 1643/49 by Guidobaldo Abbatini (1600/56)
The
altarpiece “Assumption of the Virgin Mary” also by Abbatini was destroyed
during the eighteenth century renovations by Vanvitelli
Bernini
mingled here for the first time frescoes and stucco with an artifice that has
made seem “actually true that fake that is nothing but fake”
“The
awareness in architectural terms, of the problem of light may proceed from the
primitive image of the altar of St. Bibiana and, as successive stages, with the
monument of the Countess Matilda in St. Peter's, the Raymondi Chapel in S.
Pietro in Montorio and the Pio Chapel in St. Augustine. (...) This would bring
together works that have in common the purist choice of a single material,
white marble, and derive from the experience tied to the constraints of the
artistic formation of the sculptor and still are part of the fortune of white
marble in Rome around 1630 when, at S. Carlino and Sts. Luke and Martina, the
two main antagonists of Bernini lay the foundations of their architectural
work, renouncing to the enrichment of colors, typical of Roman Mannerism”
(Paolo Portoghesi)
The Madonna
is a portrait of Lena (perhaps also portrayed in the “Death of the
Virgin” in the Louvre) holding her son Paul
She was a
friend and lover of Caravaggio and because of her the bloody fight took place
in Piazza Navona in July 1605 between Caravaggio and the notary Mariano
Pasqualoni: Caravaggio seriously injured the notary and he was forced to flee
to Genoa for three weeks during which his powerful protectors covered up the
story
For the
posture of the Virgin Mary Caravaggio was maybe inspired by the ancient
sculpture Barbarian Woman or Tusnelda kept in Villa Medici at the time
and now in Florence
For the
purely classical features of the face and for the long neck perhaps Caravaggio
was inspired by the statue of Jacopo Sansovino, the Madonna del Parto a few
steps from here
Among the
many extraordinary details of a piece of art that moves, engages and shakes the
soul one could mention the superb high contrast of light on the face of the
Child Jesus, who, also because of this, really manages to appear at once human
and divine, as very few similar images in the world do
Also
striking is the incredible consistency of the material of the white cloth,
symbolizing the shroud of Christ, hanging from the right arm of the Virgin
Mary, one of the many technical virtuosity of Caravaggio always fitting and
meaningful, never an exercise in self-indulgence
“It still
has in common with the Deposition and the Cerasi paintings the diagonal
composition, the low eye level and the close-up vision. But the intense
darkness of the space envelops the figures even more, it doesn't highlight them
from the sculptural point of view as strongly as in Deposition. Whilst
generally the Madonna of Loreto is represented enthroned in Her Holy House as
she is carried by the angels, the Virgin Mary here is resting on the threshold
of a house in Rome in front of two common pilgrims with bare and dirty feet. It
was a completely new idea that caused a stir especially among the common people
who had identified themselves in those two pilgrims. It is the most moving
Caravaggio's painting from the human point of view, based as it is on the
meeting, on the close proximity of the pilgrims pious and full of hope,
representing the whole of humanity, with the Madonna and Child bringing love,
blessing and redemption” (Erich Schleier)
SACRISTY
1756/60 by Luigi Vanvitelli (1700/73) and Carlo Murena (1713/64) to replace the old sacristy incorporated
into the convent. In the process Vanvitelli destroyed the Chapel of St. Helena
with paintings by Daniele da Volterra
Outside the sacristy
To the
right of the door of the sacristy “Bust of Panvinio Onofrio (1530/68)” by Gaspare Sibilla (about
1723/82)
Onofrio
Panvinio was the founder of Christian archeology and modern ecclesiastical
historiography. It was he who first dated from the sources the foundation of
Rome on 21 April 753 BC
Above the
door of the sacristy “Bust of Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville” patron of the
church
Inside the sacristy
Above the
door painting “Preaching of St. Augustine” maybe by Girolamo
Muziano (1532/92)
In the
ceiling “Baptism of St. Augustine” in 1887 by Pietro
Gagliardi (1809/90)
Altar altarpiece “Alms of St. Thomas of Villanova” by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a
pupil of Pietro da Cortona
Cabinets
made out of wood from Brazil 1760
“Even in the
sacristy, as in the works for the convent, the intervention of Vanvitelli is
based on a classical and solemn style, with clean lines and harmonious
proportions. The simple and almost austere design of the architectural is
softened and made more elegant by curvilinear elements as the rounded corners,
the clipei, the design of the floor” (Valeria Annecchino)
Angelic
Library
Next to the
church, the first library in Rome open to the public, founded in 1614 by the
Augustinian Angelo Rocca. It is specialized in literature and philology
It became
property of the Italian State in 1873
Since 1941
it is the headquarters of the ACCADEMIA LETTERARIA DELL'ARCADIA (Literary
Academy of the Arcadia)
It contains
about 200,000 volumes, 2,650 manuscripts and more than 1,000 incunabula
Francesco
Borromini (1599/1667)
designed in 1659 a new wing, executed in the years 1659/69 by Francesco Righi
It was
enlarged in the years 1756/65 by Luigi Vanvitelli
(1700/73) and Carlo Murena who designed on the
first floor the room known as the “Vase”
The shelves
in walnut wood date back to 1668
“Two pairs
of celestial and terrestrial globes” 1599 and 1603 unique in Italy
FORMER
CONVENT OF THE AUGUSTINIANS
Now it is
the Palazzo dell'Avvocatura Generale dello Stato
(Palace of the State Attorney General)
