St. PAUL AT THE REGOLA

S. PAOLO ALLA REGOLA

Via S. Paolo alla Regola 6

Founded according to tradition at the time of Pope Sylvester I (314/355) in a house that had already been converted into a chapel

It was known as SCHOLA PAULI (Paul's School) for the tradition according to which St. Paul lived here for two years. Tradition has it also that he wrote here his letters to the Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians and to Philemon which are part of the New Testament

The church was home to corporations including the ones of the Cappellari (hat makers), Vinai (wine makers), Barbieri (barbers), Cicoriari (chicory pickers) and Vaccinari (cowmen) 

Rebuilt since 1687 by G.B. Bergonzoni (1629/92) for the Third Regular Order of St. Francis of the Sicilian Nation

Consecrated in 1728

FAÇADE

Finished in 1721 with a project by Giacomo Cioli (?/1734) executed by Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ROSALIA

Above the altar “Sts. Chiara, Rose of Viterbo and Rosalia” maybe by Cristoforo Creo

Oval painting on the right “Martyrdom of St. Erasmus” by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721)

BETWEEN 1^st AND 2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

“Tomb of Bishop Pietro Gioeni” d. 1761

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS

Above the altar “St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata” 1695 by Michele Rocca (about 1675/1751) from Parma

Formerly erroneously attributed to Francesco Mazzola, who, just like Michele Rocca, was nicknamed Parmigianino

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS

Above the altar “Bronze crucifix” attributed to Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654) or Pietro Bracci (1700/73)

ABOVE THE DOOR OF THE ORATORY

Oval painting “St. Thomas Aquinas admires St. Bonaventure who had fallen into a trance” by Biagio Puccini

ORATORY OF St. PAUL

Oldest area of the church built on the ruins of the house, maybe prison, of St. Paul

Rebuilt 1931 by Antonio Muñoz (1884/1960)

Mosaic “St. Paul” by Eugenio Cisterna (1862/1933)

MAIN ALTAR

At the center “Conversion of St. Paul”, on the right “Martyrdom of St. Paul”, on the left “Preaching of St. Paul” about 1701 frescoes by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721), a pupil of Andrea Sacchi later influenced by Carlo Maratta

“Luigi Garzi went to Rome from Pistoia when he was very young (...) He was at the school of Andrea Sacchi whose teachings helped to direct him towards classicism. Sacchi in particular advised him to study the works of Raphael, Domenichino and Nicolas Poussin. Garzi studied also other classicists Emilian painters such as Guido Reni, and he preferred Giovanni Lanfranco above all. He was, however, decisively influenced by Carlo Maratta, 'so that he can be considered, as a painter, on a minor parallel line to Carlo Maratta, but with interesting differences and anticipations of the eighteenth century' (Sestieri, 1994)” (Gerardo Casale - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Eighteenth-century choir made out of walnut wood

ORGAN 1763 by Hans Conrad Wehrle (beginning eighteenth century/1771), German organ builder designer of numerous organs for churches in Rome and in the Lazio region, including that of St. Mary Magdalene

Marble tabernacle for the holy oils made in 1535

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF GRACE

Above the altar fresco beginning of fifteenth century “Our Lady of Grace” believed to be miraculous, formerly at the entrance of the old church

Above the door of the sacristy

Oval painting “Virgin Mary delivering the Child to St. Clare of Assisi” by Biagio Puccini

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANNA

Above the altar “St. Anna receives the Child Jesus from the arms of the Virgin” by Giacinto Calandrucci (1646/1707) a pupil of Carlo Maratta

In the vault frescoes “Glory of St. Anna” and “Prophets” by Salvatore Monosilio (active since 1744/d. 1776) who was also a pupil of Maratta

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY OF PADUA

Above the altar “St. Anthony of Padua with the Child in his arms” by Giacinto Calandrucci

Oval painting on the left “Miracle of the healing of the foot by St. Anthony” by Giacomo Dio

In the aedicula of the altar “Redeemer” fragment of a larger painting by an anonymous artist of the Veneto-Lombardy area

SACRISTY

1712 Alessandro De Grandis

Vault “St. Paul points out to St. John Chrysostom the Virgin Mary in Glory” by Ignazio Stern (1679/1748)

Walnut cabinets of 1736

Insula Romana di S. Paolo alla Regola

Ancient Roman Apartment Block of St. Paul at the Regola

Under PALAZZO SPECCHI, the building dating back to the sixteenth century to the right of the church, archaeologists found in the years 1978/82 a large brick building made out of four floors dating back to the imperial age with medieval phases of construction

Two of the ancient four floors are below the current street level 

The building was originally built at the time of Domitian (81/96 AD) to be used as a warehouse, maybe the HORREA VESPASIANI, used as part of the port and trading activities that took place along the nearby Tiber River

Two rooms in opus latericium (concrete covered with bricks) and two rooms with mosaic floors arranged on roads parallel to the Tiber and slightly sloping towards the river 

In the Severan period (early third century AD), the building was renovated and new warehouses, spacious halls and residential apartments were built. The new structures made the building rise to four stories in height

In the twelfth century on the ancient building a house with a tower was built, which is still visible behind Palazzo Specchi

St. MARY OF THE CONCEPTION IN THE CAMPUS MARTIUS

S. MARIA DELLA CONCEZIONE IN CAMPO MARZIO

Piazza Campo Marzio 45

About 750 when some Basilian nuns fled Constantinople with the body of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, now in the Vatican, and other relics, including the Madonna Avvocata (Virgin Mary Advocate) believed to have been painted by St. Luke himself

Pope St. Zechariah (741/752) granted to the nuns this church near which they built a monastery. According to tradition, the animals that carried the body of St. Gregory Nazianzus and the relics stopped in this spot

Rebuilt in the second half of 1500s by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) and in the first half of 1600s by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) and Francesco Peparelli (active since about 1626/d. 1641)

Completely transformed in Baroque style in the years 1668/85 by Giovanni Antonio De Rossi (1616/95)

It is an Eastern Catholic Church of Syro-Antiochian rite

“This imposing Greek cross with an oval dome but without the drum is a masterpiece of the mature style of De Rossi. The way as the mass of the apse closes the view from Via della Maddalena is designed in the best tradition of the Roman Baroque style” (Rudolf Wittkower)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

On the altar “Nativity of the Virgin” maybe by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703) or one of his pupils

RIGHT ALTAR OF THE GREEK CROSS

Above the altar “Baptism of Jesus”

On the left “The Birth of St. John the Baptist” and on the right “Beheading of the Baptist” about 1690 by Pasquale Marini (about 1660/about 1712) a pupil of Carlo Maratta

“The painter from the Marche region shows a predilection for models of Pietro da Cortona especially in the beheading of St. John the Baptist. His approach is still grandiose and bombastic just like the great seventeenth-century altarpieces. In the canvas at the sides the emphasis of gestures and expressions is reconstructed in the balanced equilibrium of the whole” (Laura Possanzini)

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

Above the altar “St. Gregory of Nazianzus” 1686/87 by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

“To an essential and balanced approach he combines his personal visions of the early Baroque, as in the angel holding up the book. The dynamic action of light as well and the attention to realistic details denote a desire to broaden his cultural references both recalling Lanfranco's ideas and finding closer inspiration in Courtois or Brandi” (Laura Possanzini)

MAIN ALTAR

1708 Tommaso Mattei (1652/1726), a pupil of Carlo Fontana

“Icon of Our Lady Advocate” 1100/1200 from Constantinople

Our Lady looks at the viewer slightly turned to the right, with her right hand raised and her left hand to her chest to indicate that she intercedes for all those who are praying her

APSE

Frescoes in the middle “Immaculate Conception”, on the right “St. John the Evangelist”, and on the left “Isaiah” 1730 by Placido Costanzi (1702/59)

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

On the altar “Bronze Crucifix”

Lateral paintings by artists of the school of Sebastiano Conca

On the left “Noli Me Tangere” and on the right “Penitent Magdalene” maybe by Giovanni Angelo Soccorsi

LEFT ALTAR OF THE GREEK CROSS

On the altar “Death of St. Benedict”

On the left “St. Benedict writing the rule” and on the right “Madonna and Child with St. Gertrude and Benedictine saints” 1685/88 masterpieces by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)

“The Madonna and Child with Saints is one of the best results of the followers of Pietro da Cortona and anticipates aspects of eighteenth-century painting with a lot of great airiness effects. The three paintings are considered to be the 'second maturity of the artist's masterpieces' and the best example of a complete fusion between the styles of Cortona and Maratta” (Laura Possanzini)

1st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “Deposition of Christ” of the second decade of the 1600s by Baccio Ciarpi (1574/1654)

“The attribution of Federico Zeri was accepted by all art historians: the position of the artist expresses the new formula of 'regulated mixing' implemented at the beginning of the seventeenth century in Rome through the experience of the painting style of Titian and Rubens compared with the style of Tuscan Mannerism” (Laura Possanzini)

CONVENT

During construction in 1777, it was found here the “Column of cipolin marble” now in Piazza di Spagna, near the Spanish Steps, and known as the Column of the Immaculate Conception

The “Painting on board with Christ blessing” about 1150 was also found and the “Last Judgement” with “Christ Pantocrator, Christ the Priest, Allegory of Earth and Sea, Hell and Heavenly Jerusalem with the patron Abbess Constance and her partner Benedetta” of the end of 1100s by Giovanni and Nicolò now in the Vatican Museums and maybe originally located on the counter façade of the Oratory of St. Gregory of Nazianzus

St. BARBARA OF THE BOOKSELLERS

S. BARBARA DEI LIBRAI

Largo dei Librari 85

Founded in the eleventh century by the prefect Giovanni Crescenzio and his wife Rogata as written on an inscription in the church

It was made from a fornix of the Theater of Pompey perhaps testified by its ancient name in Satro corrupted form from the Latin word theatrum

It was consecrated again in 1306

At the beginning of the sixteenth century it was the national church of the English people in Rome

It was granted to the Confraternity of the Booksellers in 1601 and rebuilt in 1680 at the behest of the Florentine bookseller and printer Zenobio Masotti (1606/88)

It was restored in 1858 by Gaetano Bonoli

In 1969 it was deconsecrated and used as a warehouse

It was reopened in 1982 and restored in the years 1990/93

S. Barbara was born in Turkey to a pagan father and a Christian mother. When she decided to convert, in 306, the father reported her, and she was sentenced to death by beheading

It was her father himself who beheaded her, after a couple of days of torture. As soon as she was decapitated, lightning struck the man, killing him

S. Barbara is therefore patron saint of everything that has to do with fire and explosives

FAÇADE

1680 by Giuseppe Passeri (1654/1714), pupil of Carlo Maratta

Restored in 1858

Statue “S. Barbara” by Ambrogio Parisi

ENTRANCE NAVE

In the vault fresco “Glory of St. Barbara” by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721) from Pistoia, a pupil of Andrea Sacchi and later influenced by Carlo Maratta

“One can consider Luigi Garzi as a not so well known artist, parallel to the action carried out by Carlo Maratta, but with interesting differences and a more prolonged participation in the eighteenth century. (...) He shows a Frenchified style, original for his time, supported in particular by Poussin and more generally by the contemporary works of transalpine cousins. The stately results of this art style, however, is tempered by his cute miniatures details, anticipating similar results already fully belonging to the eighteenth century” (Giancarlo Sestieri)

On the right triptych “Madonna and Child with Sts. John the Baptist and the Archangel Michael” 1453 signed by Leonardo da Roma

MAIN NAVE

Four frescoes on the walls:

On the right “St. Teresa” and “St. Anthony of Padua”, on the left “St. Philip Neri” and “St. Francis of Assisi” 1682 by Luigi Garzi

In the vault “Four Evangelists” and “Faith, Hope, Charity and Love of God” second half of 1800s by Domenico Monacelli (active in the nineteenth century)

RIGHT TRANSEPT – CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX

“Wooden cross” of the XIV century inserted, with an interesting Baroque style, in the center of the fresco “Madonna and St. John at the foot of the Cross” by Luigi Garzi

Right wall “Nine brothers presented to the Virgin Mary by the Sts. Barbara, Thomas Aquinas and John of God” seventeenth-century painting maybe by the French Claude Mellan (1598/1688)

MAIN ALTAR

“Apparition of Christ to S. Barbara” and oval in the vault of the presbytery “Eternal Father” by Luigi Garzi

Beautiful seventeenth-century front panel of the altar made out of rare stones

On the left “Tomb and bust of Zenobio Masotti” the patron and builder of the church

Lunette “S. Barbara decapitated by his father” by Domenico Monacelli

LEFT TRANSEPT

Altarpiece “Madonna and Sts. Peter, Paul, Jerome, Thomas and John of God” maybe by Francesco Ragusa (1591/1665)

SPECCHI CHAPEL

Altarpiece “S. Saba” by G.B. Brughi (1660/1730), pupil of Baciccio

DE CAROLIS PALACE

PALAZZO DE CAROLIS

Via del Corso 307

1714/24 Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) for Livio De Carolis bourgeois scion of a wealthy family of merchants of grain who wanted to build his palace next to those of the patrician families

The exorbitant cost of the construction contributed to the ruin of the family who was forced to put the building up for auction

It passed in 1750 to the Jesuits who gave it to rent to famous people

It was from 1769 the French Embassy and with Cardinal François-Joachim de Bernis it was the site of parties and beautiful banquets that gave to the French cardinal the popular nickname of King of Rome

Later it belonged to the Simonetti and Boncompagni Ludovisi families

In 1833 the attic was added and the cornice was modified

The building belongs since 1908 to the BANCA DI ROMA and it was enlarged and adapted by Pio Piacentini (1846/1928). He covered the courtyard that became the hall of the bank and changed some of the rooms in Art Nouveau style

Wonderful SPIRAL STAIRCASE by Alessandro Specchi considered one of the wonders of Rome

On the external left end side “Speaking Statue of a Porter” one of the six of Rome, to which anonymous messages were posted

It dates back to the time of Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85) although it is erroneously attributed by popular tradition to Michelangelo Buonarroti

In the courtyard there is a cannonball fired by the French in 1849 embedded in the second floor

The lower stretch of Via del Collegio Romano was named after Alessandro Specchi only in 1980, an incredible delay in making a toponymic tribute to the gigantic but unfortunately underestimated Roman architect

“Citing the close-by Palazzo d'Aste of which it repeats the decorative windows and the corner solution, perhaps at the suggestion of the client who wanted a house clearly inspired by the traditional type of mansion” (Paolo Portoghesi)

Rooms of the first floor with ceilings painted by some of the best painters working in Rome in the early eighteenth century:

GALLERY

Now used as a library

“Triptych Bacchus, Venus and Ceres” by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727)

“Diana and her Companions” by Benedetto Luti (1666/1724)

“Chariot of Apollo with Aurora and Muses” by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

HALL OF MINERVA

“Allegory of caste Love with passionate Love represented by Minerva who takes away Youth from Venus and give it to Hercules symbol of strength and virtue” and “Venus and Vulcan” by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746) from Istria

“At age 21 he moved to Rome. Here he studied the works of Carraci, was inspired by Correggio and attended the circle of Carlo Maratta. He had a good success as the representative of Venetian Rococo style. He produced altarpieces with very pathetic tones, but he was also appreciated as a very precise portrait painter and for his vast landscape scenes, which are the background of historical or mythological events” (Consorzio La Venaria Reale - www.lavenaria.it)

“Allegory of the arts and wisdom” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

“Aurora” by Andrea Procaccini (1671/1734)

More paintings by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742), Ludovico Mazzanti (1686/1775) and Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)