St. THOMAS AI CENCI

S. TOMMASO AI CENCI
Piazza delle Cinque Scole

It appears for the first time in the sources on the year 1114 in the MONTE CENCI area as mentioned in a plaque embedded in a wall in the atrium

Second consecration in 1240, maybe after a restoration

It was known as In Capite Molarum for the nearby mills (molendinis in Latin) along the River Tiber or In Mercatello for the square where the market was held weekly

It was built on the site of the TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX, where the two huge statues of Castor and Pollux with horses were found and moved in 1585 on the Capitoline Hill

It was restored in the years 1559/75 for the Cenci family (Rocco Cenci, his nephew Christopher and the latter's son Francis, who in turn was the father and rapist of Beatrice Cenci) who had the patronage since 1554

“The origins of the Cenci family, despite the claims of two thousand years of antiquity, date back reliably to the mid-fourteenth century (...). They were engaged in commercial activities and were in close relationship with the Roman aristocracy. Since this period, progressive acquisitions of properties in the area by members of the family lead to the establishment of an actual fortress, with towers, residential wings and services for common use - a balneum (bathing complex), an oven, a loggia, slaughterhouses and warehouses - the center of which was the church of St. Thomas” (Angela Catalano)

Restored in 1881
It belongs to the Brotherhood of the coachmen

COUNTER FAÇADE
Lunette “Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well” and “Two Evangelists” by an anonymous artist of the end of 1500s just like the other two on either side of the main altar

On the right “Banner with Enthroned Virgin Mary and Child (back) and Our Lady of Sorrows between angels with symbols of the Passion (front)” by an anonymous artist of the beginning of the 1700s

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
“Wooden crucifix” 1700

MAIN ALTAR
The altar is supported by “Two trapezophori with lions’ feet in white marble”
Round panel in turquoise murra, a very rare marble
Baptismal font resting on “Triangular base with dolphins and acanthus leaves” both of the Augustan period (27 AC/14 BC), and probably found in the area
Tabernacle and balustrade 1626
Altarpiece “Incredulity of St. Thomas” 1612 by Giuseppe Vermiglio (1585/1635), the only authentic work of this painter from Piedmont influenced by Caravaggio

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS
Vault “Stories of St. Francis” in 1612 by a late Mannerist anonymous artist influenced by Cavalier d’Arpino
Altarpiece “St. Francis praying in front of the crucifix” by an unknown artist of the end of 1500s

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE BAR
Cenci family patronage since 1453
Above the altar “Nativity of Jesus”, on the left “Nativity of the Virgin Mary” and on the right “Annunciation” 1565 by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80) a pupil of Perin del Vaga for Valerio Cenci
On the pilasters “Prophets” and on the vault “Stories from the life of St. Joachim” by Sermoneta with assistants

SACRISTY
“Cinerary urn” of the first century BC used as a water reservoir

St. MARY WAILING

S. MARIA DEL PIANTO

Piazza delle Cinque Scole/Via di S. Maria de' Calderari 29

1608/12 begun by Nicolò Sebregondi (1580-90/about 1652) for the Confraternita di S. Maria del Pianto (Brotherhood of St. Mary Wailing)

It was built on the site of the earlier church of S. Salvatore in Cacaberis, from the word caccabarii, i.e. calderari, boilers manufacturers, also known as caccabi

1642/44 continued by G.B. Mola (1585/1665) with the apse, the sacristy and the bell tower

G.B. Mola was the author of the first guide of Rome not exclusively for pilgrims in the two editions of 1660 and 1663. He was the younger brother of the architect Giacomo Mola and father of the painter Pier Francesco Mola

1690 side altars and interior decoration by Filippo Tittoni

1817/18 restoration by Peter Holl (1780/1855-56)

DOME

1735 Mario Bernardi

The façade and the main nave of the church were never built

The name comes from the miraculous image of Mary which, in front of a heinous crime, shed tears in 1546

“Two young men are playing in the street, even if an order of Monsignor Governor forbids it. The game ends in dispute and a fight begins. One of the youths wins over the other, pulls out a knife in anger, and he is about to kill him. This one asks for mercy in the name of the Virgin Mary depicted in a fresco with the Child in her arms on a wall of a building on that road. The winner, at the invocation of mercy done in the name of Our Lady, throws the knife on the ground and helps the rival to get up, but this one picks up the dagger and 'as a prize to have given him life, he wickedly killed him'. Faced with this fact 'The Holy Imagine cries abundant tears from the eyes' and a Spanish priest, who was at the scene, collects the tears in a handkerchief” (Francesco Arbitrio - www.ilfonendoscopio.it)

PORTAL

Rebuilt 1875 by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) in a style that imitates the fifteenth century

INTERIOR

Interior decoration 1817 by Camillo Marini

AT THE ENTRANCE

“Fragment of gothic ciborium” from the destroyed church of S. Salvatore in Cacaberis

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NAVE

“Processional Banner: Virgin in Glory (recto) and Miracle of the Weeping Madonna (verso)” by Francesco Simoncelli, pupil of Lazzaro Baldi

“Important aspect of the career of Lazzaro Baldi and unique case in the seventeenth century, it was his work as a contractor in the manufacture of panels for the canonization of saints, reproduced almost in series and entrusted to his large workshop which translated, simplifying it and cleverly reducing it, his plain and compelling language suitable to grip the audience of the faithful” (Antonella Pampalone)

RIGHT TRANSEPT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCES OF ROME

Above the altar “Madonna and Sts. Francis of Assisi, Anthony of Padua and Frances of Rome” about 1702 by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)

On the left “Funerary Monument of Pompeo Palmieri” 1646/50 by G.B. Mola

MAIN ALTAR

Designed by G.B. Mola

Venerated fresco of the “St. Mary Wailing” of the fifteenth century, protagonist of the miracle in 1546

On the walls of the choir two paintings with frames made in 1746 by Gabriele Valvassori (1683/1761):

On the right “Jesus appearing to St. Martin” 1605 by Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630)

On the left “Jesus Among the Doctors” 1605 by an anonymous artist follower of Caravaggio perhaps close to Carlo Saraceni

Above the pediment two statues of “Angels” by Domenico Prestinari (active in Rome 1611/47)

LEFT TRANSEPT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS

“Painted Crucifix in papier-mâché” of the sixteenth century from the destroyed church of S. Salvatore in Cacaberis

In the frontal “Urn” with relics of St. Costantius martyr

On the left “Funerary Monument of Luigi Zannini” 1642 by Giovanni Pagni with portrait by Benigno Angiolini. Luigi Zannini was the guardian of the Brotherhood of St. Mary Wailing

CENCI BOLOGNETTI PALACE ON PIAZZA DELLE CINQUE SCOLE

PALAZZO CENCI BOLOGNETTI IN PIAZZA DELLE CINQUE SCOLE

Piazza delle Cinque Scole 23

Several different buildings unified in 1570/85 for Francesco Cenci, the father of the infamous Beatrice Cenci

The relief of the land consists of ancient Roman ruins including perhaps those of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, or more likely of the AMPHITHEATER OF STATILIUS TAURUS, built in 29 BC, the first in Rome in bricks, eventually destroyed by the fire of Nero in 64 AD

Despite their claims of antiquity dating back two thousand years, the Cenci family reliably dates back to mid-1300s