BASILICA S. MARIA IN TRASTEVERE
Maybe it was the first church in Rome officially opened for worship being active since the Severian period (193/235)
According to tradition it was founded in about AD 220 by Pope St. Callistus (217/222) as TITULUS CALLISTI on the area of a so-called taberna meritoria, a meeting place for milites emeriti, retired soldiers and veterans
In this place an eruption of mineral oil from underground occured in 38 BC: this event is mentioned by Dio Cassius and St. Jerome and it was interpreted by Jewish people as the announcement of the Messiah
It was rebuilt by Julius I (337/352) with the name TITULUS CALLISTI ET JULII
St. Damasus (366/384) was the first one to describe it as basilica. His supporters had killed 137 supporters of the titular bishop of the church Ursino
It was modified in the late eighth century when it is mentioned as Sancta Maria Transtiberis
Renovated in early and mid-ninth century by Benedict III (855/858) after the earthquake of 847
It was completely rebuilt 1138/48 by Innocent II Papareschi (1130/43) with material from the Baths of Caracalla, including granite columns and capitals, although the Isis images and references had some scholars believe that they would have come from the Iseo Campense, the temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis in the Campus Martius, where the church of S. Stefano del Cacco now stands
EXTERNAL APSE with blind arches and windows with original architectural solution
SIDE CHAPELS 1580/85 by Martino Longhi il Vecchio (1534/91)
FRONT PORCH 1702 rebuilt and modified in late Baroque style by Carlo Fontana (1634/1714) for Clement XI Albani (1700/21)
The basilica was restored in 1866/77 by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78). During that restoration the upper façade was brought back to its original medieval look
Mosaic on the façade "Madonna enthroned with two donors and two lines of women" maybe representing the Parable of the wise and foolish virgins or Saints with the holy flame symbol of faith: seven central figures first half of thirteenth century, three figures on the right late thirteenth century, three figures on the left beginning of fourtheenth century
The almost disappeared frescoes were painted in the second half of 1800 by Silverio Capparoni (1831/1907)
Statues of popes from left to right of "Sts. Callistus, Cornelius, Julius and Calepodius" 1702 by Jean-Baptiste Théodon (1646/1713), Michel Maille aka Michele Maglia (active in Rome in the second half of the seventeenth century), Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736) and Vincenzo Felici (noto 1667/1702)
On the BELL TOWER of the first half of thirteenth century small late Medieval mosaic "Madonna and Child"
Exterior columns in Egyptian granite
Fragments of marble sarcophagi from the catacombs, including:
"Figure of a child praying called Maximinus" who died at 9 years and 7 months
"Tombstone of Cocceius" imperial freed slave who claims to have never quarreled with his wife in a happily married life during 45 years and 11 days: obviously he was either a liar or a world record holder!
The door was used from 1625 as a replacement door for the Holy Door of the Basilica of St. Paul at times when the latter was unusable for floods of the nearby River Tiber
FLOOR
Cosmatesque but almost entirely rebuilt by Virginio Vespignani
COFFERED WOODEN CEILING
1617 by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641) for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini. Domenichino also painted the "Assunta" in the octagon at the center of the ceiling
Twenty-two extraordinary ancient Roman columns divided into two files. On some capitals attributes and objects belonging to the Isis cult as well as figures of Isis, Serapis and Arpocrate
"In a kind of neoclassical purism, the lintel on Ionic columns reappears, an experiment already made in small size buildings such as S. Crisogono and that will be taken up in S. Lawrence outside the Walls. In all buildings mentioned just now the porch entrance reappeared and above all, the mosaics in the apse and the façade, and, on the ground, the magnificent marble floors. Nothing recalls the architecture of the North, all the masses, walls, vaults, carved ornaments: here the traditional polychrome stones are used and fresco and stained glass windows that animate shrines elsewhere are unknown" (André Chastel)
COUNTER-FAÇADE
Windows with "St. Julius", "St. Callistus" and "St. Cornelius" painted using fire in the second half of ninteenth by Antonio Moroni (1825/86) and designed by Francesco Grandi (1831/91)
ON THE WALLS AT THE TOP BETWEEN THE WINDOWS
"Sixteen Saints" by several nineteenth-century painters including:
On the right "S. Francesca Romana" Cesare Fracassini (1838/68), "St. Apollonia" Francesco Grandi (1831/91), "S. Biagio" Silverio Capparoni (1831/1907), "St. Gregory" Enrico Chiari
On the left "S. Dalmazio" Giuseppe Sereni (1823/after 1888), "S. Rufina" Luigi Fontana (1827/1908) and "St. Bridget" Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)
TRIUMPHAL ARCH
Fresco "Virgin and Child, four angels, Noah and Moses" by Francesco Coghetti (1801/75)
At the beginning of the nave marble "Tabernacle" fifteenth century by Mino del Reame
1st RIGHT - S. FRANCESCA ROMANA CHAPEL
Her real name was Francesca Bussa de' Leoni (1384/1440) born from a noble family in Rome near Piazza Navona. She came to live in Trastevere when she was 12 years old after her marriage to a member of the noble Ponziani family who became rich working as butchers
The chapel was designed and executed in the years 1721/27 by Giacomo Onorato Recalcati and completed by Francesco Ferrari (active in Rome 1721/44)
On the altar "S. Francesca Romana" by Giacomo Zoboli (1681/1767)
On the side walls "Monument for the Bussi family" by Francesco Ferrari (active in Rome 1721/44) and "Bust of the archeologist G.B. De Rossi"
2nd RIGHT - NATIVITY CHAPEL
1739 by Filippo Raguzzini (1680/1771)
On the altar "Nativity" 1739 by Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774)
3nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE LADY OF SORROWS
1652 for Cardinal Francesco Cornaro with "Wooden Cross" of the fifteenth century
Polychrome wooden "Head of Our Lady of Sorrows" maybe by the school of Bernini
4th RIGHT - St. PETER'S CHAPEL
Maybe end of sixteenth century by Martino Longhi il Vecchio
On the right "Cenotaph of Francesco Longhi" who died in 1838 by Rinaldo Rinaldi (1793/1873)
BETWEEN THE 4th CHAPEL AND THE EXIT
"Cenotaph of Cardinal Pietro Marcellino Corradini" 1745 by Francesco Ceroti; oval with bust by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)
Niche with weights and chains, traditionally referred to the torture of the martyrs; a weight is believed to be the one that was tied to the neck of S. Callistus to drown him in the well still existing in the garden of the nearby convent bearing the same name of the saint
RIGHT END OF THE TRANSEPT
"Cenotaph Cardinal Francesco Armellini Medici" 1524 maybe by Andrea Contucci aka Andrea Sansovino (1460/1529 or Michelangelo Senese a follower of Baldassare Peruzzi: he died of a broken heart after the sack of Rome in 1527 and this tomb had been prepared remained empty, having been hastily buried in S. Maria Traspontina
CHAPEL OF THE WINTER CHOIR
1625 by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641) who also painted the putto spreading flowers
"Madonna di Strada Cupa" maybe by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) found in a vineyard on the Gianicolo in a street called Cupa
On the right "St. John the Baptist" maybe Antonio Carracci (about 1589/1618) son of Annibale
Frescoes on the pediment "Dove of the Holy Spirit" by Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601)
"Ciborium" Virginio Vespignani
"Paschal Candlestick" thirteenth century by members of the Vassallettos' workshop
In the apse mosaics about 1144 for Innocent II Papareschi (1130/43) with "Christ Enthroned with the Virgin whom he embraces; on the right Sts. Peter, Cornelius, Julius and Calepodius; on the left Sts. Callistus, Lawrence and Pope Innocent II"
On the arch "Prophets Jeremiah (he predicted that Jesus would have died for the sins of humankind) and Isaiah (he prophesied that a Virgin would bear a son), symbols of the Evangelists and seven candlesticks of the Apocalypse"
These mosaics celebrate the end of the schism in 1138: it had lasted eight years and resulted in the Second Lateran Council of 1139
"The characters around the throne of Christ have in common the struggle they have incurred during their lives against schisms and heresies. This analogy demonstrates, along with all the images in the apse illustrating fateful moments of the divine plan for man's salvation of which the church is custodian, that the ecclesiastical unity, although troubled by the mistakes of men, has always been reconstructed thanks to the divine will and through the intercession of the Virgin" (Cristina Marchei)
Between the windows mosaics "Six stories of the Virgin": from left "Nativity of Mary", "Annunciation", "Birth of Jesus" (with a small representation of the taberna meritoria with the oil eruption), "Adoration of the Magi", "Presentation of Jesus at the Temple", "Death of Mary"
At the center "Madonna and Child with Sts. Peter and Paul with the little Cardinal Bertoldo Stefaneschi" 1291 by the great Pietro de 'Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/1325) commissioned by the Cardinal Bertoldo Stefaneschi brother of the Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi who commissioned Giotto to paint the Triptych for St. Peter's altar, now in the Vatican Museum
"Compared to Jacopo Torriti's figures in S. Maria in Trastevere, the ones by Cavallini, although just as dense and full, are covered with softer and heavy draperies and they move dramatically into a realistic space if limited, suggested by the fact that the action takes place diagonally, in depth, and that the landscape and architectural scenes seem to penetrate the gold background. While Torriti merely suggests reality, Cavallini makes it credible; however his scenes too, such as those of Torriti, find parallels and maybe even models in the refined art that for some time had emerged in some of the major Byzantine centers" (Richard Krautheimer)
"The classic Roman style reached a new summit of courtly composure; it is interpreted through the exaltation of the striking color tones and the chromatic vibration. New evidence is the soft emergence of plastic figures and the attention to the sense of depth resulting" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
Above the choir stalls frescoes "Angels with symbols of the mysteries of Mary" 1600 Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630) for Cardinal Alessandro de' Medici
"Cathedra" of the twelfth century
ALTEMPS CHAPEL
1584/85 by Martino Longhi il Vecchio for Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, nephew of Pius IV Medici (1559/65) and titular of the Basilica from 1580 to 1595 during the general renovation
Beautiful stuccoes by Pompeo Dell'Abate gilded by Giovanni Capitio and Giovanni Antonio da Varese
Frescoes on the ceiling and walls on the left "Session of the Council of Trent 1545/1563", on the right "Approval of the acts of the Council" Pasquale Cati (1537/1612)
"The representations in fresco by Pasquale Cati were made according to the scheme of the ceremonial paintings by Zuccari and are pleasant in their coloring. The ceiling, very harmonious in the overall decorative effect, has a layout similar to that of the Mattei Chapel by Taddeo Zuccari, and also the individual scenes from the life of Mary point to the same model with regard to the composition. The double portrait of Pius IV and of Cardinal Altemps above the altar is quite original" (Hermann Voss)
Over the altar famous "Madonna of Mercy" sixth or seventh century icon painted with encaustic tecnique on linen mounted on cypress wood. It is considered to be acherotipa, which means "not done by human hands". It is believed that it saved Rome from famine caused by drought in 1659
EFT END OF THE TRANSEPT
To the right "Tomb of Cardinal Pietro Stefaneschi" who died in 1417 Magister Paulus
At the center "Tomb of Robert Altemps" who died in 1586 with statues in the pediment by Giovanni Antonio Parracca aka Valsoldo (?/1642-46)
vestibule of the sacristy
Two fragments of ancient Roman mosaics: "Riverbirds" and "Fishing Scene" of the beginning of first century AD from Palestrina
SACRISTY
Rebuilt in 1483
Renewed by Francesco Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)
"Madonna with St. Roch and St. Sebastian" by the Umbrian school of the sixteenth century
1680 masterpiece of the great but underrated Antonio Gherardi (1638/1702) for Pietro Paolo Avila, influenced by Borromini and with illusionistic dome supported by four angels in plaster
It has been described as "one of the most complex and unique Roman monuments"
Over the altar "St. Jerome" 1686 also by Antonio Gherardi
"Antonio Gherardi was among the first to seek a synthesis between the spatial vision of Borromini and Bernini's taste for the total show. The lantern supported by angels, which develops a Bernini's theme, is coupled with a search of spatial units placed one inside the other using indirect light" (Antonio Portoghesi)
4th LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
"Sacred Heart" by Francesco Gagliardi
BETWEEN 4th AND 3rd CHAPEL
"Tomb of Innocent II Papareschi (1130/43)" 1869 by Virginio Vespignani in classicist style
3rd LEFT - St. FRANCIS CHAPEL
Restored by Pietro Camporese who also designed the pavonazzetto marble balustrade
Paintings in the vault and altarpiece "St. Francis receives the Stigmata" by Ferraù Fenzone (1562/1645)
2nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF DIVINE LOVE
Copy of the 1956 image of Our Lady of Divine Love (Madonna del Divino Amore) in Castel di Leva
1st LEFT - BAPTISTERY
1741 by the great Filippo Raguzzini (1680/1771)
Under the floor of the chapel, during a restoration in 1920, archeologists found the remains of a Roman house with traces of wall paintings
