CHIESA DEL BAMBINO GESÙ
1731/36 begun by Carlo Buratti (active from 1694/died after 1734) and completed after his death (1732) by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40) and for the Congregation of the Oblates Nurses of the Holy Child Jesus founded in 1671
Magnificent example of eighteenth-century artistic taste
"Fuga's intervention is recognizable in the attic, crowned with a broken pediment and the cross between two torches. (...) the dome divided into eight segments is by Fuga (...). To Fuga are also attributed the presbytery and perhaps even the design of the elegant balustrade. These addictions introduce a refined contrast between the rational rigor of the architectural form and the looseness decorative of details" (Sandra Suatoni)
Restoration and interior decorations 1882 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)
There had been a previous project in the years 1708/10 by the great Alessandro Specchi who had begun working on the convent in 1913 designing the church central in the façade and not to the right as it is now
In the vestibule to the right
CHAPEL OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST
1856 juvenile work by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) who later would contribute to decorations and refurbishing of many and important Roman churches
"Wooden statue of Jesus of Nazareth" early 1700s
In the niches "Statues of the four Evangelists" Stefano Galletti (1832/1905) pupil of Pietro Tenerani
In the spandrels "Prophets"
In the dome and vaults "Little angels bearing instruments of the Passion"
On the right "The Kiss of Judas" in 1855 and on the left "Flagellation" 1856 all painted by Francesco Grandi (1831/91) a pupil of Tommaso Minardi
"Grandi uses in the Kiss of Judas strong contrasts of light and shadow denoting a breach of the purists modules of his first training towards neo-Baroque" (Sandra Suatoni)
ON THE RIGHT - ALTAR OF St. AUGUSTINE
"St. Augustine triumphs over heresy" 1736 by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742)
"The Emilian Muratori, along with other fellow painters from the same area (Giacomo Zoboli, Aureliano Milani), represented in the eighteenth century Rome a tradition of Bolognese culture, less successful than the prevailing style of the Maratta followers or 'barocchetto' (late baroque) style. This work belongs to the last period of his activity in large part guided by the recovery of the seventeenth-century representative models of Reni and especially Domenichino" (Sandra Suatoni)
MAIN ALTAR
"Adoration of the Shepherds" by an anonymous nineteenth-century artist (maybe G.B. Gagliardi nephew of Pietro Gagliardi) replacing the canvas of the same subject by Marco Benefial, considered one of his masterpieces, removed in 1883 and now kept in a room of the annexed kindergarten
In the vault "Baby Jesus" and in the spandrels of the dome "Four angels with scrolls" G.B. Gagliardi
ON THE LEFT - ALTAR OF S. ANDREA CORSINI
"Apparition of the Virgin to S. Andrea Corsini" 1783 by Giacomo Zoboli (1681/1767) from Modena for Cardinal Neri Corsini
CONVENT
Begun 1713 by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729), In 1717 Carlo Buratti took over
Completed 1856/58 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911). The Via Cavour wing was completed in the years 1885/93
The priest PIETRO PAPPAGALLO was the spiritual father of the Oblate Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus here during the Second World War. He gave help and protection to soldiers, partisans and Jews sought by the Nazis and was killed at the Fosse Ardeatine March 24, 1944
His story was revived in the 1945 movie "Roma città aperta" (Rome, open city) by Roberto Rossellini who gave Don Pietro Pappagallo's role to Aldo Fabrizi. Only the scene of his death differs from his history having been inspired by that of Don Giuseppe Morosini shot at Fort Boccea
In 1998 the President of the Republic Ciampi awarded him the gold medal for civil valor. In 2000 John Paul II included him among the martyrs of the church of the twentieth century
A plaque commemorates him to the right of the façade of the church
