SACRED STIGMATA OF St. FRANCIS

SS. STIMMATE DI S. FRANCESCO
Via dei Cestari/Largo delle Stimmate 1

1297 consecration of a pre-existing church as Ss. XL Martirium de Calcararo

However, it is already mentioned by sources in 1192 as Calcariorum
The name derives from the presence of numerous calcare (kilns) where, in the Middle Ages, pieces of limestone or marble from the ancient monuments were transformed into lime

In 1597 Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) entrusted it to the Confraternity of the Sacred Stigmata of St. Francis which had been founded three years earlier

Clement XI Albani (1700/21) in 1714 laid the foundation stone of the new church rebuilt by G.B. Contini (1641/1723) who was dismissed in 1716 due to disagreements with his clients

Completed 1716/21 by Antonio Canevari (1681/1759) who also made the INTERIOR, the FAÇADE and the BELL TOWER

Since 1974 it has been entrusted to the Capuchins of the Picena Province

FAÇADE
“Statue of St. Francis” 1718/21 by Bernardino Cametti (1669/1736)

PORCH
“Tomb of Palmira Petracchi and his son Enrico Pulieri” 1844 by Adamo Tadolini (1788/1868), a pupil of Canova

NAVE
Decoration with capitals 1828/29 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839)

COUNTER FAÇADE
Organ of 1856
Confessionals in walnut wood, a product of Roman cabinetry of the beginning of the eighteenth century

VAULT
“Glory of St. Francis” about 1720 last work of Luigi Garzi (1638/1721), a pupil of Andrea Sacchi who was later influenced by Carlo Maratta

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF REDEMPTION
Vault “Triumph of the Cross with the angels holding symbols of the Passion of Christ” about 1726 by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)
“Ivory crucifix” maybe by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)
Above the altar “Our Lady of Sorrows” maybe by Francesco Mancini (1679/1758)
On the walls, on the right “Flagellation” about 1730 by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

“Having reached around 1730 the fullness of his style, the restless painter, however, ended up contradicting himself as he compromised more than once with the prevailing academic taste. If in such works as the Massacre of the Innocents, in the collection Ferroni in Florence today, one can appreciate the smart inspiration from the tragic mimicry of Nicolas Poussin, in other works, such as the Flagellation in S. Francis of the Stigmata in Rome and the Vision of S. Catherine of Genoa, now in Palazzo Corsini, he aligns himself with the professors of the Academy of St. Luke. He was, in fact, received among them in 1741” (Evelina Borea - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

On the left “Crown of Thorns” about 1730 by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. MICHAEL
Above the altar “St. Michael the Archangel” a nineteenth century copy by Nicola Pannini from the original by Guido Reni in St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
“Apparition of the Virgin Mary to St. Joseph Calasanz” about 1749 by Marco Caprinozzi aka Marco del Ruspoli da Civita Castellana, a little known pupil of Benefial

MAIN ALTAR
“S. Francis stigmatized” 1719 masterpiece by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746)
“Angels” in stucco on the pediment by Pietro Bracci (1700/73)
Left wall of the presbytery “Tomb of Count Ladislaus Constantine Wasa” d. 1698 son of King Ladislaus IV of Poland, commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Albani (future Clement XI) to Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
Restored 1870 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)
Above the altar “St. Anthony” 1719 by the capable Istrian painter Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746)

2^nd LEFT - PECCI CHAPEL 
Pecci was the family of Leo XIII (1878/1903)
Above the altar “Immaculate Conception” and frescoes on the walls 1887 by the Roman Domenico Torti (nineteenth century)

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY FORTY MARTYRS
“The Martyrdom of Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste” about 1660 masterpiece by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91)

“Before 1663 the painter carried out the work that marked his artistic maturity, the Holy Forty Martyrs for the Roman church of the Stigmata. The drawing (Rome, private collection) and the preparatory sketch (Geneva, Musée d'Art et d'Histoire) testify the merger, which was implemented in this painting, of all the means of expression acquired by Brandi. (...) The fame achieved after this work was such that the artist was considered to be among the best of his time, as confirmed by a judgment of Mattia Preti, who, writing in 1665 to Don Antonio Ruffo, a collector of Messina, states that compared to Mola, Ferri and Maratta, Brandi 'is the best painter of all three'. However, in the seventh decade of the century, the artist joined in ever more conspicuously to the stylistic climate of Baroque, perhaps more to obey the wishes of his clients than for a phase of decline of his talent” (Antonella Pampalone - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

SACRISTY
Vault “Pardon of Assisi” by Girolamo Pesci (1679/1759)
Two paintings: “Death of St. Francis” maybe by Massimo Stanzione (1585/1656) and a copy of the “Deposition” by Annibale Carracci

“Silver reliquary” 1633 donated by Card. Francesco Barberini with fragments of cloth and sponge soaked in the blood that flowed from the wounds of St. Francis, collected by Fra Leone, a disciple of the saint

HALL OF THE STIGMATA (oratory) on the first floor
In the vault canvas “Ecstasy of St. Francis” by Filippo Lauri (1623/94)

“In the work is described the particular event occurring after the consecration of the stigmata, the so-called miracle of the bees that sucked the wounds of the saint as pollen of eternal life, and that could be a reference to the arms of the Barberini family, who commissioned the work, as it can be inferred by the figure of Cardinal Carlo, who in 1686 obtained the patronage of a chapel of the church, of which this painting was perhaps the altarpiece” (Stefano Petrocchi)

On the entrance wall tempera “Apparition of St. Francis to Gregory IX” about 1720/24, “St. Elizabeth of Hungary” and “Clare” by an unknown artist from the studio of Sebastiano Conca
In a room of the convent but originally intended for the oratory, canvas “St. Francis stigmatized” by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91)

UNDERGROUND CEMETERY
Two rooms the first of which has a ceiling decorated with motifs made ​​from the bones of the monks according to the Franciscan tradition

St. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

S. FRANCESCO D'ASSISI

Piazza di Monte Gaudio 8

Built in the years 1667/76 together with the adjoining convent

Also known as S. Onofrio in Campagna al Borgo Clementino (St. Onuphrius in the Country at Clementine Village)

FAÇADE

1728/29 by Pietro Passalacqua (1690/1748)

Interior decoration of the end of the seventeenth century by Pietro Baragiola

MAIN ALTAR

Giuseppe Cacci, in polychrome marble

St. FRANCIS BY THE BANK OF THE RIVER

S. FRANCESCO A RIPA

Piazza S. Francesco d'Assisi 88

It is in the area where the Church of St. Biagio and a Benedictine Monastery of the tenth century originally were

According to tradition, St. Francis of Assisi (1181/1226) was a guest of the monastery for a period of time

The monastery became possession of the Minor Friars in 1229 when the little church was expanded to have three aisles for the Anguillara family and decorated with frescos depicting “Stories of Jesus and St. Francis” by Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/about 1325) now totally disappeared

The monastery was expanded in late 1500 and early 1700

It was used as barracks for the Bersaglieri corps of the Italian army from 1873 until 1943

The church was supposed to be modified in 1535 by Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481/1536)

The church was extended with the choir in 1603 by Onorio Longhi (1568/1619)

1682/89 Mattia De Rossi (1637/95) destroyed the frescos by Cavallini and rebuilt NAVES and FAÇADE for Innocent XI Odescalchi (1676/89)

IN THE SQUARE

“Ancient column of white Carrara marble” placed here in 1847 for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

It was found in 1817 in the ruins of the city of Veii along with eleven other columns that are now in the portico of Palazzo Wedekind in Piazza Colonna

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS

Carlo Fontana (1634/1714)

Wooden seventeenth-century “Crucifix” by Fra' Angelo from Pietrafitta

To the left “Monument of Cardinal Michelangelo Ricci” d. 1682 with bust maybe by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

Vault and pendentives “Saints” by Fra' Emanuele da Como

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN OF CAPESTRANO

Carlo Fontana

Altarpiece, walls and vault “Stories of St. John of Capistrano” about 1725 by Domenico Maria Muratori (1661/1742)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY FAMILY

1685 Stefano Legnani or Legnanino

Frescos on the walls, vault and pendentives by Giuseppe Passeri (1654/1714) one of the favorite pupils of Carlo Maratta

Under the altar there is the body of St. Leontia martyr

RIGHT TRANSEPT - PALLAVICINI ROSPIGLIOSI CHAPEL

Spectacular chapel by Nicola Michetti (about 1675/1758), finished in the years 1710/25 by Ludovico Rusconi Sassi (1678/1736)

Altarpiece “Sts. Peter of Alcantara and Paschal Baylon” by Giuseppe Chiari (1654/1727) who was also one of the favorite pupils of Carlo Maratta

Ovals by the brother Tommaso Chiari (1665/1773)

On the sides funerary monuments with sculptures “Cardinal Virtues”, “Skeletons” and “Portraits” 1713/19 by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725)

MAIN ALTAR

1746 by Fra' Secondo da Roma in polychrome marbles

Statue of “St. Francis” about 1587 by Fra' Diego da Careri

On the sides plaster statues “Faith” and “Charity” 1751 by Fra' Secondo da Roma

Altarpiece with “Trinity and Saints” by Paris Nogari (about 1536/1601) facing the 1603 choir by Onorio Longhi (1568/1619)

LEFT TRANSEPT - PALUZZI ALBERTONI ALTIERI CHAPEL

1622/25 by Giacomo Mola (?/1650)

Famous statue “Blessed Ludovica Albertoni” 1671/74 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) with a painting above “St. Anne and the Virgin Mary” by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709) for Clement X Altieri (1670/76)

Clement X had only one female heir and he arranged for her to marry Gaspare Paluzzi Albertoni. The pope imposed so the name Altieri to the Paluzzi Albertoni family

The statue was made by Bernini without compensation as fine and bail for his brother Luigi, who had been caught raping a boy in St. Peter's Basilica in front of the statue of Constantine

The coffin with the body of the blessed is under the statue, covered at the beginning of the eighteenth century by a mantle of montauto alabaster

The alabaster replaced the original wood paneling painted in red blood, perhaps wanting to remind of Bernini's painting “Sea of blood that flows from the wounds of Christ on the Cross”, of which he was very fond

“Bernini co-wrote all the elements to make them as real as possible. The blessed woman is living, the light is effective, the big picture is really painted. The beautiful compound theorized for large enterprise, focuses this time in an intense three-dimensional altarpiece. Picture within the picture, theater within the theater, art within art” (Maurizio Fagiolo dell'Arco)

“The direct light contributes decisively to the unreal effect of the work. Employing directional light, the source of which is hidden to the viewer, was one of the great inventions of Bernini. In contrast to the serene and widespread light used by the artists of the Renaissance, the directional light appears transitory, precarious. The directional light corroborates in the viewer the feeling of transience of the represented scene” (Rudolf Wittkower)

On the right fresco “Blessed Ludovica Albertoni” maybe its authentic portrait by an anonymous sixteenth-century artist

AMONG TRANSEPT AND 3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Monument to Giulia Ricci Paravicini” 1662 bust by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. MICHAEL or MATTEI

Altarpiece “St. Michael the Archangel” 1660 copy by Giuseppe Mallenghi from the original by Guido Reni, which replaced an original artwork by Annibale Carracci now in France

“Mattei Tombs” 1635 by Niccolò Menghini (about 1610/55) and 1687 Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736)

To the left “Bust of Laura Frangipani” 1637 by Andrea Bolgi (1606/56)

Frescoes in the lunettes “Miracles of St. Charles of Sezze” 1882 by the Roman Marcello Sozzi a pupil of Tommaso Minardi

Under the altar bronze urn with body of S. Charles of Sezze

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION

Above the altar “Annunciation” about 1534 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

Frescoes including “Eternal Father” by G.B. Ricci (about 1550/1624)

Outside “Tomb of Giuseppe Paravicini” d. 1695 with bust by Camillo Rusconi (1658/1728)

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Above the altar “Immaculate Conception” about 1555 by the Flemish artist Marten de Vos (1532/1603)

On the left “Nativity of the Virgin” about 1620 by Simon Vouet (1590/1649)

On the right “Assumption of the Virgin” by Antonio Mariani Della Cornia (about 1584/1654)

In the pendentives “Sibyls” by an anonymous artist of the school of Simon Vouet

In the back of the chapel the painter Giorgio de Chirico (1888/1978) is buried. His body was moved here in 1992

Three of his paintings are near the tomb:

“Self-portrait”

“Portrait of his wife Isa (veiled lady)”

“Fall or Climb to Calvary with St. Francis” his most important sacred work

SACRISTY

1696/98 including the Chapel of St. Francis with “Cabinet of relics” 1708

Inside the cabinet:

Relics of the most important Franciscan saints

A copy of the portrait of St. Francis of Assisi maybe by Margheritone d'Arezzo considered one of his true portraits, now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana

“Black Stone” which would have been used by St. Francis as a cushion

MONUMENT TO St. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

MONUMENTO A S. FRANCESCO D'ASSISI

Piazza di Porta S. Giovanni

1927 Giuseppe Tonnini (1875/1954) who had carved the winged lions on the steps of the Victorian

The five figures to the right of St. Francis (about 1181/1226) are the followers who accompanied him to the Lateran in Rome to meet Pope Innocent III of the Counts of Segni (1198/1216) for the recognition of the Rule, and, more generally, represent all of his spiritual disciples

On the front of the monument there is the inscription with the dedication. On the other sides there are the verses of the eleventh canto of the Paradiso of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, which describes the figure of St. Francis