Maybe built
in the seventh century AD over ruins which determined the mound where the
church is and from which it took the name monticelli (mounds)
Maybe they
were the ruins of a temple in the area of the Circus
Flaminius such as the TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE. Filippo Coarelli reckons
the Temple of Neptune was actually located in the area of the Manilis' House
In 1089
Pope Urban II (1088/99) transferred here the relics of five martyrs from
Palermo
Restored in
1101 for Paschal II (1099/1118)
It was
known as Sancta Maria in Monticellis
Arenulae de Urbe
1715
transformed for Clement XI Albani (1700/21) by Matteo
Sassi (1646/1723) who also designed the FAÇADE with the collaboration of Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753)
1860
restoration by Francesco Azzurri (1831/1901) for
Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) with polychrome marble taken from the columns
of the previous church, as they were found embedded in the pillars of the
eighteenth-century restoration
Since 1726
it is officiated by the Fathers of the Christian Doctrine
VAULT
“Six
heroines of the Old Testament: Esther, Bathsheba, Deborah, Jael, Abighail and
Judith” representatives of the main glories of Our Lady, 1860 by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)
“Highly
regarded by the popes, Cesare Mariani began his copious activities under Pius
IX in the mid-1800s, and continued until the end of the century under Leo XIII,
literally covering of paint vaults, pillars and domes of 13 Roman churches.
Appreciated by the House of Savoy, he also contributed to the definition of the
image of the emerging unitary Italian state, winning the competition for the
first public commission of the new kingdom: the frescoes in the Hall of the
Majority, at the current Treasury Palace, where the first ever Council of
Ministers Italian met. (...) An artist who played an important role in that
particular historical moment of transition between the papal city and the
'Third Rome' (...) His art is defined by critics as 'very flexible', as he knew
to adapt it to any client with great ease” (Lauretta Colonnnelli - Corriere
della Sera on 3/25/01)
COUNTER
FAÇADE
Above the
organ “Moses and the Burning Bush” and “Jacob's Dream” by Cesare Mariani
On the
choir “St. Cecilia among the angels” by Tommaso Minardi
(1787/1871)
To the left
of the entrance there is a medieval fragment of a fresco representing perhaps “Paschal
II”
FRESCOES ON
THE PILLARS
“Evangelists”
1860 by the nineteenth-century painter Ercole Ruspi
1st
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the
altar “Agony in the Garden” by Odoardo Vicinelli (1683/1755)
On the
right wall “Assumption” maybe by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)
2nd
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the
altar “Flagellation” by an anonymous
seventeenth-century artist maybe Antonio
Carracci (about 1589/1618), son of Annibale
3rd
CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the
altar “S. Ninfa refuses to sacrifice to idols” by G.B.
Puccetti (1593/about 1670)
On the left
wall “Madonna and Child with martyrs of Palermo” by Etienne
Parrocel (1696/1774) formerly on the main altar
AT THE END
OF THE RIGHT NAVE - CHAPEL OF JESUS OF NAZARETH
Altarpiece “Jesus
Christ” by an unknown seventeenth century artist
This image
is famous for a miracle which took place in 1854: apparently the eyes of Jesus
in this painting moved
Frescoes of
the beginning of the twentieth century by Eugenio
Cisterna (1862/1933)
“Tombstone
of Gregoria de' Rusticelli” of the fifteenth century
APSE
Fragment of
mosaic of the twelfth century with “Head of the Redeemer”
MAIN ALTAR
Relics of
the martyrs of Palermo bishop Maximilian, Eustosius, Proculus, Golbodeus and
the young girl Ninfa
Above the
altar “Presentation of Mary in the Temple” by Alfredo
Bea
Walls of
the presbytery on the right “Mothers offer their children to Jesus”, on the
left “Jesus teaches in the Temple” by Cesare Mancini
AT THE END
OF THE LEFT NAVE - CHAPEL OF CESARE DE BUS
Founder of
the Congregation of Priests of the Christian Doctrine, exhumed in 1975 when he
was beatified
3rd
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the
altar “Preaching of St. John the Baptist” by G.B.
Puccetti (1593/about 1670)
Under the
altar body of S. Fortunato martyr of
the second century
2nd
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the
altar “Wooden Crucifix” traditionally attributed to Pietro de' Cerroni aka Pietro Cavallini (about 1240/about 1325) in front of
which it seems St. Bridget used to pray
1st
CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the
altar “Flagellation” by the Frenchman Jean Baptiste Van
Loo (1684/1745), who studied in Rome with Benedetto Luti
