QUIRINO VITTORIO GASSMAN THEATER

TEATRO QUIRINO VITTORIO GASSMAN
Via delle Vergini 7

Originally built in 1871 almost entirely in wood

Designed by Giulio De Angelis (1850/1906) for Prince Maffeo Sciarra
It was the first theater to be built in Rome after it became capital of Italy

1882/95 masonry structure also designed by Giulio De Angelis (1850/1906)

“Giulio De Angelis acquired a position of absolute, unquestionable originality in the architecture of the first decades of Rome, the new capital of Italy. He proved himself to have an independent and peculiar temperament – and to have mastery of the most advanced construction techniques, linked to the industrial production of his time” (Giuseppe Miano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

1889 rebuilding and expansion in Neo-Renaissance style by the architect Belloli and the engineer Moraldi

1915 renovation and expansion by Marcello Piacentini (1881/1960)

Restored in 1954 also by Marcello Piacentini and again in 1980 by Enrico Nespega
Here were represented some world premieres of works by Luigi Pirandello, winner of the Nobel prize for literature in 1934, and here the Italian comedian Ettore Petrolini gave his farewell to the stage

St. RITA

S. RITA
Via delle Vergini 21

1615 as S. Maria delle Vergini (St Mary of the Virgins) over a small preexisting church
Rebuilt in the years 1634/36 by Francesco Peparelli (active since about 1626/d. 1641) for Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese (1577/1633) who had ordered the nuns to move here from the Quirinal Hill for the construction of his palace, which later became Palazzo Pallavicini Rospigliosi

FAÇADE
1696 maybe by Mattia De Rossi (1637/95)
Reconsecrated in 1904 as St. RITA after the church of St. Rita of Cascia was deconsecrated and moved from the Capitol Hill
St. Rita, after having prayed to share the sufferings of Christ on the Cross, was given a thorn from the crown of Christ, which she held stuck in her forehead for no less than fifteen years
The church is also known as S. RITA DA CASCIA ALLE VERGINI (St. Rita of Cascia at the Virgins)

INTERIOR by Francesco Peparelli

COUNTERFAÇADE
Choir organ on “Shelves with female heads” carved in wood

ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
“St. Augustine and St. Monica” about 1695 by Pietro Locatelli (about 1637/1710), a pupil of Pietro Da Cortona

PRESBYTERY
Renovated 1681/82 by Mattia De Rossi
Vault of the presbytery “Trinity” maybe by Ludovico Gimignani (1643/97)

MAIN ALTAR
“St. Rita” 1911 by Arturo Ferretti

DOME
Breathtaking fresco “Glory of Paradise” about 1695 maybe by Michelangelo Ricciolini (1654/1715)
Stucco and statues on the right “St. Joseph” and on the left “St. Augustine” 1682/83 by Filippo Carcani (active 1670/91)

LEFT ALTAR
“Christ and Mary Magdalene” 1639 by G.B. Mercati (1591/about 1645)
CHAPEL OF THE GROTTO OF LOURDES built in 1912

HOUSE FOR APARTMENTS IN VIA DELLE MURATTE

CASA PER APPARTAMENTI IN VIA DELLE MURATTE

Via delle Muratte 25/angolo Via delle Vergini

About 1895 by Giulio De Angelis (1850/1906)

Also known as PALAZZETTO DE ANGELIS

Elements and materials new for the time, fit into traditional structures

"De Angelis is the most unique, the most restless of the Roman architects of the time. He associates with a remarkable refinement in the choice of materials, attention to detail, the search for new technologies (use of iron and cast iron) and testing of modern environmental analysis as the internal-external or the building-road relationships" (Irene De Guttry)