About 760
as an oratory for Paul I (757/767) in the area of the TEMPLE OF VENUS AND ROME built
by Hadrian (117/138) between 121 and 135 AD
The oratory
was built to guard the so called Apostolic Silices, i.e. the prints left
in the stone on the nearby Via Sacra by the Apostle Peter when he fell on his
knees in prayer during the episode of Simon Magus according to the apocryphal
Acts of Peter
The prayers
of St. Peter and St. Paul would have caused the haughty Simon Magus, who was
flying thanks to a wizardry, to crash on the ground
About 850
St. Leo IV (847/855) built a church that incorporated the oratory
About 999
the church was enriched and expanded for Gregory V (996/999), who gave it the
name of S. Maria Nuova having transferred here the worship from S. Maria Antiqua in the Forum
1161
restoration of the BELL
TOWER (restored again in 1971) and of the
mosaic in the apse. The church was also consecrated again at the behest of
Alexander III Bandinelli (1159/81)
In 1352 it
was entrusted to the Benedictines of the Congregation of Monte Oliveto
founded in 1313 by St. Bernard Tolomei. They still officiate it today
1615 Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) for Cardinal Paolo Emilio
Sfondrati
On this
occasion the church was dedicated to St. Frances of Rome (1384/1440) who spoke
here the oblation of 1425 and was buried here after her death
The façade
is considered the first derivation in Rome of the style of Andrea Palladio
(1508/80)
“Inside it
was presented again the unified space of the Roman churches of the
Counter-Reformation and the new front of the church prevailed in Roman
architecture of the early seventeenth century for the classicists accents of
the giant order and for eco of Palladio, perhaps already intuited by Militia
and later highlighted by several scholars (Fasolo, Wittkower, Blunt), who have
understood the importance for the beginnings of the early Baroque architecture
in Rome, from S. Bibiana (1624) by G.L. Bernini to S. Gregorio al Celio (1633)
by G.B. Soria” (Enrico Parlato - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
From left: “Unidentified
female saint”, “St. Frances of Rome and the Angel”, “Virgin Mary and Child”, “St.
Cecilia” and “St. Agnes”
Other
restorations in the nineteenth century for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)
1816/29 Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) rebuilt
Now it is
the home of the ARCHAEOLOGICAL SUPERINTENDENCE OF ROME and of the ANTIQUARIUM
FORENSE (Archaeological Museum of the Forum), small museum with important
artifacts found in the Forum still under interminable restructuring and
therefore sadly closed to the public
Every 9
March, on the day of the feast of St. Frances of Rome, there is the blessing of
cars
The real
name of the saint was Francesca Bussa de' Leoni (1384/1440) and she was born
into a noble family in Rome near Piazza Navona. She came to live in Trastevere
when she was twelve, after her marriage to a nobleman from the Ponziani family
who had become rich working as butchers
1612 Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619). Restored in 1867 and in
1951
Wood
paneled with wooden relief in frames:
“Madonna
and Child”, “Sts. Agnes and Cecilia”, “St. Benedict” and “St. Frances of Rome”
On the
sides: “Insignia of the Olivetano Order and of Cardinal Sfrondati” commissioner
of the radical restructuring of the church
FLOOR
Completely
redone in 1952, with old cosmatesque fragments
In the CHORUS
BALCONY frescoes with “Stories of St. Frances of Rome and the
Blessed Tolomei” 1693
1st
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
Vault with “Four
Doctors of the Church” very damaged and badly restored frescoes of the school of Melozzo degli Ambrosi aka Melozzo da Forlì
(1438/94)
Above the
altar “Crucifixion”
second quarter of the eighteenth century maybe by Emanuele
Alfani (active 1736/74)
On the left
of “Rest on the Flight into Egypt” and on the right “Blessed Bernardo Tolomei
in ecstasy” by an unknown artist of the last quarter of
1600s
ROOM OF THE
SIDE ENTRANCE
On the
right “Funerary
monument of Cardinal Marino Volcanoes” about 1395 erroneously
attributed to Paolo Taccone aka Paul Romano (about 1415/77)
It is one
of the rare examples of late Gothic sculpture in Rome
On the left
“Funerary
monument Antonio del Rio on horse” d. 1450 (captain of Castel
Sant'Angelo and commander in chief of the army of the pope) about 1470/77 by Mino del Reame (active about 1463/77) who completely
avoided here any religious reference
Restored in
1937 by Lorenzo Cesanelli (1899/1965)
Above the
altar “St.
Benedict between Sts. Frances of Rome and Henry” 1937 by Augusto Orlandi (1879/?)
On the
sides “Blessed Tolomei exorcises a maniac” and “Blessed Tolomei consoles a monk”
first half of the eighteenth century by an artist of
the Roman school close to the style of Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774)
3rd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF S. FRANCES OF ROME
Decorations
1727/28 by Francesco Ferrari (active in Rome
1721/44)
Above the
altar “Virgin
Mary with St. Frances of Rome in adoration of the Child”
maybe by Michele Rocca (about 1675/1751) from
Parma
WALLS
BEFORE THE ALTAR
On the
right of “St. Andrew in adoration of martyrdom” and on the left “Flagellation
of St. Andrew” nineteenth-century copies maybe by Giovanni Silvagni (1790/1853)
from the original by Guido Reni and Domenichino in the Oratory of S. Andrea al Celio
RIGHT
TRANSEPT
On the
right, behind a grate on the wall, there are the Apostolic Silices, the
two fragments of basalt stone on which St. Peter would have knelt
On the left
“Funeral
monument of Gregory XI Beaufort (1370/78)” erected for
resolution of the Roman Senate in memory of his return to Rome from Avignon in
1377 with reliefs and statues “Faith” and “Prudence” 1584 by Pietro Paolo Olivieri (1551/99 )
Painting “Madonna
in Glory with St. Michael the Archangel” by an unknown
artist of the end of seventeenth century
CONFESSION
1644/49 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) after the discovery
of the body of St. Frances of Rome beneath the main altar on April 2, 1638
Under the
aedicula with four columns of rare pink jasper there is the “Statuary
group with St. Frances of Rome and the Angel” 1866 by Giosuè Meli (1816/93)
It replaced
a similar group by Giovanni Maria Fracchi from a project by Bernini that was
lost after the French occupation in 1798
“Madonna
and Child” board maybe of the third decade of the thirteenth century in a
tabernacle of the fifteenth century, restored in 1949
On the
sides “Martyrdom of S. Nemesio” and “Martyrdom
of the companions of S. Nemesio” 1684 maybe by Domenico Maria Canuti (1626/84) or Giovanni Angelo Canini (1609/66) with reference to Nemesio
and his five companions whose relics were brought here in the year 996 and
placed under the altar in 1580 by Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)
APSE
Important
mosaic with “Madonna
and Child with Sts. James, John, Peter and Andrew” about
1160 or end of the twelfth century with similarities to the mosaics in S. Maria in Trastevere and St. Clement
Two statues
of “Angels
with cornucopia” of the Bernini
school
Frescoes “Moses”
and “David” 1870 by Cesare Maccari (1840/1919)
Tomb of
St. Frances of Rome
designed in 1868 by Andrea Busiri Vici
(1818/1911)
Marble
medallion “St.
Frances of Rome and the Angel” 1648 by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)
On the
right “Blessed
Tolomei comforting the lepers” maybe by the Roman Stefano Pozzi (1699/1768)
In the
lower part niche with remains of a fresco “Crucifixion” of the tenth or
eleventh century
Under the
choir “Tabernacle”
of the end of fifteenth century maybe by Mino del Reame
(active about 1463/77)
On the left
“Resurrection”
copy from original by Jacopo Zucchi
Marble
decorations of the seventeenth century
Interesting
“False
dome” in trompe l'oeil (optical illusion)
Above the
altar “Bernardo Tolomei comfort a dying man” of the late eighteenth century by Giuseppe Pirovani (about 1755/about 1835)
3rd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Above the
altar “St.
Emygdius bishop” 1797 by Pietro
Tedeschi (1750/1805) from Pesaro
2nd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. GREGORY THE GREAT
Above the
altar “Mass
of St. Gregory the Great” first half of 1600s by Angelo Caroselli (1585/1652)
On the
altar “Nativity” copy of the original by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) in the
church of S. Giuseppe dei Falegnami
On the
walls “Blessed Tolomei in ecstasy” and “Blessed Tolomei and the devil” second
half of the eighteenth century maybe by Andrea Casali
(1705/84), a pupil of Sebastiano Conca and Francesco Trevisani
CORRIDOR
LEADING TO THE SACRISTY
“Monument
to Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)” 1735
SACRISTY
“Glycophilusa
Madonna” (Madonna of the sweetness) precious icon of the first half of the
fifth century from S. Maria Antiqua
“Madonna
Enthroned with Sts. Benedict and Frances of Rome” about 1472 by Girolamo da Cremona (XV
century)
“Madonna
Enthroned with Saints” 1524 by the Umbrian painter Sinibaldo
Ibi (active 1496/1548)
“Paul III Farnese (1534/49) and Cardinal
Reginald Pole” maybe by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del
Vaga (1501/47) and his pupils Jacopino del Conte
(aboiut 1515/98) and Girolamo
Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)
“To
Sermoneta might be referred the Double Portrait in St. Frances of Rome hitherto
attributed to Perin del Vaga. The right hand of the Pope, depicted in the act
of making a movement, coincides exactly with that of the Judge on the throne of
the Martyrdom of St. Catherine in S. Maria Maggiore, also the left, as well as
the other person's hand, are in the style of Sermoneta, but above all the face
of the secondary figure has that fixity, that stiffness of expression, caused
mainly by his bulging eyes, which often distorts the portraits of this artist”
(Hermann Voss)
“Miracle of
St. Benedict” 1744 by Pierre Subleyras
(1699/1749) formerly in the Chapel of St. Benedict
“Although
his art was aiming to ideal beauty, antithetical to objective realism, Pierre
was not only alien to the conventionality of expression, but he was often inspired
by a frank observation of nature and he was able to represent it with wonderful
lighting effects and an analysis sometimes painstaking of details, with which
he used to bind together the main masses of his compositions, as in the
altarpiece of St. Frances of Rome” (Giancarlo Sestieri)
“Trinity
and Blessed Tolomei” about 1689 by Giacinto Brandi
(1621/91) formerly in the Chapel of St. Benedict
“Tobias
and the Angel” by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini
(1609/81)
