The
original church of the end of the twelfth century was known as S. Andrea de
Caballo
It was
entrusted to the Jesuits in 1565 and restored in 1592 by Giuseppe Valeriano (1542/96)
Completely
rebuilt in the years 1658/71 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(1598/1680) with the help of Mattia De Rossi
(1637/95) by the will of Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) and the financing first
of Camillo Pamphilj and later of his son G.B. Pamphilj
Bernini
worked without compensation, which was very unusual for him. He asked the
Jesuits, holders of the church, only the bread for his mouth and some
gifts
He loved
this architectural work and he often spent time in this church during the last
years of his life
“The pattern
of the aedicula framing the portico is also used inside, on the same axis, by
the aedicula framing the altar niche as an entity entirely homogeneous. But
there is a reversal in the direction of motion: while outside the cornice above
the oval body of the church seems to go toward the visitor who comes over and
stop in the portico, the nearest point to him, inside the movement is in the
opposite direction and stops at the farthest point from the entrance. Moreover,
the isolated niche for the altar is the opposite of the projecting portico and,
thus expressing their different functions: the second calls, the first excludes
the faithful” (Rudolf Wittkower)
FLOOR
1670/71 Mattia De Rossi executed by G.B.
Baratta and Giuseppe Baratta
COUNTER
FAÇADE
Group in
stucco “Two allegories of
fame unroll a scroll exalting Camillo Pamphilj” by Jean Regnaud (active second half
of the seventeenth century) sculptor follower of Bernini known as monsù
Giovanni Rinaldi o Giovanni di Sciampagna because he came from the French
region of Champagne
“The
elliptical plan illusively expands the breadth of the church and our eyes are
forced to follow the trend of the pillars flying over the dark minor chapels.
The orbital path leads to the main chapel that belongs to the divine sphere
with a delightful plastic representation of St. Andrew's ascension: the church
becomes the ideal structure of a dramatic theatrical action” (Carlo Bertelli,
Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
1st
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF S. FRANCIS XAVIER
Above the
altar “Death of St. Francis
Xavier” 1676
On the
right “Preaching to the people of the East” about 1706/1709
On the left
“Baptism of a pagan queen” about 1706/1709 works by G.B.
Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709)
In the
vault “Glory of St. Francis
Xavier”
painted by Filippo Bracci (1727/after 1746)
2nd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE PASSION
Above the
altar “Deposition” 1675/77
On the
right “Flagellation”
On the left
“Road to Calvary” 1677 works by Giacinto Brandi
(1621/91)
Vault
painted by Filippo Bracci
Altar in gilded
bronze and lapis lazuli by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Above the
altar “Martyrdom of St.
Andrew”
1668/71 by Guillaume Courtois aka Borgognone
(1628/79)
Crown of cherubs in
stucco by Jean Regnaud
Above the
altar statue of “St. Andrew” and stuccos in the DOME 1662/65 by Ercole
Antonio Raggi (1624/86) from an idea by Bernini
Four huge
columns with Corinthian capitals in pink cottanello marble crafted by Giovanni Maria Baratta (known from 1644/d. after 1679)
“The
visitor's attention is absorbed more strongly than in other churches, by the
dramatic event, which owes its power of suggestion to the way it dominates the
severe architectonical lines. Color and light collaborate to the miraculous
ascension. Below, in the human sphere the church shines with precious
multi-colored dark marble. At the top of the dome in the celestial sphere, the
colors are black and gold” (Rudolf Wittkower)
TO THE LEFT
OF THE ALTAR - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
“Tomb of
Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy” by Angelo Testa
for King Carlo Felice. He abdicated in 1802 and died in the adjacent convent of
the Jesuits in 1819
2nd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF S. STANISLAUS KOTSKA
Above the altar
“Madonna and Child
with St. Stanislaus Kostka” 1687 by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)
On the
right “Communion given by an Angel” 1725
On the left
“Ecstasy of St. Stanislaus Kotska” 1725 by Ludovico
Mazzanti (1686/1775)
In the
vault “Glory of St.
Stanislaus Kotska” by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)
1st
LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE FOUNDERS
Above the
altar “Madonna and Child
with the founders Saints: Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Borgia Luigi Gonzaga” 1726 by Ludovico
Mazzanti
On the
right “Adoration of the Shepherds”
On the left
“Adoration of the
Magi” 1692
by Ludovico Antonio David (1648/about 1710) from
Lugano
In the
vault “Glory of Angels” by Giuseppe
Chiari (1654/1727)
CONVENT
Three rooms of St. Stanislaus Kostka:
They were
renovated and decorated in the years 1888/89
These are
not in fact the rooms in which St. Stanislaus Kotstka, belonging to a rich and
noble Polish family, died in 1568 at only eighteen years of age when he arrived
in Rome. He was canonized in 1729
In the
first room twelve tempera painting “Stories of St. Stanislaus Kotstka” maybe by
Andrea Pozzo (1642/1709) or Giacomo Zoboli
(1681/1767)
In the
third room extraordinary “Polychrome marble
statue of St. Stanislaus Kotska” 1703 by Pierre Legros (1666/1719)
“Apparition
of the Virgin Mary to St. Stanislaus Kotstka” 1825 by Tommaso
Minardi (1787/1871)
Sixteenth
century copy of the iconic image “Salus Populi Romani” in S. Maria Maggiore of
which St. Stanislaus Kotstka was very fond
1669/70 Gian Lorenzo Bernini with stuccos by Pietro Sassi and six medallions in monochrome with “Stories
of the most revered Jesuit saints”
Wooden
furniture 1678/82
Altar “Marian
Image” by an anonymous Roman painter of the second half of 1600s
In the
vault “Glory of St. Andrew” 1670
by Jean de la Borde
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