S. CATERINA DEI FUNARI
1560/64 Guidetto Guidetti (about 1498/1564) for Cardinal
Federico Cesi patron of the Society of the Miserable and Precarious Virgins
It replaced
the former S. Catharina Domne Rosae of the twelfth century, which, in
turn, had replaced a three-aisled basilica, S. Maria de Donna Rosa in Castro
Aureo
Dedicated
to S. Catherine of Alexandria martyr of the fourth century, decapitated after
resisting to starvation and the crushing with a toothed wheel
The current
name comes from the ropes makers who used to work nearby
From 1543
up to 1611 every 25 November, on the day of St. Catherine, from the adjacent
monastery, a procession of miserable and precarious virgins used to
begin. They were daughters of courtesans or prostitutes put on display so they
could marry with a large dowry
On Sunday a
Mass for the Indians speaking Kerala is celebrated
“The
undisputed quality of design of Guidetto Guidetti, a yet little-known figure,
were chiefly directed to the exterior of his architectural achievements. They
are emblematically expressed in this unique façade, where the study of the
architectural mass and the accurate ornamentation of the outside contrasts
vividly with the interior of the church. In fact, internally the church,
despite being characterized by six chapels decorated with frescoes, is
presented as a simple and bare room covered by a vault without color effects,
communicating a certain severity as a whole to the discerning visitor”
(Stefania Quattrone)
COUNTER
FAÇADE
“St.
Catherine before the Empress” by Federico Zuccari
(about 1542/1609)
1st
RIGHT - BOMBASI CHAPEL
“St.
Margaret” 1599 by Annibale Carracci (1560/1609)
for Gabriele Bombasi, autographed replica, with some variations, of the St.
Catherine of 1592 for the altarpiece of the Cathedral of Reggio Emilia now in
the Louvre
“The strong
chiaroscuro that stains the face of the saint, the bright colors of the
clothing, the material almost Titianesque of the colors with which are
described the landscape and the dragon on the ground, combined with the
reprise, in the cyma, of the Correggio fragment detached from the apse of
Parma's Cathedral, place this work in a moment of intense relationship with the
Lombard-Venetian culture” (Silvia Ginzburg)
“He enlarged
the form of pictorial language beyond the strictly devotional limits and
reviving the old values of the great Italian tradition. The drawing from life, considered
as an essential method of work, the sensitivity to organic form and plastic
structure connect in fact Annibale back to the great legacy of mature
Renaissance” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
As
witnessed by Bellori, Caravaggio stopped to look at this painting for a long
time and then said: “I am glad that in my time I see a painter”
In the cyma
“Coronation of Mary” designed by Annibale Carracci
but executed by one of his pupils, maybe by Innocenzo
Tacconi (active in Rome 1607/25)
2nd
RIGHT - RUIZ CHAPEL
Jacopo
Barozzi aka Vignola
(1507/73) for the abbot Spanish Philip Ruiz
Above the
altar “Deposition” by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92)
who also painted the frescoes on the sides and on the vault with “Scenes from
the Life of Christ”, “Prophets” and “Saints”
On the
pillars on the right “St. Mark” and “Christ carrying the cross”, on the left “St.
Luke” and “Ecce homo” 1571 by Federico Zuccari
(about 1542/1609), painted on blackboard
3rd RIGHT - SOLONE CHAPEL
Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano
Mascherino (1524/1606)
“The client
is identified in the family Solone, named as Soiano in the documents, but that
does not appear as the name of any known Roman family. The most reliable
interpretation results, probably and simply, from the expression itself by
Mascarino '(...) of Solon' (of the big sun), i.e. of the family whose coat of
arms is represented by a large beaming sun: the Della Vetera family” (Website
of the Conservatorio S. Caterina della Rosa - www.ipabsantacaterina.it)
On the
altar “Assumption” 1598, unfinished masterpiece by Scipione
Pulzone (about 1550/98)
Frescoes on
the vault and under the arch “Life of the Virgin”, “Marian Symbols” and “Prophets”
by Giovanni Zanna aka Pizzica who maybe also painted
on the side walls on the right “St. Catherine of Alexandria” and on the left “St.
Lucia”
MAIN CHAPEL
Guidetto
Guidetti (about
1498/1564) with changes made in the eighteenth-century
Altar piece
“Glory of St. Catherine” by the Sienese Giovanni Sorbi
(1695/about 1764)
On the
sides “St. Augustine” and “St. Monica” by the Neapolitan Alessandro D'Elia, who also made the bezel “Elevation
to the sky of St. Catherine”
Of the
original decoration of the sixteenth century remains:
In the
vault “Glory of St. Catherine” maybe by Livio Agresti
(about 1508/79)
On the
right “Martyrdom of St. Catherine” and on the left “Dispute of St. Catherine”
1573 by Federico Zuccari
Monochrome
bands on the sides, on the right “Sts. Sisinius and Saturninus” and on the left
“Putti” and “Sts. Romanus and Augustine” by Raffaellino
Motta aka Raffaellino da Reggio (1550/78)
3rd
LEFT - TORRES CHAPEL
Above the
altar “Stories of St. John the Baptist” 1573 by Marcello
Venusti (about 1512/79) on slate
“That
imperceptible distressing, unsatisfied and unstable feeling that always
accompanies crisis caused by the decline of old ideals, pushes another student
of Perin del Vaga, Marcello Venusti, to beat a street full of hijackings,
looking for new encounters and new experiences (...). His St. John the Baptist
is a work that revises themes of Sebastiano del Piombo and Raphael according to
meanings of Florentine flavor almost similar to Andrea del Sarto” (Federico
Zeri)
“He seemed
to have found in the technique of oil painting on slate the best expression of
his art. Painter influenced by Northern European painters, in Rome he was under
the influence of Sebastiano del Piombo, and, especially, Michelangelo, great
friend of his and the godfather of his son” (Website of the Conservatorio S.
Caterina della Rosa - www.ipabsantacaterina.it)
SIDE ENTRY
Here there
was originally a chancel
On the
right wall “Funerary Roman Tombstone”
1st
LEFT - CANUTO CHAPEL
For the
bishop Andrea Canuto whose tombstone is in front of the chapel
Above the
altar “Annunciation” copy from original by Marcello Venusti
Basin and
arch “Life of the Virgin Mary”, “Prophets”, “David” and “Moses” 1610 by Girolamo Nanni
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