Also known
as S. Carlino (St. Little Charles) for the small size
1638/41
masterpiece by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)
for the Spanish Discalced Trinitarian Fathers in place of a small church
built in 1612
Borromini
had also built the convent in the years 1634/36 which was later expanded in the
early eighteenth century
The church
was consecrated in 1646
1664/67 Francesco Borromini
It was
still under construction when he died and it was completed in 1682 by his
nephew (the son of his brother) Bernardo Castelli
(1643/1709), who also designed the bell tower in 1670
It was the
first work ever that Borromini designed alone and also his last. He worked for
free, refusing any compensation
“He used a
medieval, simple method of construction conceived on the rule of triangulation,
which shared a geometric configuration in geometric subunits. The elliptic plan
of the church is the result of two equilateral triangles with common base
corresponding to the transverse axis; the relationship between these units
carry a unitary conception of space that includes contraction or expansion.
Compression and expansion of space is also evident inside the church: the
dropping of the constraints imposed by the Renaissance proportional rules flows
into the privilege of the form, highlighted in its visual qualities. Overall,
the visitor has an organic and total vision, culminating in the uniformity of
light that reigns in the dome” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio
Giuliano)
Above the
portal statue “St. Charles Borromeo” 1675/80 by Ercole
Antonio Raggi (1624/86)
On the
sides statues on the left “St. John of Matha” and on the right “St. Felix de
Valois” 1682 by Sillano Sillani
St. John of
Matha and St. Felix de Valois founded the Order of Holy Trinity for the
redemption of slaves, which was approved by Pope Innocent III of the Counts
of Segni (1198/1216) in 1198. Its activity was focused on the liberation of
Christians kept as captives slaves in Muslim countries
The order
was reformed in 1596 and it became the Congregation of Discalced
Trinitarians
Sculptures
of “Angels that support the oval at the top” 1676 by Giovanni
Doni, Cesare Doni and Francesco Fontana
There used
to be a painting in the oval, “Holy Trinity” 1677 by Pietro Giarguzzi, but now
it is almost entirely disappeared
“Borromini
combined three different types of structures: the lower wavy zone, whose origin
lies in ancient layouts as the hall of the Golden Square in Hadrian's Villa at
Tivoli; the intermediate zone of the pendentives that derives from a Greek
cross plan, and the oval dome which, according to tradition, should set itself
on a plan of the same shape. Nowadays it is difficult to assess fully the
boldness and freedom in the handling of three structures generically different
in such a way that they appear merged into an infinitely suggestive unity. With
this bold step, Borromini opened up completely new horizons that were further
explored later in the century in Piedmont and in northern Europe rather than in
Rome” (Rudolf Wittkower)
“Bernini's
buildings you admire with your eyes, those of Borromini you perceive with the
whole body” (Anthony Blunt)
FLOOR 1898
“The gilding
on the arches and on the doorposts of the three niches of the altars also date
back to the nineteenth century, while Borromini, true to his conception of an
architecture made and decorated with 'poor' materials, had predicted that only
the gilding the frames of the pictures made out of carved stucco, along with
the wrought-iron gates of the chapels would be the only elements that would
interrupt the white plaster. The architect himself anyway declared: 'The real
work is illuminated only by the light of the heart and of the sky. It needs no
gold or other preciousness'“ (Sergio Lombardi)
CHAPEL TO
THE RIGHT OF THE ENTRANCE
On the
altar “Crucifixion”, on the left “Christ at the Column” and on the right “Crown
of Thorns” 1653 by some Giuseppe Milanese,
influenced by the Nordic painting
RIGHT ALTAR
“Ecstasy of
Blessed Michele de Santi” in 1847 by the painter of academic culture Amalia De Angelis
“Sts.
Charles Borromeo, Felix of Valois and John of Matha in adoration of the Most
Holy Trinity”
about 1646 by Pierre Mignard (1612/95)
Oval panels
in stucco with scenes from the life of the Order of Trinitarians:
From the
left “Meeting
of St. John de Matha with St. Felix de Valois”, “Innocent
III inspired by God to approve the order”, “Approval of the order and dressing
of the two founders” and “Redemption of slaves” 1640 by two
stonemasons known as Mastro Matteo and Mastro Domenico Rossi who worked under the direction
of Giuseppe Bernascone who was responsible for
all the stucco decoration of the church
“The dome in
its beautiful whiteness and its uniform light without deep shadows immaterially
seems to hover above the massive forms and compact of the space in which the
visitor moves” (Rudolf Wittkower)
CHAPEL TO
THE LEFT OF THE MAIN ALTAR
“Rest
on the Flight into Egypt” about 1642/44 by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli
(1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona
Under the
altar there is a casket containing the body of Blessed Elisabetta Canori Mora
(1774/1825), who was beatified in 1994
LEFT ALTAR
“Ecstasy of
Blessed Juan Bautista de la Concepción” 1829 by Prospero
Mallerini (1761/1836)
“This is the
last known work of this little known painter, particularly attentive to the
representation of objects (see the table, skull, books and flagellum),
sometimes represented as veritable 'still-lives'“ (Sergio Lombardi)
Two
chapels, in the smallest of which Borromini had perhaps designed his burial
place. He eventually ended up being buried in S.
Giovanni dei Fiorentini
CONVENT
1662/64
Francesco Borromini
Medallion
with mosaic on the façade “Christ between two freed slaves” 1663/64 by Fabio Cristofari (about 1615/89)
Two wings
of the convent were added over the years 1710/21 by Alessandro
Sperone
In the
hallway two paintings formerly on the side altars of the church “St. Ursula”
1642 and “Apparition of the Holy Family with Sts. Agnes and Catherine” 1643 as
well as “Ecce Homo” about 1643 all works by Giovanni
Domenico Cerrini (1609/81)
“In the St.
Ursula are obvious the pictorial enrichment and the attention to atmospheric
values captured in the mobile shadow cast on the statuary limbs of the saint
and of the martyrs lying on the ground, where it is remarkable the glimpse of
the corpses piled up on the left” (Evelina Borea)
Cycle of “Eighteenth-century
portraits of venerable fathers of the Trinitarian order”
Plaster
statues “St. Felix de Valois” and “St. John de Matha” made at the beginning of
the twentieth century, the work of the Spanish sculptor Isidoro Uribesalgo (1873/1928). They have recently moved here from
the niches on either side of the main altar
1635/36 Francesco Borromini
“It is an
example of the revolutionary qualities of his language. The matched columns are
arranged so as to form an octagon and are linked by a single cornice which
gives uniform continuity of movement; the corners of the octagon are replaced
by convex curvatures; minor are the transitions of light and shadow. Borromini
created therefore a new unit of the structural elements enclosing the space, by
considering the space itself as something malleable” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano
Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
Transformed
into SACRISTY by Bernardo Castelli
Altarpiece “St.
Charles Borromeo worshipping the Trinity” in 1611 masterpiece
by Orazio Borgianni (1578/1616) formerly on the
high altar of the church built here before this one
“Virgin
Mary and Child with St. Simon of Roxas” 1767 by Francisco
Preciado (1713/89), a pupil of Sebastiano Conca
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