Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Sts. NEREUS AND ACHILLEUS

SS. NEREO E ACHÌLLEO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 28

595 on the Titulus Fasciolae mentioned in the sources since the year 377
The fasciola was the bandage fallen from the wounded foot of St. Peter while being led to martyrdom

The church was moved to the present site in 814 for Leo III (795/816)

Reduced in size in 1475 for Pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

Restoration with frescoes and altar raised on the occasion of the Jubilee of the year 1600 for Cardinal Cesare Baronio
It was dedicated on that year to Nereus and Achilleus servants of Flavia Domitilla and martyrs, according to tradition, with her in Terracina under Trajan (98/117)

NAVES
Frescoes “Stories of martyrs” maybe by Niccolò Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1520/98)

PRESBYTERY
On the right “Candelabra” of the fifteenth century from the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and “Ambo” with a base made out of porphyry from the Baths of Caracalla

Enclosure of the choir of the twelfth century with Cosmatesque pieces
Ciborium of the sixteenth century
Episcopal chair of Vassallettos’ workshop

SIDE OF THE ARCH OF THE APSE FACING THE NAVE
Mosaic “Annunciation”, “Theotokos” and “Transfiguration” about 815 the only section left of the mosaic of the time of Leo III (795/816)

Sts. MICHAEL AND MAGNUS

SS. MICHELE E MAGNO
Largo degli Alicorni 21

Founded, according to tradition, in the year 754 by St. Boniface
It certainly existed in the year 854

Rebuilt in the twelfth century

Restored in the thirteenth century when here were moved the relics of St. Magnus from Fondi. On this occasion the church was also dedicated to St. Magnus

Restored 1754 by Carlo Murena (1713/64)

National Church of the Frisians, the Germanic people of the Netherlands

Outside on the left SCALA SANTA (Holy Stairs) with 35 steps

Adjacent to the church was the Schola of the Frisians where the German emperor Henry IV stayed in 1084 while besieging Gregory VII (1073/85) in Castel Sant'Angelo
He retired when he learned of the arrival of Robert Guiscard and his 36,000 Normans, including many Muslim warriors, who saved the pope but put Rome on fire for three days in the city
They caused destruction and death worse than anything the barbarians had ever done in the past or that the lansquenets would do in 1527

MAIN ALTAR
“Archangel Michael appears to Sts. Gregory and Magnus” by Nicolò Ricciolini (1687/1772)

LEFT NAVE
“Grave of Anton Raphael Mengs” (1728/79) by Vincenzo Pacetti (1746/1820) with, on the altar, “Sts. Peter and Paul” by Ludovico Stern (1709/77)

Sts. MARCELLINUS AND PETER

SS. MARCELLINO E PIETRO
Via Labicana 1

One of the oldest places of Christian worship in Rome, described as titulus since the time of Constantine (306/337)

The first church was built here at the end of the fourth century, at the time of Pope S. Siricius (384/399), the first bishop of Rome to be called “Pope” exclusively

It underwent many changes and revisions, the main ones in the years 740 and 1256
Rebuilt in the years 1750/51 by Girolamo Theodoli (1677/1766) for Benedict XIV Lambertini (1740/58)

RIGHT ALTAR 
“Mass of St. Gregory” by Filippo Evangelisti (1684/1761)

MAIN ALTAR
“Martyrdom of St. Marcellinus and Peter” by Gaetano Lapis (1706/76)

Monday, December 30, 2019

Sts. LUKE AND MARTINA

SS. LUCA E MARTINA
Via della Curia 2/Clivo Argentario

 Dedicated at the time of Pope Honorius I (625/638) only to S. Martina, martyred under Septimus Severus (193/211) on the ancient CURIA HOSTILIA

Rebuilt in 1256

Restored with the rise of the floor in 1593 by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606), after it had been granted in 1588 to the Academy of St. Luke founded in 1577 by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92)
So the title of St. Luke was added

Restored again in the years 1635/64 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

Works completed in the years 1674/77 by Ciro Ferri (1634/89), a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

“The pylons strongly projecting, fronted by the double pillars, seem to have the wall crushed in the middle, so that the warp seems to be the result of a compression always going on. Absolutely different from any façade of any previous church, it prepares the visitor for the understanding of the internal structure, because the treatment of the wall and the articulation of the premises are explained here in a different key. Cortona think in terms of flexibility of the plastic mass of the walls, and through this he gets the dynamic coordination of exterior and interior. To him can be assigned the honor of having erected the first of the great highly personal and completely homogeneous churches of the Baroque style” (Rudolf Wittkower)

From here it used to begin the procession known as Candelora (Candlemas) established by Gelasius (492/496) to replace the pagan festival of the Lupercalia

Here are buried the artists Pietro Da Cortona, Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764), Luigi Canina (1795/1856), G.B. Soria (1581/1651), Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)

Design of the area outside 1932 by Gustavo Giovannoni (1873/1947) for the opening of Via dei Fori Imperiali

“In his constructive architecture Cortona eliminated the figurative elements which made such an integral part of his painted architecture. One can not imagine a stronger contrast with the concept of the architecture by Bernini. For Bernini, the very meaning of architecture conceived classically was summarized in realistic sculpture. A similar sculpture would have hidden the wealth and complexity of the work of Cortona. His effervescence here reaches its climax with the absolutely unprecedented wildly undulating shapes of the coffers of the dome. The personal design of these coffers found no imitators” (Rudolf Wittkower)

PENDENTIVES
Sculptures “Symbols of the Evangelists” 1730:
“St. Mark” by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768),”St. Matthew” by Camillo Rusconi (1658/1728), “St. Luke” and “St. John” by G.B. Maini (1690/1752)
On the floor of the nave tomb of Pietro da Cortona

TO THE RIGHT OF THE ENTRANCE
“Tomb of the artist Giovanna Garzoni” by Mattia De Rossi (1637/95) with maybe portrait of Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)

RIGHT END SIDE
“Martyrdom of St. Lazarus” by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703). On the left there is his grave
In a niche on the right relief “Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene” by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)

MAIN ALTAR
“Recumbent statue of St. Martina” 1635 by Niccolò Menghini (about 1610/55)
Above the altar “St. Luke painting the Virgin Mary” by the Sienese Antiveduto Grammatica (about 1572/1626), maybe copy from the original by Raphael now at Palazzo Carpegna

LEFT END SIDE
“Assumption and St. Sebastian” 1740 by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764). On the right there is his grave
On the left of “Tomb of Luigi Canina” by Pietro Tenerani (1789/1869)

LOWER CHURCH

At the entrance
“Monument of G.B. Soria (1581/1651)”

In the octagonal room
Stucco relief on the altar “Dead Christ with the Virgin Mary and the Father” 1638/39 by Alessandro Algardi
Statues in the niches “Cecilia”, “Agnes” and “Martina” by Cosimo Fancelli (1620/88), “S. Eufemia” by Pompeo Ferrucci (about 1566/1637)

In the church
“Altar of S. Martina” by Pietro da Cortona
Terracotta in the chapel to the left of the corridor “Sts. Epifanius, Concordio and a companion” 1634 by Alessandro Algardi

Sts. ILDEFONSUS AND THOMAS OF VILLANOVA

SS. ILDEFONSO E TOMMASO DI VILLANOVA
Via Sistina 11

 1667/74 Giuseppe Paglia

Giuseppe Paglia was a Dominican friar native of Sicily who had worked in S. Maria sopra Minerva. In this church it is evident the influence of Francesco Borromini, whom Giuseppe Paglia had met and admired

FAÇADE
1725 Francesco Ferrari (active in Rome 1721/44)
Statues in the niches and stucco decoration inside maybe by Antonio Cometti

1st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Crowded relief “Nativity” 1600 by Francesco Grassia (seventeenth century)

2nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the altar “Immaculate Conception with Sts. Augustine and Monica” about 1700 maybe by Juan Correa

1st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “Our Lady of Guadalupe” by Juan Correa

Sts. JOHN EVANGELIST AND PETRONIUS OF THE BOLOGNESE

SS. GIOVANNI EVANGELISTA E PETRONIO DEI BOLOGNESI
Via del Mascherone 61

It was known at the end of the twelfth century as S. Tommaso degli Spagnoli (St. Thomas of the Spaniards)

In the fifteenth century it was called S. Tommaso delli Muratori (St. Thomas of the Builders) and in the sixteenth century S. Tommaso della Catena (St. Thomas of the Chain), the headquarters of a company whose brothers used to hit themselves with an iron chain

In 1581 it was assigned the Confraternity of the Stigmata of the Nation of Bologna
The reconstruction and the decor were entrusted exclusively to artists from Bologna

Begun in 1582 by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606), who also built the adjoining ORATORY
DOME completed in about 1655
FAÇADE 1696/1700

Renovated in 1805

It is the national church of people from Bologna

Monochrome frescoes in the dome and “Cardinal Virtues” in the PENDENTIVES about 1725 by Pompeo Aldrovandini (1677/1735)

RIGHT ALTAR 
“Death of St. Joseph” by Giovan Francesco Gessi (1588/1649) a pupil of Guido Reni
Here was the tomb of Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654) with his portrait sculpted by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701), unfortunately destroyed

MAIN ALTAR
“Madonna and Child with Saints” by an unknown nineteenth century artist instead of the picture by Domenichino now in Palazzo Barberini

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Sts. JOACHIM AND ANNE AT THE MONTI NEIGHBORHOOD

SS. GIOACCHINO E ANNA AI MONTI
Largo Visconti Venosta/Via Giovanni Lanza

1770/78 Giovanni Francesco Fiori (1709/84) the Roman architect who had already built the adjacent MONASTERY 1749/60 for the Old Maids of S. Francesco di Paola also known as Paolotte

During the enlargement of the chancel in 1793 a silver wedding trousseau was found dating back to the late Roman Empire. It was called Treasury of Secundo and Proiecta and now it is in the British Museum

Now the church is entrusted to the Centro Oratori Romani (Headquarters of the Roman Oratories)
In the monastery there is the Command of the Carabinieri Corps

MAIN ALTAR
“Mary with Sts. Joachim and Anne” by an anonymous eighteenth-century artist with the figure of Mary added by the purist Pio Bottoni (1883/1936)

LEFT ALTAR
Dating back to the eighteenth-century inlaid with precious marble

Sts. FABIANUS AND VENANTIUS

SS. FABIANO E VENANZIO
Piazza di Villa Fiorelli/Via Castrovillari - Tuscolano

1934 Clemente Busiri Vici (1887/1965)

It is the church of the people from Camerino, in the Marche region, who live in Rome

A plaque on the façade mentions August 15, 1943 when the church and its neighborhood were bombed by the Allies, killing about 100 civilians
The church was damaged in part. Pius XII Pacelli (1939/58) visited the church immediately after the bombing

Sts. DOMINIC AND SIXTUS

SS. DOMENICO E SISTO
Largo Angelicum 1
Mentioned in the sources since the tenth century as S. Maria Balneapolim

Church and adjoining convent built for the Dominican Pope St. Pius V Ghislieri (1566/72) for the Dominican Sisters originally in S. Sisto on the Appian Way

FIRST PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION
1574/78 by Domenico di Dario da Mezzana
Choir and bell tower 1579/91 by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602)

SECOND PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION
1606/36 Nicola Torriani (active in Rome about 1601/1636), who was probably also the designer of the façade
Torriani was supervised since 1628 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) and from 1630 he worked with Orazio Torriani (about 1601/about 1657) who worked mainly on the interior decoration

COMPLETION
Interventions 1635/36 Francesco Peparelli (active about 1626 /d.1641), 1634/52 G.B. Soria (1581/1651) and since 1651 Vincenzo Della Greca (1592/1661), designer of the PORTAL and of the beautiful STAIRCASE, built in 10 years from 1654 to 1664 and finished by his son Felice Della Greca (1626/77)

It was an innovative Baroque solution for Roman religious architecture, originally framed by a portal demolished in late 1800s

“The idea of ​​this staircase full of fantasy probably derived from the Villa del Pigneto by Pietro da Cortona, but it was here that a Roman architect built for the first time a Baroque staircase in an urban setting, a prelude to the Port of Ripetta by Alessandro Specchi and to the grand spectacle of the steps of Piazza di Spagna by De Sanctis” (Rudolf Wittkower)

The construction of the church lasted about 90 years
Renovation of the convent in 1932 by Tullio Passarelli (1869/1941)

FAÇADE
In the first order
“St. Dominic” and “St. Sixtus” 1654 by Marcantonio Canini (1622/after 1669) who maybe also sculpted the statue of the “Virgin Mary of the Rosary” in the niche above the portal
In the second order
“St. Thomas Aquinas” and “St. Peter Martyr” 1636 by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636)

VAULT
Frescoes “Apotheosis of St. Dominic and patronage of Mary” and “Cardinal Virtues and Allegories of the Church, Heresy, Religion and Obedience” in monochrome 1673/75 masterpiece by Domenico Maria Canuti (1626/84) and Enrico Haffner (1640/1702) who did the drawings a quadrature (the geometrical frames)

COUNTER FAÇADE
At the sides of the window “Ecstasy of St. Dominic” and “Virgin Mary appears to St. Dominic” also by Domenico Maria Canuti and Enrico Haffner

“This work demonstrates the familiarity of Domenico Maria Canuti with the grouping of figures and with the achievements relating to atmosphere and light reached by Gaulli in the decoration of the Church of Gesu, in statu nascendi (just being conceived) at the time. But Canuti also introduced the novelty of the squaring that framed the entire ceiling. Rome acquired a kind of spectacular fresco of which neither Cortona, nor Bernini made ​​use of, a kind of fresco you'd expect to find in Genoa” (Rudolf Wittkower)

In the eaves of the roof are included iron gratings (two also in the external façade) that were used by the nuns to watch unseen the religious ceremonies

FLOOR
Rebuilt in the years 1849/52

1st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE
“Alaleona Altar” 1649/52 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) according to a drawing in the Uffizi but executed by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86)
Marble group of “Noli Me Tangere” by Ercole Antonio Raggi

2nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. PETER MARTYR
Altar front 1709 by G.B. Contini (1641/1723) who also made the other altar fronts in the rest of the church
Above the altar “Killing of St. Peter Martyr” a copy of a lost painting by Tiziano Vecellio (about 1490/1576) for Ss. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice painted by one N. Senese, maybe Nicolò Nasini or Niccolò Tornioli (1598/1651)

3rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. DOMINIC or COSTAGUTI CHAPEL
Above the altar “Vision of St. Dominic” about 1648 by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66), who maybe also painted the “Stories of S. Dominic” in the vault
The vision of St. Dominic is a miraculous event which took place in 1530 at Soriano when the Virgin Mary and the Sts. Magdalene and Catherine of Alexandria appeared to a monk urging him to put a portrait of S. Dominic on the altar

MAIN ALTAR
1640 amazing “Ciborium” maybe by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Tuscan terracotta of the fifteenth century “Virgin Mary and Child” in place of the venerated Madonna Acheropita kept since 1931 in the new Dominican Convent at Monte Mario
Frescoes on the right “Battle of Muret Albigensian” 1639 by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini (about 1614/1684)
Frescoes on the left “St. Dominic and the miracle of fire” by the Belgian Louis Cousin aka Luigi Gentile (1605/67) who also did the six paintings “Life of the Virgin Mary” at the sides of the altar

VAULT OF THE PRESBYTERY
Frescoes “Virgin Mary protecting the Dominican Order” and “Christ Appearing to St. Dominic and to the Dominican nuns” also by Domenico Maria Canuti (1626/84) and Enrico Haffner (1640/1702)

3rd LEFT – ALTEMPS CHAPEL
Fresco found in 1771 with “Madonna and Child” 1448/49 most likely by Benozzo di Lese aka Benozzo Gozzoli (1420/97), maybe detached from S. Maria ad Balneapolim or from the nearby Torre dei Conti
On walls and ceiling frescoes “Stories of the Passion of Christ” maybe by Pietro Paolo Ubaldini (about 1614/about 1684)

2nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. CATHERINE OF SIENA
Above the altar “Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Siena with Jesus” 1650 by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663)

1st LEFT - CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY
Above the altar “Virgin Mary and Child give the rosary to Sts. Dominic and Catherine” by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona
Other paintings maybe by Clemente Maioli (1634/73)

CHOIR OF THE NUNS
Located behind the altar, according to the scheme codified in 1577 by St. Charles Borromeo, who wanted the cloistered nuns out of sight during ceremonies
Restored in 1749

ALTAR 1671 by Vincenzo Della Greca (1592/1661)

Four large murals on the walls maybe by G.B. Ricci

To the right of the altar “St. Peter hands over the keys to St. Pius V” 1749 by Mattia Tome where it is visible the front of the church with the steps by Vincenzo e Felice Della Greca

DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY - “ANGELICUM”
In the annexed monastery formerly of the Dominican Sisters of Lombardy

CAPITULAR HALL
Built in 1668
“Cross painted on board” of the first half of 1200s according to the iconography of the Christus patiens by an unknown artist of the Lazio area
Triptych “Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Sts. Dominic and Aurea” and “Four Stories of St. Aurea” in the side doors 1358 by the Sienese Lippo di Vanni (active 1340/75)
It is his only signed and dated work, from the church of St. Aurea on Via Giulia today Chiesa dello Spirito Santo dei Napoletani
“Crucifixion” by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) formerly in the Altemps Chapel

INTERNATIONAL BOARDING SCHOOL St. THOMAS AQUINAS

On Via degli Ibernesi
Institution of Dominican studies in the sixteenth century building converted in 1964 by Lucio Passarelli (1922) with his brothers Vincenzo (1904/85) and Fausto (1910/98)

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Sts. COSMAS AND DAMIAN

SS. COSMA E DAMIANO
Via dei Fori Imperiali 1

Merger of the probable headquarters of the Praefectura Urbis, of part of the complex of the TEMPLE OF PEACE and of a hall of the so-called TEMPLE OF ROMULUS donated by Amalusanta, the daughter of Theodoric (king of Italy 493/526), to Felix IV (526/530) who adapted the old buldings as a church

Dedicated to the twin brothers Cosmas and Damian who were doctors in juxtaposition and antagonism with the nearby Temple of Castor and Pollux on the other side of the Via Sacra
It was a sanctuary for the faithful to invoke healing

The so-called Temple of Romulus was the vestibule and the hall was illuminated by not less than fifteen windows, five on each side, and five on the façade

It was assigned since 1512 to the Third Regular Franciscan Order that still officiates it to this day
Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85) brought here the relics of the two eponymous saints

1597/1602 construction of the side chapels for Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) with deletion of most of the mosaics over the apse

Restored in the years 1626/32 by Orazio Torriani (about 1601/about 1657) (of whom, however, there is only one drawing) and Luigi Arrigucci (1575/after 1643) for Urban VIII Barberini (1632/44)

The floor was raised of 7 m (23 feet), and so the church was divided in two, the upper church and the lower church, to avoid the frequent flooding caused by the floods of the Tiber River

In 1897 excavations were carried out in the Forum and the Basilica became inaccessible from the Via Sacra

FAÇADE ON VIA DEI FORI IMPERIALI
1947 Gaetano Rapisardi (1893/1988)

RUINS OF A LARGE ROOM TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE
Marble floor of the Forum of Peace and brick wall with holes for the clamps to which were hung the 151 plates of the Forma Urbis

CLOISTER
Frescoes “Deposition from the Cross” and “Franciscan Stories” by Flaminio Allegrini (1587/1663)

CEILING
“Glory of Sts. Cosmas and Damian” 1632 by Marco Tullio Montagna (1594/1649)

WALLS ABOVE THE CHAPELS
“Stories of Sts. Cosmas and Damian” 1635 by Marco Tullio Montagna and Simone Lagi

1st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
Fresco of the thirteenth century separated from the lower church “Crucifix” where Christ is unusually dressed in a long colobio, i.e. a tunic with short sleeves or sleeveless used by the early Christian monks
In the vault “Stories of the Passion of Christ” 1636 by G.B. Speranza (about 1600/40)

2nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND St. JOHN EVANGELIST
Above the altar “Adoration of the Magi”
On the right “Presentation of Christ in the Temple” 1638 and on the left “St. John Evangelist resurrecting a dead man” 1618 all works by Giovanni Baglione (1566/1643)

3rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY
Remarkable “S. Anthony of Padua” by Giovanni Antonio Galli aka Spadarino (1585/about 1653)

4th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS
Above the altar “S. Francis in Prayer” copy from an original by Girolamo Muziano

MAIN ALTAR
1638 Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) with worshipped “Madonna and Child aka Madonna of the Health or Madonna of St. Gregory” of the last quarter of the thirteenth century by an anonymous Roman painter with Tuscan influences

TRIUMPHAL ARCH
Mosaic “Revelation, mystic lamb and the seven candlesticks, four angels, symbols of St. Luke and St. John” of the beginning of the sixth century like the apse, although some scholars believe it dates to the time of Sergius I (687/701) for the connection Agnus Dei – Sergius I
Sergio I was in fact the one who introduced the Agnus Dei in the rite of the Mass
Below “Some of the twenty-four elders offering crowns”
Probably at the time of Clement IX Rospigliosi (1667/69) the arch was reinforced with a stuccoed structure that wiped out the mosaics under the arch

APSE
Mosaic “Christ among Sts. Peter and Paul introducing Sts. Cosmas and Damian, accompanied by S. Theodore and Felix IV with the model of the church and the Phoenix in the top left corner” of the early sixth century, at the time of Felix IV (526/530)

“To realize this vast spaciousness the perspective mediation of the architecture is not needed anymore, as in Santa Pudenziana, just the slice of color with the clear figures on the deep blue background. The modulation of light and shade fades and finally disappears: the figures of the mosaic of S. Pudenziana are still lit, these are bright. The sense of space is not cancelled, space is conceived as light and is made with colors. But the colors are symbolic, such as palm trees that allude to the heavenly garden, the blue stripe that alludes to the Jordan River: from the quality, from the sublimated substance of the colors emanates ‘spiritual’ light that fills the space, a space made out ​​of light” (Giulio Carlo Argan)

3rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF Sts. ROSALIA and ROSA
Above the altar “S. Rosalia”, on the walls “Stories of St. Rose” by an anonymous artist

2nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ALEXANDER
Above the altar “Christ crucified” by an anonymous artist of the seventeenth century, maybe Dutch
Walls and vault “Conviction, glory and martyrdom of St. Alexander” about 1655 by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663), son of Flaminio

1st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. BARBARA
Above the altar “S. Barbara” about 1650 copy by an anonymous artist from the original by Cavalier d'Arpino in S. Maria in Traspontina
On the walls “Stories of St. Barbara” c. 1640 by an anonymous artist influenced by Cavalier d'Arpino

Sts. CELSUS AND JULIAN

SS. CELSO E GIULIANO
Vicolo del Curato 12

Consecrated, according to tradition, by Celestine I (422/432) in the year 432 and dedicated to the two martyrs of the fourth century from Antioch

It is mentioned in the sources in 1008 as Ecclesia Sancti Celsi

It was rebuilt in the years 1509/35 to a design by Donato Bramante (1444/1514), which however, was not carried out entirely

Rebuilt again in the years 1733/43 by Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)

“There is no doubt that the masterpiece of De Dominicis is the church of Sts. Celso and Giuliano (...). Taking advantage of the opportunity to design a completely new structure, De Dominicis devised a transverse oval, with seven radiating chapels. The plan is only superficially similar to the transverse oval used three quarters of a century before by Bernini in S. Andrea al Quirinale: De Dominicis, increasing the size of the chapels corresponding to the transverse axis and the longitudinal or ritual axis, deliberately accentuates both these axises, resulting in a blend of oval plan and elongated Greek cross in a way similar to that often implemented by the architects of the late sixteenth century. On the other hand, the conservatism of the spacial concept is mostly displaced by the dynamic sensitivity of the tectonic structure and the happiness of ornamentation applied” (John Varriano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Restored 1868 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)

1st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Marble urn of the eighteenth century with the relics of Sts. Artemisia and Januaria
Above the altar “S. Cornelius Pope among Sts. Artemisia and Januaria” 1737 by Giuseppe Lapis

2nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the altar “Mary Magdalene” 1736 by Emanuele Alfani (active 1736/74)

3rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the altar “Wooden crucifix” first half of the fifteenth century of the school of Lucca
Altar piece “Lady of Sorrows” of the eighteenth-century

MAIN ALTAR
“Christ in glory and Sts. Celsus, Julian, Marconilla (mother of Celsus) and Basilissa (wife of Julian)” 1736/38 one of the first Roman works by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)
On the right “St. Celsus victorious over the pagan priests” 1735 by Francesco Caccianiga (1700/81)
On the left “St. Julian resurrecting the dead” 1736 by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746), a pupil of Benedetto Luti

3rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Decoration of the nineteenth-century in neo-Renaissance style
Above the altar “Our Lady of the Graces” copy of the end of the sixteenth century of a medieval painting

2nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “Bishop Liborio” 1736 by Giuseppe Valeriano (1542/96)

1st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “Baptism of Christ” 1736/37 by Giuseppe Ranucci
This was the baptistery chapel until 1930 and a plaque commemorates the baptism which took place here of Eugenio Pacelli later to become Pope Pius XII (1939/58)

Sts. CECILIA AND BLAISE

SS. CECILIA E BIAGIO
Vicolo del Divino Amore 12

1131 with a dedication to St. Cecilia with no historical motivation
Reconstructed 1729/31 by Filippo Raguzzini (1680/1771) for Benedict XIII Orsini (1724/30)

It hosted the Confraternity of St. Blaise formed by second-hand dealers and mattress makers until 1801
St. Blaise was its patron and his name was added to the church

From 1802 also known as the CHIESA DELLA MADONNA DEL DIVINO AMORE IN CAMPO MARZIO (Church of Our Lady of the Divine Love in Campo Marzio) when Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23) assigned it to the Confraternita del Divino Amore (Brotherhood of Divine Love)

Restored in the years 1865/74
Caravaggio lived in a house in the alley from 1603 until 1605

BELL TOWER
Maybe it dates back to the first half of the twelfth century

VAULT
Frescoes “Virgin Mary and Child” and “Sts. Cecilia and Blaise”

PENDENTIVES
“Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance” about 1870 all paintings by Filippo Prosperi (1831/1913), a pupil of Tommaso Minardi

RIGHT ALTAR
“St. Blaise free a child from a fish bone that had lodged in his throat” 1730 by Sigismondo Rosa pupil of Giuseppe Chiari

MAIN ALTAR
“Our Lady of the Divine Love” early 1800s by Gioacchino Bombelli

ALTAR LEFT
“Ss. Cecilia and Valerian” about 1730 by Placido Costanzi (1702/59)

SACRISTY
Stone that commemorates the place of the alleged home of St. Cecilia
Very damaged fresco detached from the fourteenth-century church “Marriage of Sts. Cecilia and Valerian between S. Tiburcio and Pope Urban”

Friday, December 27, 2019

Sts. BARTHOLOMEW AND ALEXANDER OF THE PEOPLE FROM BERGAMO

SS. BARTOLOMEO E ALESSANDRO DEI BERGAMASCHI
Piazza Colonna

1562, renewed 1731 by Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758)
Restored 1836/39 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839)
Restored again 1902/04 by Giuseppe Sacconi (1854/1905)

“De Dominicis had a vivid imagination and cleverly used the decorative vocabulary of Borromini more than half a century after the death of the master. Along with his contemporary Federico Raguzzini he worked on the formulation of the basic themes of Roman rococo architecture, although in his later years he seems to have rejected these decorative ways in favor of the more classical taste which was then beginning to establish itself in Europe” (John Varriano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

FAÇADE
1719 G.B. Contini (1641/1723)
Decorated with paintings, stucco and gold in the years 1902/04 by Emilio Retrosi

VAULT
“Virgin Mary and Sts. Bartholomew and Alexander” 1904 by Emilio Retrosi

2nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
“Saints from Bergamo refusing to worship idols” by Giovanni Antonio Valtellina

3rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Altar piece with six different paintings of saints including “S. Anne with the Virgin Mary in her arms” maybe by Marco Benefial (1684/1764)

2nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Altar piece “Beheading of St. John the Baptist” 1732 by Aureliano Milani (1675/1749)

1st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Wooden sculpture “Christ at the Column” 1569 by Filippo Dal Borgo

SACRISTY
“Beheading of St. John the Baptist” by Girolamo Muziano (1532/92)
“Adoration of the Magi” about 1550 by an anonymous Mannerist artist

ORATORY
Two paintings with the same subject:
“Apparition of the Virgin Mary to Sts. Bartholomew and Alexander” about 1635 Giuseppe Puglia aka Bastaro (about 1600/36) and in 1574 by Durante Alberti (1538/1616)

Sts. ANTHONY OF PADUA AND ANNIBALE MARIA

SS. ANTONIO DA PADOVA EANNIBALE MARIA
Piazza Asti 10

1965 Raffaele Boccuni

The BELL TOWER is 47 m (154 feet) high
It is one of the highest in Rome
S. Annibale Maria di Francia (1851/1927) was the founder of the Congregations of the Rogationists of the Heart of Jesus and of the Daughters of Divine Zeal. He was born and died in Messina, Sicily

MOST HOLY ANNUNCIATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY OF THE DEEP BLUE NUNS

SS. ANNUNZIATA DELLE TURCHINE
Via Sforza 5 - Sconsacrata

1670/76 Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)

It was built for the nuns of the Order of SS. Annunziata delle Turchine (Most Holy Annunciation of the Virgin Mary of the Deep Blue Nuns) so called for the color of their attire
It has been a military tailoring and now it is home to the National Presidency of the Association of Italian Paratroopers

MONASTERY
Maybe by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)