Monday, January 14, 2019

St. EUSTACE

S. EUSTACHIO
Maybe founded by Constantine (306/337) on the site where St. Eustace was martyred and buried with his wife and two children, according to tradition, at the time of the reign of Hadrian (117/138)
This is impossible of course, because during the reign of Hadrian there was, according to historical sources, no persecution. Moreover, according to pagan sources such as the Historia Augusta, Hadrian, shortly before his death, had decided to recognize Christianity and was ready to dedicate temples without statues to Christ
St. Eustace, according to tradition, was a Roman army officer named Placido who had a vision of the crucifix between the antlers of a deer as he was hunting
Mentioned as a diaconia at the time of Gregory II (715/731)
A diaconia was an establishment for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's charity in the Middle Ages
Restored and re-consecrated in 1196 by Celestine III Orsini (1191/98), who also built the bell tower reusing the base dating back to about 1090
Complete reconstruction begun in the years 1701/03 by Cesare Crovara (active from 1682/d. 1703) from a design of 1692 by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)
1703/08 further works directed by G.B. Contini after the death of Crovara. He designed the chapels and the porch
1724/27 completion of work with transept and apse by Antonio Canevari (1681/1759), by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751) and, in the years 1728/30, by Giovanni Domenico Navone (known from 1706/d. 1770), thanks to a legacy of Pope Innocent XIII Conti (1721/24)
The construction of the church therefore lasted about 29 years
Restoration in 1861, in the years 1930/40 and 1992

FAÇADE
1701/03 by Cesare Crovara
It was restored in 1992 with the original so-called “color of the air”, a beautiful celestial hue
Above the pediment sculpture “Deer Head” by Paolo Morelli (known from 1712/d. 1719)
The head was not considered similar to that of a deer by most people, so much that there was a lampoon who claimed to not understand why one would confuse deers with donkeys

TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE
“Funerary monument of Giovanni Giraud” 1843 by Giuseppe Barba
“The interior is a splendid set of architectural structures, figurative elements and ornamental solutions of the more mature Baroque style. Visitor is immediately inserted into a space 'animated' by the intertwining of real or illusory lines and a pleasant harmony of colors and gilding, on which the light is diffused in a game of refractions and references. It seems clear, in this way, as the decoration is not an extrinsic and distracting component, but contributes fully to organize a perfect environment balanced between exuberant magnificence and measured sobriety” (Vincenzo Francia)

COUNTER FAÇADE
Spectacular “Organ” 1764 by Johannes Conradus Werle (1701/77)
Stained glass window with “Penitent Magdalene” of the end of the nineteenth century by Gabriel and Louis Gesta from Toulouse

1st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE HOLY FAMILY
Above the altar “Holy Family in the Temple of Jerusalem” about 1854 by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)
On the right “Funerary monument of Luigi Greppi” 1673
In the two ovals on the sides there were two paintings unfortunately stolen not long ago

2nd RIGHT – ANNUNCIATION CHAPEL
Designed by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782)
On the altar “Annunciation” about 1620 by Ottavio Lioni (1578/1630)

3rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
Above the altar “Sacred Heart of Jesus”, on the right “Christ on the Cross and St. Longinus”, on the left “Supper at Emmaus” and other decorations 1934/37 by Corrado Mezzana (1890/1952)
“In his artistic production (...) it is apparent a crystallization of formulas of classical academic style, especially in the works with sacred subjects (...), while in the stamps' designs, to which he devoted himself assiduously since the thirties, Mezzana was able to synthesize the compositional complexity of the details and the expressive immediacy of allegory” (Rosanna Ruscio - Biographical Dictionary of Italian Treccani)

RIGHT TRANSEPT
“St. Jerome penitent” 1725 by Giacomo Zoboli (1681/1767) from Modena
Under the canvas fine “Confessional in wood” by Corrado Mezzana

1739 by Nicola Salvi (1697/1751) for Cardinal Neri Corsini
On the altar “Martyrdom of St. Eustace” 1725 by Francesco Fernandi aka Imperiali (1679/1740)
The nickname comes from the fact that the artist was protected by Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali
Under the altar “porphyry urn” which contains the bodies of St. Eustace, his wife Theopista and his son Agapito and his daughter Theopista

CANOPY
1746 Ferdinando Fuga
He devised a remarkable and innovative suspended canopy so not to burden the space

APSE
In the upper part plaster relief “Triumph of the Cross” by Galileo Parisini (1872/1949)
In the niches at the sides plaster statues “Redeemer” and “Immaculate” 1900 by Augusto Foli
“An interesting and original architectural solution can be admired in the transept: the edges are beveled so as to evolve the layout of the church toward an elliptical plan. The elliptical impression is accentuated by the shallow depth of the apse. Elegant balconies accompany, with a smooth convex line, the concavity of the rounded corners” (Vincenzo Francia)

VAULT OF THE TRANSEPT
Fresco with fake dome of 1930

LEFT TRANSEPT
“Meeting of the Virgin and St. Elizabeth” 1725 by Giacomo Zoboli
Under the canvas fine “Confessional in wood” by Corrado Mezzana

PULPIT
Decorated in polychrome marble. Built in memory of the preaching here of Bishop Giacomo Della Chiesa who later became Pope Benedict XV (1914/22)

3rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
1771 Melchiorre Passalacqua, son of Pietro Passalacqua, and Agostino Penna (active since 1768/d. 1800)
On the altar ovate painting “Immaculate Heart of Mary” of the Venetian G.B. Casanova (1730/95) copy from an original donated to the church by Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy
On the right “Holy Family” 1774 by Tommaso Maria Conca (1734/1822) who was a pupil of his uncle, the great Sebastiano Conca
On the left “Flight into Egypt” 1774 maybe by Étienne de La Vallée Poussin (1735/1802) or Michele Paolini

2nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
1714/19 Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753) designed by Alessandro Sperone
Above the altar “St. Michael the Archangel” 1817 copy by Giovanni Bigatti (1774/1817) from the world famous original by Guido Reni in St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception
To the left “Funeral Monument of Teresa Tognoli Samonati Canale” d. 1807
To the right “Funeral Monument of Silvio Cavalleri” d. 1717 Alessandro Sperone with sculptures by Lorenzo Ottoni(1648/1736)

1st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. JULIAN HOSPITALLER
Above the altar “S. Julian” in 1706 by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721)

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