Maybe built
in the seventh century over the BARRACKS OF THE FIFTH COHORT OF THE FIRE
FIGHTERS, part of the Praedia Dominica, i.e. the areas belonging to the
emperor, hence the name of the church
Rebuilt in
about 820 for Pope Paschal I (817/824)
Restored
1514 by Andrea Contucci aka Andrea Sansovino
(1460/1529) for Leo X Medici (1513 /21)
Wood
paneled with symbols inspired by the Marian litanies 1566 for Cardinal
Ferdinando de' Medici
Frieze by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) and Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546)
Decorative
frescoes with “Litany to the Virgin” 1876 by Alessandro
Mantovani, Giovanni Brunelli and Luigi Roncati
Sixteen
made out of gray granite and two of pink granite of Aswan
1920/30 Gisberto Ceracchini (1889/1982)
“He
interrupted his studies after primary school to devote himself to painting as
an autodidact. As he himself said, (Marsan, 1983) he had no other masters but
nature and himself. His Tuscan origin was also instrumental in orienting him
towards studies and the choice of the great artistic-figurative local tradition
as a source of inspiration. Since 1915 he settled in Rome, where he met the
circle of artists and writers hanging out in the 'third room' of the Aragno
Coffee Bar (in Via del Corso), a circle which would have great influence in his
cultural formation” (Susanna Zatti - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani)
Above the
arch “Christ between two Angels and Apostles”, below “Moses and Elijah”, in the apse “Mary and Child
Enthroned with Angels and Pope Paschal I kneeling down” dating back to the years 817/824
during the pontificate of Paschal I
“Looking at
the people, Paschal I (depicted with the square nimbus to indicate that he was
living when the mosaic was made) appears as if he is delivering the Virgin Mary
to the faithful and, through Her, Jesus. (...) The features of both the Virgin
Mary and the angels are executed according to the artistic canon Byzantine and
monastic and not according to the Roman iconography of Mary as Queen. It could
be the work of Asian artists who came to Rome during the iconoclast persecution”
(Official web site of S. Maria in Domnica - www.santamariaindomnica.it )
Three
episodes from the life of Sts. Lawrence and Ciriaca from the left: “Healing of St.
Ciriaca kneeling in front of St. Lawrence”, “Washing of the Feet”, “Distribution of
goods to the poor by St. Lawrence according to the directives of Pope Sixtus II”
In small
lateral lunettes “St. Zachary with priestly vestments and censer, with, in the
lower part, St. John the Baptist and the angel inspiring St. John the
Evangelist” maybe by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703) or by his pupil G.B. Lenardi. The
paintings were irretrievably ruined by some repainting applied in later periods
“In the
paintings of S. Maria in Domnica are present some of the compositional features
typical of both Lazzaro Baldi and G.B. Lenardi as the construction of a space
created with a vanishing point, denied, however, by architectural elements
which make up almost wings of a stage set within which the scene takes place.
It is a scheme also appearing in the canvas by Baldi 'Solomon worships idols'
and 'St. John of God cure plague victims' kept in the Galleria Spada in Rome”
(Andreina Draghi)
At the
end of the naves “Ancient Roman Sarcophagi”
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