Thursday, March 14, 2019

St. MARY OF LORETO

S. MARIA DI LORETO
Begun in 1507 according to a project maybe by Donato Bramante (1444/1514) and immediately interrupted
Continued since 1522 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) and consecrated in 1534 with a temporary roof
It was built for the Guild of Bakers founded in 1507 at the behest of Pope Julius II Della Rovere (1503/13)
It is still the Roman Church of the Bakers
FAÇADE finished in the years 1550/52
Completion of the SIDES, DOME and BELL TOWER 1573/76 by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604)
“The drum and the dome are one of the major achievements of late fifteen hundreds architecture in Rome. In this work the architect inverts the correlation between base and dome, bringing the latter to emerge from the former: the base has therefore become then element generating shapes and its architectural frames lead the eye in a path from the bottom to the top. The ascending character of the vision is reinforced by the decorative elements until the radial explosion of the lantern described by the neoclassical critic Francesco Milizia as a 'cage of crickets'. With the small bizarre bell tower the architect processes in a mannerist sense the precepts of Michelangelo, his great master, creating an architectural mechanism free and of high quality” (Luigi Gallo)
Restructuring and sacristy 1638/40 by Gaspare De Vecchi (active 1628/1643)
Restoration 1867/75 by Luca Carimini (1830/90)
Frescoes in the DRUM “Stories of Mary”, in the DOME “Prophets, sibyls, saints and angels” and in the COUNTER FAÇADE “Virgin Mary of Loreto carried by the angels” 1870/74 by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)

Above the altar “St. Aloysius Gonzaga” by an unknown nineteenth-century artist
Mosaics “Dove of the Holy Spirit, cherubs, Sts. Catherine, Francis and John the Evangelist” 1594 by Paolo Rossetti (?/1621)

Above the altar “Virgin Mary of the Rosary with Sts. Dominic and Catherine” by an unknown nineteenth-century artist
Frescoes and paintings “Adoration of the Magi, saints, angels, Trinity and the commissioners” 1586 by Niccolò Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1520/98)

1628/30 Gaspare De Vecchi, reworked by Luca Carimini
Painting on board “Virgin Mary of Loreto among Sts. Roch and Sebastian” maybe of the end of the fifteenth century by Marco Palmezzano (1459/1539)
At the sides of altar canvas: on the right “Death of the Virgin Mary” and on the left “Nativity of the Virgin Mary” 1630 by Giuseppe Cesari detto Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

SIX STATUES
From the right:
“Angel” 1630 by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636)
“St. Susanna” 1630/33 masterpiece by François Duquesnoy (1597/1643)
“In this most pure figure, the model of which was the ancient Capitoline statue of Urania, he reached with great delicacy of expression a wonderful blend of naturalness and the idea of antiquity” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“He wished to portray not the individual fate of a saint, but the matter-of-factly condition of holiness. Consequently he represented this saint in a state of mental and physical rest instead of choosing a transitory moment as Bernini used to do. Duquesnoy gave shape to an ideal norm with the same compelling logic with which Bernini had featured a fleeting moment and a fluctuating event. Behind these two conflicting interpretations of saints are two different methods: the baroque and the classical, a subjective conception as opposed to an objective one, dynamic intensity opposed to rational discipline” (Rudolf Wittkower)
“St. Domitilla” about 1629 by Domenico De Rossi
It is the only one of the six statues represented while performing an emphatic gesture almost as if advancing
“St. Agnes” about 1630 by Pompeo Ferrucci (about 1566/1637)
“St. Cecilia” about 1633 by Giuliano Finelli (1602/53)
“Fruit of the anti-Bernini period of Finelli, this figure is rather more reminiscent of the feminine heroism of certain saints painted by Pietro da Cortona in that same period of time” (Alessandro Angelini)
Another beautiful “Angel” 1630 by Stefano Maderno

“Sixteenth-century wooden crucifix”
Frescoes with “Stories of Jesus and saints” 1870/74 by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)
Above the altar “Our Lady of Sorrows” canvas by an unknown nineteenth-century artist

Above the altar “Charity of St. Charles Borromeo” and on the sides “St. Andrew” and “St. John the Baptist” by Filippo Tedeschi
On the piers stuccos with “Virtue, putti and a bishop with the model of the church” carved during the renovation of Gaspare De Vecchi in the years 1638/40
In the upper part canvas “St. Charles distributes communion to the plagued” 1664 by an unknown seventeenth-century artist

SACRISTY
Tombstones and paintings from various periods including:
“Sacred Heart of Jesus” 1796 by Pietro Tedeschi (1750/1805) from Pesaro
“Madonna and Child with Sts. Anthony, Catherine and Onuphrius” 1806 by Faustina Concioli

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