Monday, March 11, 2019

St. MARY OF PEACE

1482/84 maybe Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92), Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439/1502) or Leon Battista Alberti (1404/72) for Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)
“The singular union of two antithetical conceptions of space (central - longitudinal) has induced to believe the building being the result of two phases of construction with debate about whether the nave or the octagonal area would have been built first. (...) According to the most recent studies, however, the temple was designed and built as a unit” (Maria Pia D'Orazio)
It was built over the pre-existing church known as S. Andrea ex Cyclarii or Cerclariorum perhaps in relation to the nearby Stadium of Domitian which in the Middle Ages was called Circus
It was also known as S. Andrea de Aquarizaris in relation to water carriers or water vendors who would have chosen it as headquarters
DOME
1520/25 by Jacopo Ungarino from a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)
Restoration and new FAÇADE 1656/58 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) for Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67)
Pietro da Cortona also rearranged the surrounding area urban
“Pietro da Cortona studied the layout of the church in order to provide it with a suggestive power of attraction: in front of the building he created a square which is accessed by a narrow road, so the succession of buildings accompanies the gaze to the sudden vision of the monumental façade. Two large concave side wings, purposefully backward, form an exedra which highlights the protrusion of the semicircular porch: plastic element of clear structural and chromatic dominance. The convex upper part, helps to increase the contrast between curves, foregrounds and backgrounds. The use of light therefore reaches the highest values ​​as a result of vibration of light and shade in its rich coloristic quality. Everything entices to participate in the show: the façade, not anymore a structural limit, determines the routes of the urban plan and invites us to stop and enjoy the square” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
Designed by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520)
High-relief in bronze “Christ carried by the angels” designed by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona and executed by Cosimo Fancelli (1620/88)
On the sides of marble statues “St. Catherine” by Cosimo Fancelli and “S. Bernardino” by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)
Above the arch of the chapel frescoes with “Sibyls: Cumaean, Persian, Phrygian and Tiburtine” 1514 by Raphael for Agostino Chigi
In the lunette above frescoes with “Prophets: David and Daniel on the right, Habakkuk and Jonah on the left” by Timoteo Viti (1469/1523) from a design by Raphael
“The perfect harmonized composition, punctuated by the central cherub and the harmonic mirroring of the figures, typical of Raphael, is full of symbolic and literary references. The most obvious relationship is between the angels carrying the divine message and the Sibyls who will announce it to the world, thus becoming the essential link between the pagan era where they belong to and the imminent Christian one. Their importance in Renaissance iconography is also evidenced by their living presence in the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. Comparison between the Sibyl of Raphael and those of Michelangelo once again emphasize the stylistic differences between the two geniuses of the sixteenth century. Michelangelo's figures are powerful and plastically define their inner strength. Those of Raphael are elegant and lyrical, soft and harmonious as all of his painting is” (DART - Web Site chiostrodelbramante.it)
1525 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546)
Renaissance sculptural ornaments on the external arc and sphinxes, about 1525 by Simone Mosca (1492/1553)
Statues in the niches on either side of reliefs and “Sleeping figures on the Cesi Graves” about 1550/60 by Vincenzo De Rossi (1525/87)
“The architect drew up a complex decorative project of which there are some drawings, inspired by the ancient world: painting, sculpture and stucco overlap from the outside to the inside in a sort of 'horror vacui' proposing religious subjects and classical ornamental motifs redrawn with refined fantasy” (Maria Pia D'Orazio)
In the lunette above the outer arc fresco “Creation of Eve and Original Sin” 1524 by G.B. di Jacopo aka Rosso Fiorentino (1494/1540)
“He was influenced by Andrea del Sarto, but his aspirations were addressed to drama, to movement. The naked body, in its grandiose linear construction, was for him the essential thing; from there Rosso created some unified complexes of figures plastically conceived, that very soon would have surpassed in boldness and grandeur the usual level of Florentine works. His formal imagination has something distinctly sculptural” (Hermann Voss)
In the little vault frescoes by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)
OCTAGONAL TRIBUNE
Designed by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
Decorated with stucco from designs by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona
1st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT IN THE OCTAGONAL TRIBUNE
Above the altar “St. Anthony of Padua” by an unknown artist of the end of the seventeenth or early eighteenth century
Above the altar “St. John inspired by the angel” by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)
In the small vault three small frescoes “Stories of St John the Evangelist” by artists from the workshop of Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino
In the inner sides “Gravestones of the Benigni family”
Above the altar “Baptism of Jesus” 1607 by Orazio Lomi aka Orazio Gentileschi (1563/1639)
On the sides “Preaching of St. John the Baptist to Herod” and “Beheading of St. John the Baptist” by Bernardino Mei (1612/76)
In the DRUM large paintings, from the right:
“Visitation” 1655 by Carlo Maratta (1625/1713)
“Presentation in the Temple” 1524 by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481/1536)
“Birth of the Virgin Mary” by Raffaele Vanni (1587/1673) from Siena
“Death of the Virgin Mary” by Giovanni Maria Morandi (1622/1717)
In the LITTLE DOME
“Eternal Father” by Francesco Cozza (1605/82)
1611 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629)
Statues above the pediment 1616 by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636)
On the altar venerated image of “Our Lady of Peace” of the fifteenth century in a precious frame made out of amethyst and lapis lazuli
In 1480, according to tradition, the image would have spilled blood after having been stabbed by a gambler who had gone mad for having lost a lot of money
Sixtus IV was impressed with the event and he made a vow that if the war, originally caused by the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 involving himself, wouldn't have broken out, he would have built a church in this area dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which he promptly did after the peace of 1482 was signed, and so the church took its present name of St. Mary of Peace
On the sides oil on the wall paintings “Nativity” and “Annunciation” by Domenico Crespi aka Passignano (1559/1638)
Vault, apse and triangles above the arch “Virgin Mary in Glory”, “Eternal Father” and “Prophets Isaiah and David” 1612/14 by Francesco Albani (1578/1660)
Under the arch paintings on slate with “Four female saints” 1611/14 by Lavinia Fontana (1552/1614)
“Wooden cross” of the fifteenth century above a “Marble altar” about 1490 by the school of Andrea Bregno (1418/1503)
In the inner sides on the left “Magdalene” by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96) and on the right “St. Martha” maybe by Ventura Salimbeni (1568/1613)
Above the altar “Adoration of the Shepherds” about 1560/65 by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)
In the small vault three small frescoes “Original Sin” and on the inner sides “St. Sebastian” and “St. Andrew” also by Sermoneta
Since 1548 the patronage of the chapel was of the Capodiferro family
Above the altar “Madonna in Glory with Sts. Jerome and Ubaldo” about 1548/50 by Marcellus Venusti (about 1512/79)
“During the restoration of 1989 the figure of the kneeling youth was recovered and identified with the nephew of Cardinal Mignanelli, the founder of the chapel, a rare example of Venusti as a portraitist” (Maria Pia D'Orazio)
Lunette above the outer arc “Expulsion from Paradise” and “Adam's Family” 1657 by Filippo Lauri (1623/94)
OUTSIDE THE MIGNANELLI CHAPEL
On the right “Tomb of Pietro Paolo Mignanelli” with bust maybe by Valerio Cioli
On the left “Tomb of the Consistory Lawyer Girolamo de Giustini” by Raffaello da Montelupo (about 1505/57)
For Cardinal Ferdinando Ponzetti physician of Pope Innocent VIII Cybo (1484/92)
Important fresco “Madonna with Sts. Catherine and Bridget and Cardinal Ferdinando Ponzetti” 1516 by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481/1536), who also painted in the apse “Stories of the Old and New Testament”
“With the few works of him that have survived, he belonged to the circle of those old school artists in Rome, close to Raphael, who have respectably striven to achieve a 'modern' style, but did not however possess the ability to keep up with the genius from Urbino” (Hermann Voss)
Outside “Two memorials of the Ponzetti family” respectively 1505 and 1509 by artists from the workshop of Luigi Capponi (active end of 1400s/beginning of 1500s)
1500/04 first work in Rome by Donato Bramante (1444/1514) for the Neapolitan Cardinal Oliviero Carafa
“Bramante identifies a principle of proportioning of the whole that would establish in a scientific manner location and dimension of the individual architectural elements in plan and elevation. Having chosen the square, he divides the whole area into a regular grid that sets the dimensions of the building and the position of the supporting structures, even adjusting the heights, so that the two floors are proportionate according to the rule of Vitruvius who wanted the second floor a quarter lower than the ground floor. Bramante ensures close coordination of architectural body parts between them and the entire building, obtaining a result of absolute value” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
Fragments of frescoes with “Life of the Virgin Mary” and “Story of the miracle of Our Lady of Peace” by Nicolò Martinelli aka Trometta (about 1540/1611)
“Tomb of Bishop Giovanni Andrea Bocciaccio” maybe by Luigi Capponi

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