Wednesday, March 13, 2019

St. MARY OF THE STAIRS

S. MARIA DELLA SCALA
Built in the years 1593/1610. Francesco Capriani aka Francesco da Volterra (1535/94) began the works but he died after one year and the church was finished by Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655)

Finished in 1624 according to the design of Francesco da Volterra
In the niche of the façade “Madonna and Child” 1633 by Francesco di Cusart
In 1849, during the period of the Roman Republic, the church was used as a field hospital for Garibaldi's soldiers
Restored in 1851
The interior is a reformulation Church of the Gesù

Spectacular wooden choir stalls 1756 by Giuseppe Pannini (about 1720/about 1810), the architect of the Trevi Fountain and the son of the painter Giovanni Paolo Pannini

1st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Above the altar “Beheading of the Baptist” 1619 masterpiece by Gerrit Van Honthorst aka Gherardo Delle Notti (1590/1656)
“He brings back Caravaggio's forming light into a light source within the painting, taking advantage of the shade not as matrix of light, but as a screenplay” (Cesare Brandi)
2nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. HYACINTH
On the altar “Virgin Mary, St. Hyacinth and St. Catherine of Siena” by Antiveduto Grammatica (about 1572/1626)

3rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH
Above the altar “Holy Family” by Giuseppe Ghezzi (1634/1721)
Dome “Glory of St. Joseph” and on the right “Joseph's Dream” by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)
On the left “Marriage of Mary and Joseph” by Antonio David (1684/after 1735)

RIGHT TRANSEPT - CHAPEL OF St. TERESA OF AVILA
Designed by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765)
Here the right foot of St. Teresa of Avila was kept from 1617 until 1905. Now it is in the Chapel of the Relic
Above the altar “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” by Francesco Mancini (1679/1758)
Oval marble on the left “St. Teresa in Ecstasy” by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768) and on the right “St. Teresa pierced by a cherub” by Michelangelo Slodtz (1705/64)
On the pediment “Two angels” in stucco by G.B. Maini (1690/1752)
In the big lunette two reliefs in stucco with “Visions of St. Teresa” by Giuseppe Lironi (1689/1749)

1647 Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)
Statues at the sides on the left “St. Joseph” and on the right “St. Teresa” by Simone Giorgini (active in Rome 1677/1712)
On the back “Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel” 1737 by Giuseppe Peroni (about 1626/63)
Four paintings on the walls of the presbytery with “Stories of the Christ”:
From right “Baptism”, “Wedding at Cana”, “The Last Supper” and “Ascension” by the Flemish painter Lucas De La Haye aka Luca Fiammingo (second half of the eighteenth century) and “Madonna with Child” in 1612 by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

IN THE APSE
“Redeemer Enthroned with Virgin Mary and saints” second half of the nineteenth century by Fra' Silvestro di S. Luigi

TO THE LEFT OF THE CHOIR - CHAPEL OF THE RELIC
The right foot of St. Teresa of Avila has been kept here since 1905
Six paintings with “Stories of St. Teresa of Avila” by Lucas De La Haye aka Luca Fiammingo

“Miraculous image of Our Lady”: according to tradition, in 1592 this icon, located on the outer stairs of a nearby house, miraculously healed a deformed child after the prayers of his mother
On the right “Cenotaph of Cardinal Prospero Santacroce” by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)
On the left “Tomb of Livia Prini Santacroce” by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)
Cardinal Prospero Santacroce was the first ever to introduce tobacco in Rome. It was then known as Santacroce's grass
Paintings on the right “Coronation of the Virgin” and on the left “Immaculate Conception” by Lucas De La Haye aka Luca Fiammingo

3rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX
Marble group “St. John of the Cross at the foot of the Crucifix” by Pietro Papaleo (1640/1740)
Vault “Angels and symbols of the Passion”
On the right “Mocking of Christ” and on the left “Christ fallen under the Cross” by Filippo Zucchetti (active 1694/1712) from Rieti

2nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION
Designed by Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655)
On the altar “Death of the Virgin Mary” about 1610 by the Venetian Carlo Saraceni (1579/1620) for the lawyer Laerzio Cherubini, instead of the rejected masterpiece by Caravaggio, now in the Louvre
“The first version is now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. (...) For the Roman painting (...) a restoration carried out in 2013 on the occasion of the exhibition at Palazzo Venezia made ​​it possible to study in depth this work of great compositional maturity, albeit with sometimes hasty painting style in the lower half, with the figures of the apostles and the holy women intensely pathetic in pure Caravaggio's style, the Virgin Mary solemn and traditionally looking in the center. The masonry architecture with arches and vaults of the first version (...) is replaced by a rather conventional riot of angels rejoicing, of pictorial quality quite different than the lower part, with a small successful example of still life in the little wreath of flowers. (...) The modern character looking toward the viewers is perhaps a self-portrait and one can identify his collaborator in the man next to him” (Maria Giulia Aurigemma)
On the sides “Marriage of the Virgin Mary” and “Birth of the Virgin Mary” by Giovanni Conca (about 1690/1771) cousin of the more famous Sebastiano Conca and often believed his brother, so tight their bonds of friendship and work were. He was the father of distinguished painter Tommaso Conca

1st LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Above the altar “The Virgin Mary gives the scapular to St. Simon Stock” and in the pediment “Eternal Father” by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio (1552/1626)

CONVENT OF THE DISCALCED CARMELITES
Maybe Matteo Bartolani da Città di Castello (about 1527/about 1598) and Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606) with OLD APOTHECARY on the second floor above the pharmacy, still operating
It was opened in the early eighteenth century and supplied the popes and their families, enjoying privileges and tax exemptions. The furniture and tools of the eighteenth century are still here today

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