Built in
the first half of the sixth century by Belisarius, the general of the Byzantine
Emperor Justinian (527/565), to make amends for the deposition of Pope Silverio
(536/537), after having freed Rome by the Goths in the year 537 during the
Greek-Gothic war (535/553)
This piece
of news is reported on a plaque of the twelfth century on the outside of the
church
Rebuilt in
the eleventh century and again in the years 1573/75 by Jacopo
Del Duca (about 1520/1604), assistant of Michelangelo Buonarroti, who
also designed the FAÇADE
Formerly
known as S. Maria in Xenodochio or S. Maria in Sinodo. The
current name was introduced in the fourteenth century
It is now
entrusted to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood
Spectacular
paintings “Circumcision”, “Presentation in the
Temple”
and “Assumption”
Frescoes in
the spandrels “Life of the Virgin
Mary”
In the
lunettes “Angels”
In the
triumphal arch stucco relief “Triumph of the Cross” all masterpieces of the years
1669/70 the great painter from Rieti Antonio Gherardi
(1638/1702), probably helped for the lunettes by Giacinto
Calandrucci (1646/1707)
“Within a
deliberately archaic compositional scheme, Gherardi gives life, through many
cultural references, to a complex pictorial synthesis in which he mixes the
Lombard culture, in particular echoes the art of Michelangelo Merisi da
Caravaggio filtered through the interpretation of Mattia Preti, the art of the
early masters, Pier Francesco Mola and Pietro da Cortona, the study of the
great Venetian painting style of the sixteenth and the Bolognese one of the
seventeenth century; to this he added his interest for the work of Giuseppe
Coli and Filippo Gherardi, pupils of Pietro da Cortona and responsible, in
1665, for the decoration of the ceiling of the library of S. Giorgio Maggiore
in Venice” (Ivana Corsetti - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
2nd
ARCH ON THE RIGHT - ALTAR OF OUR LADY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD AND OF THE
MISSIONS
In the arch
seven small paintings “Tales of Christ and of the Virgin Mary” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) from Bologna
3rd
ARCH ON THE RIGHT - ALTAR OF THE CRUCIFIX
“Painted
wooden Crucifix” Venetian work of the sixteenth century
In the arch
five small paintings “Scenes of the Passion of Christ” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
4th
ARCH ON THE RIGHT
On the
altar “Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, Sts. John and Mary Magdalene” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi
“Virgin Mary and
Child”
first half of the fifteenth century by an unknown
artist maybe from Umbria or Marche
SIDE DOORS
OF THE PRESBYTERY
Frescoes on
the right “Pope St. Liberius (352/366)” and on the left “St. Cletus (76/88)”
the legendary third pope after St. Peter and St. Linus
4th
ARCH ON THE LEFT
Above the
altar “Martyrdom of St. Cletus” end of the sixteenth century by the Capuchin
friar Paolo Piazza aka Cosimo Piazza
3rd ARCH ON
THE LEFT - ALTAR OF St. GASPAR DEL BUFALO
Above the
altar “St. Gaspar in glory” 1939 by Guido Francisi
(1886/1945)
Under the
altar urn with the relics of St. Gaspar del Bufalo
“Gilded
bronze statue of St. Gaspar del Bufalo” 1954 by Aurelio
Mistruzzi
2nd ARCH ON
THE LEFT
Above the
altar “St. Mary Magdalene
receives communion from the angel” 1672 by Luigi
Scaramuccia (1616/80) from Perugia
ANTI-CHAMBER
OF THE SACRISTY
“S. Camillo
heals a sick member of the Crescenzi family” by Antonio
Gherardi
GARDEN
Tree
under which S. Filippo Neri loved to retire in prayer
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