Founded,
according to tradition, in the seventh century as a diaconia in the six
quadrilateral rooms built, at the time of emperor Hadrian (117/138 AD) and at
the beginning of the third century AD
The six
rooms included the large PORTICO of the first century AD, with vaulted ceilings
10 m (33 feet) high, which continues at the side of Via del Corso under Palazzo
Doria Pamphilj
A diaconia
was an establishment for the care of the poor and distribution of the church's
charity in the Middle Ages
Mentioned
in the sources for the first time in the year 806
An upper
church was built in 1049
Demolished
and rebuilt in the years 1491/1506 for Pope Innocent VIII Cybo (1484/92) and,
later, for Julius II Della Rovere (1503/13)
BELL TOWER
1580 Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91)
FAÇADE
1658/62 masterpiece by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) for Alexander VII Chigi
(1655/67)
“The
classicizing tendencies already apparent in the simple Doric style of S. Maria
della Pace, grow stronger here, while the complexity of Sts. Luke and Martina
seems to have been reduced to the crystal clarity of some recurrent themes”
(Rudolf Wittkower)
“The
building offers multiple views: from the front, with the leading the rhythm of
the columns inserted in the predominantly flat façade, laterally, with the
depth in foreshortening view of portico and loggia. In both cases you have
vigorous contrasts of light and shadow; his interest for Venetian art prompts
Pietro da Cortona to conceive the façade not only as a plastic entity, but as a
coloristic one” (Giulio Carlo Argan)
“For the
façade of the church of S. Maria in Via Lata (...), Pietro da Cortona had to
give up a scenic architectural style as well as a bend of the façade. It gives
the impression of a severe and monumental classicism, with two floors of
Corinthian colonnades divided by a heavy entablature and framed by a wall with
pilasters. In the motif of the arch in the upper floor, which interrupts the
entablature and fits into a triangular pediment, Cortona was obviously inspired
by the examples of Hellenistic and late Roman architecture (Baalbek, Split,
etc.)” (Giuliano Briganti - Dizionario Biografico degli
Italiani Treccani)
In the ENTRANCE relief “Virgin Mary” by Cosimo Fancelli (1620/88)
INTERIOR
completely renovated for the Holy Year of 1650 by Cosimo
Fanzago (1591/1678)
Restoration
1863 Salvatore Bianchi (1821/84)
“Twelve
ancient columns of cipolin marble” coated with Sicilian jasper
CEILING
Made out of
wood with coffers painted, renovated in 1863 for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti
(1846/78) with “Coronation of the Virgin Mary” by Giacinto
Brandi (1621/91) and illusionistic perspective painted by Viviano Codazzi (1604/70)
COUNTER
FAÇADE
Oval “Baptism
of Jesus” by Agostino Masucci (1691/1758)
In the
church there are ten more ovals with “Stories of the Virgin Mary and Christ”
1720/40 by Agostino Masucci, Pietro de Pietri (1663/1716), Giovanni
Domenico Piastrini (1678/1740)
The organ
dates back to 1652
1st
RIGHT - ALTAR OF St. ANDREW
Maybe by Bernardo Borromini,
Francesco Borromini's nephew
Above the
altar “Martyrdom of St. Andrew” about 1685 by Giacinto
Brandi
2nd
RIGHT - ALTAR OF St. JOSEPH
Above the
altar “St. Joseph and Sts. Nicholas and Blaise” about 1686 by Giuseppe Ghezzi (1634/1721)
CHAPEL TO
THE RIGHT OF THE APSE (Sacrament and Crucifix)
1716 by Domenico Paradisi (active in the first half of the
eighteenth century) for G.B. Pamphilj
“Ciborium
of alabaster and lapis lazuli” by Domenico Paradisi
On the
right “Funerary monument of the painter Drouais” 1789 by Claude Michaillon (1751/99)
“The
monument is important evidence of the severe artistic taste that was forming
among the youth of the Académie de France, and that had already conducted, a
few years before, to the early masterpieces by David. The typology of the
ancient stele, tested here is the premise of some of the most important
novelties by Canova, who much admired this work” (Francesca Aloisi)
On the left
“Monument to Pope Pius IX” 1871 by Ignazio Jacometti (1819/83)
MAIN ALTAR
1636/43 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) who used about twenty
different types of marble and gilded bronze for Francesco D'Aste who wanted to
have here the graves of his father G.B. D'Aste on the left by Giuliano Finelli (1602/53) and of his mother Clarice
Margana on the right by Andrea Bolgi (1606/56)
Above the
altar “Madonna Advocata” painted on board in about 1175, formerly believed to
have been painted by St. Luke himself
In the
apsidal basin “Assumption” by Andrea Camassei
(1602/49) repainted in the nineteenth century
“Wooden
Choir” 1628
CHAPEL TO
THE LEFT OF THE APSE (Sts. Catherine and Cyriacus of Ancona)
Designed by
Domenico Paradisi
Above the
altar “Madonna and Child with Sts. Catherine and Cyriacus of Ancona” by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731)
Traces of
cosmatesque floor
“Tomb of
Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte”, Napoleon's brother, by G.
Tombini and “Tomb of Zenaide Bonaparte”, nephew of Napoleon, with bust
by Pietro Tenerani (1789/1869)
“Monument
of the poet Antonio Tebaldeo, d. 1537” 1776
2nd
LEFT - ALTAR OF St. PAUL
Above the
altar “St. Paul baptizes St. Sabina and her children” about 1726 by Pier Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755)
1st
LEFT - ALTAR OF St. LAWRENCE
Altarpiece “Madonna
and Sts. Anthony of Padua, Lawrence, Praxedes and Venancio” by Pietro de Pietri (1663/1716)
ROOM CLOSE
TO THE SACRISTY
Terracotta
relief “Holy Family” by Cosimo Fancelli
(1620/88)
“Crucifixion”
maybe by Ciro Ferri (1634/89) copy from the
original by Pietro da Cortona in S.
Thomas of Villanova in the city of Castel Gandolfo
SACRISTY
Vault “Assumption”
1733 by Michelangelo Cerruti (1663/1748)
UNDERGROUND
ROOMS
Six
quadrangular rooms of the time of emperor Hadrian (117/138), five of which were
rearranged by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona
in the years 1658/61:
Two
frescoes of his school in the stairwells
“Monument
to Atanasio Ridolfi” in the vestibule of his own design
High relief
“Sts. Peter, Paul, Martial, and Luke” by Cosimo
Fancelli
Cosmatesque
ornamentation of the thirteenth century on a railing
The
paintings of the beginning of the seventh century that were found here are now
in the Balbi Crypt
According
to an ancient tradition, these rooms were one of the Roman houses where St.
Paul stayed and St. Luke would have also lived here
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