St. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY

S. TOMMASO DI CANTERBURY
Via di Monserrato 45

Mentioned in the sources for the first time in the eighth century

Since 1363 it is called SS. Trinità degli Scozzesi (Holy Trinity of the Scots) with adjoining hospice for the British, the Societas Pauperum Anglorum

At the end of the fifteenth century it was dedicated to Thomas Becket (1118/70)
After the English schism it became the refuge of the English believers who escaped the persecution of Henry VIII and in 1538 Cardinal Reginald Pole (cousin of Henry VIII) was elected governor of the institution

It was restored in 1575
It was renovated and equipped with a bell in the years 1680/85

Rebuilt in the years 1866/88 by Luigi Poletti (1792/1869), who was succeeded in 1873 by Pietro Camporese the Younger (1792/1873)
Interior decoration by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82)

“To a careful observer it would be obvious the stylistic diversity between the outside and the inside of the church, typical of the nineteenth-century eclecticism. Here dystonia is present with the treatment of Romanesque exterior 'non-façade' with which contrasts the interior in pure Byzantine style (...) a triumph of gold and color. (...) The church was elaborately frescoed in its entirety by Roman craftsmen, who mostly remained anonymous, according to the style typical of the Nazarenes” (Massimo Alemanno)

MATRONEUM
On three sides with thirty-four tempera paintings “Tales of Catholic England” about 1887 by anonymous roman artists influenced by the purist style of the Nazarenes who also made the sixteen “Medallions with saints” in the nave
On the right side of the matroneum “St. Gregory the Great” by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavaliere d'Arpino (1568/1640)

MAIN ALTAR
“Holy Trinity with Angels, saints and Sts. Thomas of Canterbury and King Edmund” about 1583 by Durante Alberti (1538/1616)

LEFT NAVE
“Tomb of Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge” Archbishop of York d. 1514 maybe by Nicola Marini

IN THE ENDONARTHEX
To the left “Tomb of Thomas Dereham” with allegorical figures “Faith” and “Loyalty” 1739 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) with sculptures by Filippo Della Valle (1698/1768)
“Monument of Martha Swinburne” by the Irish Christopher Hewetson (about 1739/1797)
Martha Swinburne was the daughter of Henry Swinburne and died in 1778 at 10 years of age

English College

CHAPEL OF THE SODALITY OF OUR LADY
End of 1500 for the Society of Jesus

Frescoes in the vault “Assumption of the Virgin Mary among angels and apostles” and two ovals with “Angels” attributed to Andrea Pozzo (1642/1709) who maybe also painted the fragment of fresco with architectural perspectives in the garden

Main altar
Copy of the end of 1500s “Birth of the Virgin Mary” by Sebastiano Luciani aka Sebastiano Del Piombo (1485/1547) in S. Maria del Popolo