St. VITALIS

S. VITALE
Via Nazionale 194

412, consecrated by Pope Innocent I (401/417) as Titulus Vestinae for the donation of the matron Vestina who wanted to help, with the proceeds from the sale of her jewelry, an already existing chapel dedicated to the brothers martyrs Gervasio and Protasio sons of Vitalis to whom it was eventually dedicated at the end of the sixth century

The church is officially known as BASILICA OF Sts. VITALIS, VALERIS, GERVASE AND PROTASE. Valeria was Vitalis’ wife
S. Vitalis was a martyr of the first century from Milan whose worship had however been discredited because the evidence of his martyrdom was considered false

Largely rebuilt about 800 by Leo III (795/816)
Restored 1475 a fundamentis (from the foundations) as the inscription on the lintel of the entrance portal mentions and reduced in size by excluding the two side naves by Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

Granted to the Jesuits in 1598 and fully restored by them with the donation of Isabella Della Rovere who, as Vestina 1200 years before, had sold her jewels

Restorations 1937/38 during which the gap with Via Nazionale was filled with the addition of the staircase by Carlo Forti

Via Nazionale corresponds to the ancient Vicus Longus and it is at the same elevation of the valley between Quirinal Hill and Viminal Hill. The original level of the valley was that of the church

1940/48 restorations that restored the original appearance of the narthex

Here the “Capitoline Venus” of the Capitoline Museums was found

Magnificent WOODEN DOORS with “The Martyrdom of Sts. Vitalis, Gervase and Protase, stories of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier” about 1605 maybe by Giacomo Taurino and Giovanni Paolo Taurino Brothers and Jesuits from Milan

FLOOR and CEILING 1931/34

DECORATIONS OF THE INTERIOR
Designed in 1597 by the Jesuit Father G.B. Fiammeri for Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)

COUNTER FAÇADE
On the left “Martyrdom in Syria of Sts. Vittore and Corona”, on the right “Soldier sprinkled with honey” 1599 by Tarquinio Ligustri (about 1563/1621)

WALLS
Frescoes “Martyrs of saints” and architectural structure painted with “Paired columns, friezes and floral festoons” by Annibale Priori and from 1599 to 1603 by Tarquinio Ligustri
“Prophets” maybe by Andrea Commodi (1560/1638), first master of Pietro da Cortona

RIGHT NAVE
Fresco “The Martyrdom of St. Andrew Tribune”

1^st ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
“Triumph of the holy virgins” about 1598/1600 by G.B. Fiammeri
Fresco “Martyrdom of the Egyptian monk Paphnutius”

2^nd ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
“Assumption of the Virgin Mary” about 1598 maybe by G.B. Fiammeri
Fresco “St. Ignatius of Antioch mauled by lions” with the Colosseum in ruins

PRESBYTERY
On the right “Stoning of St. Vitalis” 1601/03 by Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630)
Plaster statues “St. Ambrose” and “St. Augustine” of the end of the sixteenth century
On the left “Martyrdom of St. Vitalis” 1601/03 by Agostino Ciampelli
Plaster statues “St. Gregory the Great” and “St. Jerome” of the end of the sixteenth century

MAIN ALTAR
In between two black columns of Portoro “Sts. Vitalis, his wife Valeria and their children Gervase and Protase” beginning of the 1600s by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist
On the right “Martyrdom of St. Protase” and on the left “Flagellation of St. Gervase” about 1599 by Andrea Commodi (1560/1638)
Altar front in flowered alabaster of the end of the seventeenth century

APSIDAL BASIN
“Way to Calvary” about 1599 by Andrea Commodi

“A strength of Nordic ancestry pervades the scene. In this representation the human suffering of Christ is focused in the fast pace of the minor episodes - like the sad task of the erection of the crosses - connected, in the intense colors of the landscape and in the changing tones of an exasperated late Mannerism by a spirit of deep participation” (Alfredo Melchiorre Gunter)

WALL OF THE APSE
Above “Angels” maybe by Agostino Ciampelli
In the lower right side “Victory of Gideon over the Midianites” and on the left side “Samson finding honey in the lion's mouth” maybe by Tarquinio Ligustri

LEFT NAVE
Fresco “Martyrdom of St. Clement”

2^nd ALTAR ON THE LEFT
Modern picture of the Sacred Heart
Frescoes “Beheading of St. Januarius”, “Extermination of the 40 Martyrs of Sebaste” and “Martyrdom of Sts. Martinianus, Saturninus and of the two brothers”
“Wooden Crucifix” by an anonymous eighteenth-century artist

1^st ALTAR ON THE LEFT
“Saints Confessors of the Faith” maybe by Giuseppe Penitz