Sts. CELSUS AND JULIAN

SS. CELSO E GIULIANO
Vicolo del Curato 12

Consecrated, according to tradition, by Celestine I (422/432) in the year 432 and dedicated to the two martyrs of the fourth century from Antioch

It is mentioned in the sources in 1008 as Ecclesia Sancti Celsi

It was rebuilt in the years 1509/35 to a design by Donato Bramante (1444/1514), which however, was not carried out entirely

Rebuilt again in the years 1733/43 by Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)

“There is no doubt that the masterpiece of De Dominicis is the church of Sts. Celso and Giuliano (...). Taking advantage of the opportunity to design a completely new structure, De Dominicis devised a transverse oval, with seven radiating chapels. The plan is only superficially similar to the transverse oval used three quarters of a century before by Bernini in S. Andrea al Quirinale: De Dominicis, increasing the size of the chapels corresponding to the transverse axis and the longitudinal or ritual axis, deliberately accentuates both these axises, resulting in a blend of oval plan and elongated Greek cross in a way similar to that often implemented by the architects of the late sixteenth century. On the other hand, the conservatism of the spacial concept is mostly displaced by the dynamic sensitivity of the tectonic structure and the happiness of ornamentation applied” (John Varriano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Restored 1868 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Marble urn of the eighteenth century with the relics of Sts. Artemisia and Januaria
Above the altar “S. Cornelius Pope among Sts. Artemisia and Januaria” 1737 by Giuseppe Lapis

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the altar “Mary Magdalene” 1736 by Emanuele Alfani (active 1736/74)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT
Above the altar “Wooden crucifix” first half of the fifteenth century of the school of Lucca
Altar piece “Lady of Sorrows” of the eighteenth-century

MAIN ALTAR
“Christ in glory and Sts. Celsus, Julian, Marconilla (mother of Celsus) and Basilissa (wife of Julian)” 1736/38 one of the first Roman works by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)
On the right “St. Celsus victorious over the pagan priests” 1735 by Francesco Caccianiga (1700/81)
On the left “St. Julian resurrecting the dead” 1736 by Giacomo Triga (1674/1746), a pupil of Benedetto Luti

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Decoration of the nineteenth-century in neo-Renaissance style
Above the altar “Our Lady of the Graces” copy of the end of the sixteenth century of a medieval painting

2^nd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “Bishop Liborio” 1736 by Giuseppe Valeriano (1542/96)

1^st CHAPEL ON THE LEFT
Above the altar “Baptism of Christ” 1736/37 by Giuseppe Ranucci
This was the baptistery chapel until 1930 and a plaque commemorates the baptism which took place here of Eugenio Pacelli later to become Pope Pius XII (1939/58)