Sts. COSMAS AND DAMIAN

SS. COSMA E DAMIANO
Via dei Fori Imperiali 1

Merger of the probable headquarters of the Praefectura Urbis, of part of the complex of the TEMPLE OF PEACE and of a hall of the so-called TEMPLE OF ROMULUS donated by Amalusanta, the daughter of Theodoric (king of Italy 493/526), to Felix IV (526/530) who adapted the old buldings as a church

Dedicated to the twin brothers Cosmas and Damian who were doctors in juxtaposition and antagonism with the nearby Temple of Castor and Pollux on the other side of the Via Sacra
It was a sanctuary for the faithful to invoke healing

The so-called Temple of Romulus was the vestibule and the hall was illuminated by not less than fifteen windows, five on each side, and five on the façade

It was assigned since 1512 to the Third Regular Franciscan Order that still officiates it to this day
Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85) brought here the relics of the two eponymous saints

1597/1602 construction of the side chapels for Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) with deletion of most of the mosaics over the apse

Restored in the years 1626/32 by Orazio Torriani (about 1601/about 1657) (of whom, however, there is only one drawing) and Luigi Arrigucci (1575/after 1643) for Urban VIII Barberini (1632/44)

The floor was raised of 7 m (23 feet), and so the church was divided in two, the upper church and the lower church, to avoid the frequent flooding caused by the floods of the Tiber River

In 1897 excavations were carried out in the Forum and the Basilica became inaccessible from the Via Sacra

FAÇADE ON VIA DEI FORI IMPERIALI
1947 Gaetano Rapisardi (1893/1988)

RUINS OF A LARGE ROOM TO THE LEFT OF THE ENTRANCE
Marble floor of the Forum of Peace and brick wall with holes for the clamps to which were hung the 151 plates of the Forma Urbis

CLOISTER
Frescoes “Deposition from the Cross” and “Franciscan Stories” by Flaminio Allegrini (1587/1663)

CEILING
“Glory of Sts. Cosmas and Damian” 1632 by Marco Tullio Montagna (1594/1649)

WALLS ABOVE THE CHAPELS
“Stories of Sts. Cosmas and Damian” 1635 by Marco Tullio Montagna and Simone Lagi

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
Fresco of the thirteenth century separated from the lower church “Crucifix” where Christ is unusually dressed in a long colobio, i.e. a tunic with short sleeves or sleeveless used by the early Christian monks
In the vault “Stories of the Passion of Christ” 1636 by G.B. Speranza (about 1600/40)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND St. JOHN EVANGELIST
Above the altar “Adoration of the Magi”
On the right “Presentation of Christ in the Temple” 1638 and on the left “St. John Evangelist resurrecting a dead man” 1618 all works by Giovanni Baglione (1566/1643)

3^rd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. ANTHONY
Remarkable “S. Anthony of Padua” by Giovanni Antonio Galli aka Spadarino (1585/about 1653)

4^th RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS
Above the altar “S. Francis in Prayer” copy from an original by Girolamo Muziano

MAIN ALTAR
1638 Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) with worshipped “Madonna and Child aka Madonna of the Health or Madonna of St. Gregory” of the last quarter of the thirteenth century by an anonymous Roman painter with Tuscan influences

TRIUMPHAL ARCH
Mosaic “Revelation, mystic lamb and the seven candlesticks, four angels, symbols of St. Luke and St. John” of the beginning of the sixth century like the apse, although some scholars believe it dates to the time of Sergius I (687/701) for the connection Agnus Dei – Sergius I
Sergio I was in fact the one who introduced the Agnus Dei in the rite of the Mass
Below “Some of the twenty-four elders offering crowns”
Probably at the time of Clement IX Rospigliosi (1667/69) the arch was reinforced with a stuccoed structure that wiped out the mosaics under the arch

APSE
Mosaic “Christ among Sts. Peter and Paul introducing Sts. Cosmas and Damian, accompanied by S. Theodore and Felix IV with the model of the church and the Phoenix in the top left corner” of the early sixth century, at the time of Felix IV (526/530)

“To realize this vast spaciousness the perspective mediation of the architecture is not needed anymore, as in Santa Pudenziana, just the slice of color with the clear figures on the deep blue background. The modulation of light and shade fades and finally disappears: the figures of the mosaic of S. Pudenziana are still lit, these are bright. The sense of space is not cancelled, space is conceived as light and is made with colors. But the colors are symbolic, such as palm trees that allude to the heavenly garden, the blue stripe that alludes to the Jordan River: from the quality, from the sublimated substance of the colors emanates ‘spiritual’ light that fills the space, a space made out ​​of light” (Giulio Carlo Argan)

3^rd LEFT - CHAPEL OF Sts. ROSALIA and ROSA
Above the altar “S. Rosalia”, on the walls “Stories of St. Rose” by an anonymous artist

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. ALEXANDER
Above the altar “Christ crucified” by an anonymous artist of the seventeenth century, maybe Dutch
Walls and vault “Conviction, glory and martyrdom of St. Alexander” about 1655 by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663), son of Flaminio

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. BARBARA
Above the altar “S. Barbara” about 1650 copy by an anonymous artist from the original by Cavalier d'Arpino in S. Maria in Traspontina
On the walls “Stories of St. Barbara” c. 1640 by an anonymous artist influenced by Cavalier d'Arpino