Begun in
1507 according to a project maybe by Donato Bramante
(1444/1514) and immediately interrupted
Continued
since 1522 by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo
the Younger (1483/1546) and consecrated in 1534 with a temporary roof
It was
built for the Guild of Bakers founded in 1507 at the behest of Pope
Julius II Della Rovere (1503/13)
It is still
the Roman Church of the Bakers
FAÇADE finished in the years 1550/52
Completion
of the SIDES, DOME and BELL TOWER 1573/76 by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604)
“The drum
and the dome are one of the major achievements of late fifteen hundreds
architecture in Rome. In this work the architect inverts the correlation
between base and dome, bringing the latter to emerge from the former: the base
has therefore become then element generating shapes and its architectural
frames lead the eye in a path from the bottom to the top. The ascending
character of the vision is reinforced by the decorative elements until the
radial explosion of the lantern described by the neoclassical critic Francesco
Milizia as a 'cage of crickets'. With the small bizarre bell tower the
architect processes in a mannerist sense the precepts of Michelangelo, his
great master, creating an architectural mechanism free and of high quality”
(Luigi Gallo)
Restructuring
and sacristy 1638/40 by Gaspare De Vecchi
(active 1628/1643)
Restoration
1867/75 by Luca Carimini (1830/90)
Frescoes in
the DRUM “Stories of Mary”, in the DOME “Prophets, sibyls,
saints and angels” and in the COUNTER FAÇADE “Virgin Mary of Loreto carried by the angels”
1870/74 by Cesare Mariani (1826/1901)
Above the
altar “St. Aloysius Gonzaga” by an unknown nineteenth-century
artist
Mosaics “Dove
of the Holy Spirit, cherubs, Sts. Catherine, Francis and John the Evangelist”
1594 by Paolo Rossetti (?/1621)
Above the
altar “Virgin Mary of the Rosary with Sts. Dominic and Catherine” by an unknown nineteenth-century artist
Frescoes
and paintings “Adoration of the Magi, saints, angels, Trinity and the
commissioners” 1586 by Niccolò Circignani aka
Pomarancio (about 1520/98)
1628/30 Gaspare De Vecchi,
reworked by Luca Carimini
Painting on
board “Virgin Mary of
Loreto among Sts. Roch and Sebastian” maybe of the end of the fifteenth century by Marco Palmezzano (1459/1539)
At the
sides of altar canvas: on the right “Death of the Virgin
Mary”
and on the left “Nativity of the
Virgin Mary” 1630 by Giuseppe Cesari detto Cavalier d'Arpino
(1568/1640)
SIX STATUES
From the
right:
“Angel” 1630 by Stefano
Maderno (1560/1636)
“St. Susanna” 1630/33 masterpiece by François Duquesnoy (1597/1643)
“In this
most pure figure, the model of which was the ancient Capitoline statue of
Urania, he reached with great delicacy of expression a wonderful blend of
naturalness and the idea of antiquity” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti,
Antonio Giuliano)
“He wished
to portray not the individual fate of a saint, but the matter-of-factly
condition of holiness. Consequently he represented this saint in a state of
mental and physical rest instead of choosing a transitory moment as Bernini
used to do. Duquesnoy gave shape to an ideal norm with the same compelling
logic with which Bernini had featured a fleeting moment and a fluctuating
event. Behind these two conflicting interpretations of saints are two different
methods: the baroque and the classical, a subjective conception as opposed to an
objective one, dynamic intensity opposed to rational discipline” (Rudolf
Wittkower)
“St. Domitilla” about 1629 by Domenico De Rossi
It is the
only one of the six statues represented while performing an emphatic gesture
almost as if advancing
“St. Agnes” about 1630 by Pompeo Ferrucci (about 1566/1637)
“St. Cecilia” about 1633 by Giuliano Finelli (1602/53)
“Fruit of
the anti-Bernini period of Finelli, this figure is rather more reminiscent of
the feminine heroism of certain saints painted by Pietro da Cortona in that
same period of time” (Alessandro Angelini)
Another
beautiful “Angel” 1630 by Stefano
Maderno
“Sixteenth-century
wooden crucifix”
Frescoes
with “Stories of Jesus and saints” 1870/74 by Cesare
Mariani (1826/1901)
Above the
altar “Our Lady of Sorrows” canvas by an unknown
nineteenth-century artist
Above the
altar “Charity of St. Charles Borromeo” and on the sides “St. Andrew” and “St.
John the Baptist” by Filippo Tedeschi
On the
piers stuccos with “Virtue, putti and a bishop with the model of the church”
carved during the renovation of Gaspare De Vecchi in the years 1638/40
In the
upper part canvas “St. Charles distributes communion to the plagued” 1664 by an
unknown seventeenth-century artist
SACRISTY
Tombstones
and paintings from various periods including:
“Sacred
Heart of Jesus” 1796 by Pietro Tedeschi
(1750/1805) from Pesaro
“Madonna
and Child with Sts. Anthony, Catherine and Onuphrius” 1806 by Faustina Concioli
