Built in
the years 1593/1610. Francesco Capriani aka Francesco
da Volterra (1535/94) began the works but he died after one year and the
church was finished by Girolamo Rainaldi
(1570/1655)
Finished in
1624 according to the design of Francesco da Volterra
In the
niche of the façade “Madonna and Child” 1633 by Francesco
di Cusart
In 1849,
during the period of the Roman Republic, the church was used as a field
hospital for Garibaldi's soldiers
Restored in
1851
The
interior is a reformulation Church
of the Gesù
Spectacular
wooden choir stalls 1756 by Giuseppe Pannini
(about 1720/about 1810), the architect of the Trevi Fountain and the son of the
painter Giovanni Paolo Pannini
1st
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOHN THE BAPTIST
Above the
altar “Beheading of the Baptist” 1619 masterpiece by Gerrit
Van Honthorst aka Gherardo Delle Notti (1590/1656)
“He brings
back Caravaggio's forming light into a light source within the painting, taking
advantage of the shade not as matrix of light, but as a screenplay” (Cesare
Brandi)
2nd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. HYACINTH
On the
altar “Virgin Mary, St. Hyacinth and St. Catherine of Siena” by Antiveduto Grammatica (about 1572/1626)
3rd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. JOSEPH
Above the
altar “Holy Family” by Giuseppe Ghezzi
(1634/1721)
Dome “Glory
of St. Joseph” and on the right “Joseph's Dream” by Giovanni
Odazzi (1663/1731)
On the left
“Marriage of Mary and Joseph” by Antonio David
(1684/after 1735)
RIGHT
TRANSEPT - CHAPEL OF St. TERESA OF AVILA
Designed by Giovanni
Paolo Pannini (1691/1765)
Here the
right foot of St. Teresa of Avila was kept from 1617 until 1905. Now it is in
the Chapel of the Relic
Above the
altar “Ecstasy of St. Teresa” by Francesco Mancini
(1679/1758)
Oval marble
on the left “St. Teresa in Ecstasy” by Filippo Della
Valle (1698/1768) and on the right “St. Teresa pierced
by a cherub” by Michelangelo Slodtz (1705/64)
On the pediment “Two angels” in stucco by G.B. Maini (1690/1752)
In the big lunette two reliefs in stucco with “Visions
of St. Teresa” by Giuseppe Lironi (1689/1749)
1647 Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)
Statues at the sides on the left “St. Joseph” and on the
right “St. Teresa” by Simone Giorgini (active in
Rome 1677/1712)
On the back
“Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel” 1737 by Giuseppe Peroni
(about 1626/63)
Four
paintings on the walls of the presbytery with “Stories of the Christ”:
From right “Baptism”,
“Wedding at Cana”, “The Last Supper” and “Ascension” by the Flemish painter Lucas De La Haye aka Luca Fiammingo (second half of
the eighteenth century) and “Madonna with Child” in 1612 by Giuseppe Cesari aka
Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)
IN THE APSE
“Redeemer Enthroned
with Virgin Mary and saints” second half of the nineteenth century by Fra' Silvestro di S. Luigi
TO THE LEFT
OF THE CHOIR - CHAPEL OF THE RELIC
The right
foot of St. Teresa of Avila has been kept here since 1905
Six
paintings with “Stories of St. Teresa of Avila” by Lucas
De La Haye aka Luca Fiammingo
“Miraculous image of
Our Lady”: according to tradition, in 1592 this icon, located on the outer stairs of a
nearby house, miraculously healed a deformed child after the prayers of his
mother
On the
right “Cenotaph of Cardinal
Prospero Santacroce” by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)
On the left
“Tomb of Livia Prini
Santacroce” by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)
Cardinal
Prospero Santacroce was the first ever to introduce tobacco in Rome. It was
then known as Santacroce's grass
Paintings
on the right “Coronation of the Virgin” and on the left “Immaculate Conception”
by Lucas De La Haye aka Luca Fiammingo
3rd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX
Marble
group “St. John of the
Cross at the foot of the Crucifix” by Pietro Papaleo (1640/1740)
Vault “Angels
and symbols of the Passion”
On the
right “Mocking of Christ” and on the left “Christ fallen under
the Cross” by Filippo Zucchetti (active 1694/1712)
from Rieti
2nd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION
Designed by
Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655)
On the
altar “Death of the Virgin
Mary”
about 1610 by the Venetian Carlo Saraceni
(1579/1620) for the lawyer Laerzio Cherubini, instead of the rejected
masterpiece by Caravaggio, now in the Louvre
“The first
version is now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. (...) For the Roman
painting (...) a restoration carried out in 2013 on the occasion of the
exhibition at Palazzo Venezia made it possible to study in depth this work of
great compositional maturity, albeit with sometimes hasty painting style in the
lower half, with the figures of the apostles and the holy women intensely
pathetic in pure Caravaggio's style, the Virgin Mary solemn and traditionally
looking in the center. The masonry architecture with arches and vaults of the
first version (...) is replaced by a rather conventional riot of angels
rejoicing, of pictorial quality quite different than the lower part, with a
small successful example of still life in the little wreath of flowers. (...)
The modern character looking toward the viewers is perhaps a self-portrait and
one can identify his collaborator in the man next to him” (Maria Giulia
Aurigemma)
On the
sides “Marriage of the Virgin Mary” and “Birth of the Virgin Mary” by Giovanni
Conca (about 1690/1771) cousin of the more famous Sebastiano Conca and
often believed his brother, so tight their bonds of friendship and work were.
He was the father of distinguished painter Tommaso Conca
1st
LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY OF MOUNT CARMEL
Above the
altar “The Virgin Mary
gives the scapular to St. Simon Stock” and in the pediment “Eternal Father”
by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio
(1552/1626)
CONVENT OF
THE DISCALCED CARMELITES
Maybe Matteo Bartolani da Città di Castello (about
1527/about 1598) and Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano
Mascherino (1524/1606) with OLD APOTHECARY on the second floor above the
pharmacy, still operating
It was
opened in the early eighteenth century and supplied the popes and their
families, enjoying privileges and tax exemptions. The furniture and tools of
the eighteenth century are still here today
