1552/53 Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola
(1507/73) for Julius III Ciocchi del Monte (1550/55)
It is also
known as S. ANDREA DEL VIGNOLA (St. Andrew by Vignola) the only case in
Rome and perhaps in the world of a church who took the name of its architect
“He was
perhaps the best known and most representative architect of the late
Renaissance. Central figure in the mannerist phase architecture, Vignola was
characterized by his innovative and modular way of composing the masses through
the application of architectural orders. (...) Simple is the church of St.
Andrew (...), the first with a pseudo-central plan due to the use of the
ellipse instead of the circle” (Enciclopedia Treccani)
“There is no
doubt that Vignola's artistic activity represents a strong reaction against
Michelangelo's whims as a sculptor and architect, as well as his followers'.
Instead of emphasizing unilaterally the sculptural effect of single elements,
Vignola emphasizes again the rhythm and uniformity of the whole. The value of
Vignola's work consists in refusing any personal arbitrary idea in favor of the
general final result where the main feature is the proportionality of the
surfaces. It is obvious that here are shown the same tendencies present in the
Roman style of painting lead by the Zuccari's, which was opposing the arbitrary
sculptural style of Michelangelo followed on by the Tuscan painters” (Hermann
Voss)
Julius III
wanted to build it as thanksgiving in memory of his escape on November 30, the
day of St. Andrew, during the sack of Rome in 1527 from Palace of the
Chancellery, where, still a cardinal, the Landsknechts held him captive
He offered
his guards heavily drugged wine and fled with the help of Prospero Colonna
The popes
never gave the church a pastoral function. It never had a convent or other
ecclesiastical institution, it had no relic or miraculous icon to attract
pilgrims and it was in an area that was virtually uninhabited until modern times
It was
abandoned in the eighteenth century
Restored
1805 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) who
appreciated the austere style of the church close to his neo-classicism. It
inspired his church of S. Maria Porto della
Salute in Fiumicino
It was
restored again in 1826 and 1828
It is the
church of the Coptic community of Rome, the Christians from Egypt
“The Coptic
rite is one of the oldest of Christianity, says Father Filippo, pastor of the
Coptic Catholic community in Rome. During the Mass, sung entirely in Arabic the
life of Jesus is celebrated, from birth, symbolized by the bread, to the
resurrection, represented by the chalice emerging from its container,
progressively freed from the sheets that cover it representing the shroud of
Christ. The faithful always receive communion with both bread and wine” (Sandra
Fratticci - www.piuculture.it)
BELL TOWER
1852
INTERIOR
Frescoes “Stories
of St. Andrew” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta
(1521/80) and Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527/96), both
pupils of Perin del Vaga
MAIN ALTAR
“S.
Andrew thanks God for the privilege of the crucifixion” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta
