St. MARY IN TRIVIO

S. MARIA IN TRIVIO

Piazza dei Crociferi 49

Built in the first half of the sixth century by Belisarius, the general of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527/565), to make amends for the deposition of Pope Silverio (536/537), after having freed Rome by the Goths in the year 537 during the Greek-Gothic war (535/553)

This piece of news is reported on a plaque of the twelfth century on the outside of the church

Rebuilt in the eleventh century and again in the years 1573/75 by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604), assistant of Michelangelo Buonarroti, who also designed the FAÇADE

Formerly known as S. Maria in Xenodochio or S. Maria in Sinodo. The current name was introduced in the fourteenth century

It is now entrusted to the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood

VAULT

Spectacular paintings “Circumcision”, “Presentation in the Temple” and “Assumption”

Frescoes in the spandrels “Life of the Virgin Mary”

In the lunettes “Angels”

In the triumphal arch stucco relief “Triumph of the Cross” all masterpieces of the years 1669/70 the great painter from Rieti Antonio Gherardi (1638/1702), probably helped for the lunettes by Giacinto Calandrucci (1646/1707)

“Within a deliberately archaic compositional scheme, Gherardi gives life, through many cultural references, to a complex pictorial synthesis in which he mixes the Lombard culture, in particular echoes the art of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio filtered through the interpretation of Mattia Preti, the art of the early masters, Pier Francesco Mola and Pietro da Cortona, the study of the great Venetian painting style of the sixteenth and the Bolognese one of the seventeenth century; to this he added his interest for the work of Giuseppe Coli and Filippo Gherardi, pupils of Pietro da Cortona and responsible, in 1665, for the decoration of the ceiling of the library of S. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice” (Ivana Corsetti - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

2^nd ARCH ON THE RIGHT - ALTAR OF OUR LADY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD AND OF THE MISSIONS

In the arch seven small paintings “Tales of Christ and of the Virgin Mary” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi (1606/80) from Bologna

3^rd ARCH ON THE RIGHT - ALTAR OF THE CRUCIFIX

“Painted wooden Crucifix” Venetian work of the sixteenth century

In the arch five small paintings “Scenes of the Passion of Christ” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi

4^th ARCH ON THE RIGHT

On the altar “Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, Sts. John and Mary Magdalene” by Giovanni Francesco Grimaldi

MAIN ALTAR

“Virgin Mary and Child” first half of the fifteenth century by an unknown artist maybe from Umbria or Marche

SIDE DOORS OF THE PRESBYTERY

Frescoes on the right “Pope St. Liberius (352/366)” and on the left “St. Cletus (76/88)” the legendary third pope after St. Peter and St. Linus

4^th ARCH ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “Martyrdom of St. Cletus” end of the sixteenth century by the Capuchin friar Paolo Piazza aka Cosimo Piazza

3rd ARCH ON THE LEFT - ALTAR OF St. GASPAR DEL BUFALO

Above the altar “St. Gaspar in glory” 1939 by Guido Francisi (1886/1945)

Under the altar urn with the relics of St. Gaspar del Bufalo

“Gilded bronze statue of St. Gaspar del Bufalo” 1954 by Aurelio Mistruzzi

2nd ARCH ON THE LEFT

Above the altar “St. Mary Magdalene receives communion from the angel” 1672 by Luigi Scaramuccia (1616/80) from Perugia

ANTI-CHAMBER OF THE SACRISTY

“S. Camillo heals a sick member of the Crescenzi family” by Antonio Gherardi

GARDEN

Tree under which S. Filippo Neri loved to retire in prayer

St. MARY OF LORETO

S. MARIA DI LORETO

Piazza della Madonna di Loreto 26 

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)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. CATHERINE

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)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE MAGI

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)

MAIN ALTAR

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

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE CRUCIFIX

“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

1^st LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. CHARLES BORROMEO

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

PIUS GATE

PORTA PIA

Piazzale di Porta Pia

INTERNAL FAÇADE

1561/65 by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) for Pius IV Medici (1559/65), after the ancient NOMENTANA GATE of the Aurelian Walls at 75 m (246 feet) away, under which passed the ancient VIA NOMENTANA, had been walled up

Completed after Michelangelo's death by his followers Matteo Bartolani da Città di Castello (about 1527/about 1598) and Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604)

“Coat of arms of Pius IV Medici” by Jacopo Del Duca with “Angels” by Nardo De Rossi, restored by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82)

The tools for barbers stylized in the decoration probably recall the profession of the Milanese family of Pius IV, namesake of the Florentine bankers

The marble was taken from the revetment of the Torre dei Conti, which in turn was taken from the Imperial Fora 

“Compared to the shrine of the Medici Chapel dating back some 40 years earlier, Michelangelo's forms have become even more complex, such as, for example, inserting a curved broken pediment in a triangular uninterrupted pediment. At the same time he shows great interest for the contrasts of texture in the composition, expressed in the smooth wall surfaces of the central part and the rough masonry of the side spans. The inventiveness he shows with the blind windows would be taken up and further developed by the seventeenth-century architects, such as Bernini and Borromini, who will owe a lot to the Roman works of Michelangelo” (Peter Murray)

EXTERNAL FAÇADE

1853/69 Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) who apparently was inspired by an engraving of 1568 that had to be close enough to the original plan by Michelangelo

In the niches “Statues of Sts. Agnes and Alexander” by Francesco Amadori (active in Rome 1836/67), placed by Vespignani at the will of Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) who wanted to remember the danger caused by the collapse of the roof's courtroom in the complex of St. Agnes, when he had visited it in 1855

The statues were damaged by shelling in 1870 and relocated here in 1929

During the skirmish on September 20, 1870 49 Italian Bersaglieri and 19 Papal soldiers were killed

In the rooms formerly used as Customs House there is the small

Museo Storico dei Bersaglieri

Historical Museum of the Bersaglieri

The Bersaglieri are a specialty corps of the Italian Army Infantry, famous for the plumed hat and to be the only military force in the world that in parades performs running and playing the trumpet

The corps was established in 1836 by Carlo Alberto of Savoy on the proposal of captain Alessandro La Marmora

The museum is currently closed for restoration

COURTYARD

Busts of the most distinguished representatives of the Bersaglieri Corps including the “Bust of Enrico Toti (1882/1916)”, a young Roman invalid (he had a leg amputated at the pelvis) who, despite his disability, volunteered for the First World War and was killed after he hurled his crutch against the enemy

LA MARMORA ROOM

“Bust of Alessandro La Marmora” founder of the Bersaglieri Corps and two rifles that he himself had invented

HALL OF HONOR

Various relics including the “Original Proposition” written by La Marmora himself to get from King Carlo Alberto the establishment of the corps

MEMORIAL

Dedicated to the more than 100,000 dead of the Bersaglieri

Saber of Alessandro La Marmora and his portrait

FIRST FLOOR

Memorabilia, documents and memories of the campaigns of the Risorgimento from 1848 to 1866

THREE ROOMS IN THE UPPER FLOOR OF THE SOUTH SIDE

Memorabilia relating to the colonial campaigns

FIRST FLOOR OF THE SOUTH SIDE

Memorabilia relating to the First World War, including the gun that killed at 16 hours on November 4, 1918 at Quadrivio di Paradiso (Crossroads of Heaven), the nineteen year old lieutenant Alberto Riva di Villasanta and his riflemen, the last men to die in the war

GROUND FLOOR OF THE SOUTH SIDE

Memorabilia relating to World War II

The museum also houses a HISTORICAL archive and a LIBRARY with material regarding, of course, the Bersaglieri Corps

RIVALDI PALACE

PALAZZO RIVALDI

Via del Colosseo 61

About 1540/47 Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) as Villa Silvestri for Eurialo Silvestri from Cingoli butler of Pope Paul III Farnese (1534/49) on the area of the VELIA HILL ​​

The palace was built consciously on pre-existing archaeological remains consisting of a housing complex of mid-first century AD, used and refurbished until the fifth century

Renovated in 1586 by Jacopo Del Duca (about 1520/1604), who also rearranged the gardens for Alessandro de' Medici, the future Pope Leo XI (1605)

Restored in about 1612 by Jan Van Santen aka Giovanni Vasanzio (1550/1621)

It belonged to the Gonzaga family (1621/26), to the House of Savoy (1626/60) and then to the Archbishop Ascanio Rivaldi who used it as the Conservatory of the poor women beggars who were employed here working the wool with the name PIO INSTITUTE RIVALDI

The garden was reduced when the Velia Hill was mostly removed in 1932

Many sculptures found here are now at the Vatican Museums and at the Centrale Montemartini

It is being renovated and there are plans to exhibit here the Torlonia collection of statues if it would be finally acquired and pulled out of the basement of Palazzo Torlonia alla Lungara where it is currently sadly stored

ROOM WITH FRESCOED FRIEZE “The Story of Cupid and Psyche” first half of 1500s maybe by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47) or by his pupil Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527/96)