At first it
was just a small chapel built in the fourteenth century
It was
given in 1586 to St. Camillus De Lellis as the seat of the Ministers of the
Sick
In 1621
room was cleared for a new square in front of the church
It was
rebuilt in the years 1631/34 by Giovanni Francesco
Grimaldi (1606/80) from Bologna, who especially worked for the convent
The works
continued with this sequence of architects:
1673 Carlo Fontana
(1634/1714) (dome and vault)
1680/82 Francesco
Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)
1695 Giovanni Antonio
De Rossi (1616/95)
Completed in 1699 by Giulio
Carlo Quadri and Francesco Felice Pozzoni
Designed in
gorgeous Rococo style
1735
attributed to Giuseppe Sardi (1680/1753) but
more likely by the engraver Domenico Barbiani
and the Portuguese Emanuel Rodriguez Dos Santos
It is a
unique example in Rome of application of the repertoire of ornamental Rococo to
exterior architecture
Statues in
the lower order “S. Filippo Neri” and “St. Camillus De
Lellis”
maybe by Paolo Campana
Statues in
the higher order “S. Martha” and “St. Mary Magdalene” 1760 by Joseph Canard
It is the Church of the Abruzzo Region
ABOVE THE
ENTRANCE
Exceptional
ORGAN 1736 by Hans
Conrad Wehrle (beginning XVIII century/1771),
German organ builder designer of numerous organs for churches in Rome and in
the Lazio region
Wooden gilt choir 1729/35 and stuccos done in 1740
VAULT
“Resurrection of
Lazarus” and “Six stories of Mary Magdalene” 1730/32 by the Roman Michelangelo Cerruti (1663/1748)
On the
walls niches “Statues of the Virtues” in stucco:
On the
right “Verecunda”, “Fidelis” and “Lacrimabilis” maybe by Paolo Morelli (active from 1712/d. 1719)
On the left
“Humilis” by Carlo Monaldi (about 1690/1760), “Secreta”
and “Simplex” 1696 by Giuseppe Raffaelli
1st
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS OF PAOLA
It was
rebuilt in 1837 by Antonio Cipolla (1822/74)
Above the
altar “St. Francis of Paola
Resuscitating a Child” 1720 by Biagio Puccini
(1673/1721)
2nd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE SALUS INFIRMORUM
Decoration
1718 by Francesco Ferruzzi
Venerated
image of “Our Lady of Health” by an unknown
sixteenth-century artist
Above the
altar “Angels in flight and the Holy Spirit” maybe by Giuseppe
Ghezzi (1634/1721)
3rd
RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE RELICS OF St. CAMILLUS
1757 Francesco Nicoletti (?/1776)
Above the
altar “St. Camillus has the
vision of the Cross” 1749 by Placido Costanzi (1702/59)
Urn under
the altar 1770 by Luigi Valadier (1726/85) with
relics of St. Camillus De Lellis
Vault “Glory
of St. Camillus” 1744 by Sebastiano Conca
(1680/1764)
Passage
between the two chapels “Wooden statue of Mary Magdalene” by an unknown fifteenth-century artist
TO THE
RIGHT OF THE MAIN ALTAR - CHAPEL OF THE CROSS
1764 Francesco Nicoletti (?/1776)
On the
altar “Wooden cross” of the end of the fifteenth century which, according to
tradition, he spoke to St. Camillus De Lellis
1757 Francesco Nicoletti
Above the
altar “St. Mary Magdalene
in prayer” 1698 by Michele Rocca (about 1675/1751)
from Parma
On the
sides bas-reliefs: on the left “The three Marys at the Tomb” and on the right “Noli
Me Tangere” by Francesco Gesuelli
Sculptural
group on the pediment “Angels supporting the cross” by Pietro
Pacilli (1716/after 1769)
“Preaching
of Jesus” 1732 by Aureliano Milani (1675/1749)
ARC BETWEEN
APSE AND DOME
“Dinner at
the Pharisee's house” 1730/32 by Michelangelo Cerruti
(1663/1748)
“Cerruti
could not be part of the Academy of St. Luke. He opposed it in fact when, for
the approval of a new statute that introduced a rigid and binding control of
the members of the Academy on all the most important works in the field of fine
arts, a dispute arose for the defense of the rights of the artists not
belonging to the Academy. (...) Integration and adaptation of figurative
painting with the real architecture of the church can be seen in the decoration
of the ceiling and the arch of the tribune in St. Mary Magdalene, carried out
in 1732 at the behest of father Costantini, provincial of Rome, with a wealth of
inventions and innovations. We mention, among other things, the solution of
fresco in the tribune in which the Supper in the Pharisee's house is
represented as if it were the figuration of a tapestry held and expanded by
angels in flight” (Michele Cordaro - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
“Holy
Trinity in Glory” and spandrels “Doctors of the Church” 1739 by Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774)
TO THE LEFT
OF THE MAIN ALTAR - CHAPEL OF THE RELICS
Above the
altar “Death of St. Joseph” by Antonio Gagliardi
3rd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. NICHOLAS OF BARI
1673 Carlo Fontana
Covered in marble in 1696 by Mattia De Rossi (1637/95) and Francesco
Carlo Bizzaccheri (1655/1721)
Above the
altar “Christ, Virgin Mary
and St. Nicholas of Bari” 1698 by G.B. Gaulli
aka Baciccio (1639/1709)
“Using the
brightness of Veronese, Baciccio cleared out Roman painting of the seventeenth
century, opposing his terse and brilliant color solutions not only to the
anachronisms, but also to whatever more advanced one could see in Rome at that
time. It would suffice to enter today in any Roman church where there is an
altar piece or a fresco by Gaulli to notice the incredible difference in terms
of values of light and colors compared to what one could see around. This
quality of light and colors, mind you, is not the one of the Thirties, from the
Veneto region, inspired by Titian's bodied and dense matter that dissolves the
form, but it is substantiated by smooth and unwrinkled surfaces designed with
drawing, which, for their uniformity of matter, are even more vivid” (Francesco
Petrucci)
On the
sides “Miracles of St. Nicholas” by Bonaventura
Lamberti (about 1653/1721)
2nd
LEFT - CHAPEL OF St. LORENZO GIUSTINIANI
Above the
altar “St. Lawrence
Giustiniani adoring the Child” 1704 by Luca Giordano
(1634/1705), his last masterpiece
“The speed
with which he produced his great improvisations was proverbial, and he was soon
nicknamed 'Luca fa presto' (Luca is quick). He considered the whole past an
open book for his own purposes. He studied Dürer as well as Lucas Van Leyden,
Rubens as well as Rembrandt, Ribera as well as Veronese, Titian as well as
Raphael and he was able to paint in any way he chose, but he never copied. He
was inspired by all traditions rather than being tied to one and his personal
style is always unmistakable. Evidently the purpose of painting for him was
fun. In Rome and Venice his influence became extraordinarily strong, and on an
international scale the effect of his art cannot be overstated” (Rudolf
Wittkower)
Above the
pediment of the altar fresco “Angels in Flight” by Girolamo
Pesci (1679/1759)
On the left
“Tomb of Maffeo Farsetti” 1704 by Giuseppe Mazzuoli
(1644/1725)
1st
LEFT - CHAPEL OF THE ASSUMPTION
Above the
altar “Assumption” by Girolamo Pesci who also
painted the angels on the ceiling
1739 Francesco Rosa (active from 1674/d. 1687) in rococo style,
one of Rome's most beautiful
Closets at
the corners 1740 by Domenico Barbiani
In the
vault “Glory of Sts.
Camillus and Filippo Neri” by Girolamo Pesci
On the
first floor CHAPEL OF St. CAMILLUS with his relics 1732 by Emanuel Rodriguez Dos Santos,
in the place where St. Camillus died
