St. BLAISE OF THE LOAF OF BREAD

S. BIAGIO DELLA PAGNOTTA

Via Giulia 64

Earlier than the tenth century and maybe built on an ancient temple dedicated to Neptune

Restored in 1072 for Alexander II (1061/73)

Rebuilt 1730 by Giovanni Antonio Perfetti (?/1754)

Dedicated to the saint from Sabaste, modern Sivas in Turkey. In the fourth century AD it was part of Armenia

According to tradition, St. Blaise was martyred in 316 AD, although this date contrasts with the Edict of Constantine (306/337) which had proclaimed freedom of worship in 313. Perhaps he was the victim of local persecutions carried out at the behest of Licinius (306/324), who was co-emperor first and rival of Constantine later

Before being beheaded he was tortured with iron combs used for carding wool

He is the protector of diseases of the throat for one of his miracles: he saved a child who was choking on a fish bone

Armenian national church from the sixteenth century when Armenian priests, every 3 February, feast day of the saint, used to distribute here small loaves of blessed bread

INTERIOR

Renovated in 1832 by Filippo Navone (active first half of the nineteenth century) who raised the floor and built a semicircular apse as well as the arch on the two Ionic columns

CEILING rebuilt in 1933

Reliquary with throat fragment of St. Blaise

RIGHT ALTAR

“St. Gregory baptizes Tiridates III, the first Christian king of Armenia” by an anonymous of the nineteenth-century moved here in 1832 from the church of S. Mary of Egypt built in the Temple of Portunus

Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity and declare it as state religion in 301

MAIN ALTAR

“Miracle of St. Blaise who saves the child choking on a fish bone” by an eighteenth-century anonymous artist

On the right “St. Blaise child” and on the left “St. Blaise supported by an angel” by an anonymous artist of the nineteenth-century

St. BERNARD AT THE BATHS

S. BERNARDO ALLE TERME

Via Torino 94

Built in the years 1598/1602 for Caterina Nobili Sforza S. Fiora, nephew of Julius III Del Monte (1550/55), using one of the four corner towers of the ancient enclosure of the Baths of Diocletian (284/305) built from 298 to 306 AD

The tower was maybe a Sphaeristerium, a gym for some ball game, or a room for reading and studying

Restorations for the consolidation of the dome were carried out in 1857: the lantern of the sixteenth century that burdened too much the ancient dome was taken off

It is dedicated to the Burgundian St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090/1153) the founder of the Cistercian Order

It is also known as the Church without Windows

DOME (diameter 22 m - 72.2 feet)

Along the perimeter “Eight statues of saints” in stucco over 3 m (10 feet) tall, about 1599/1602 masterpiece of Camillo Mariani (1567/1611)

From the right: “St. Augustine”, “St. Monica”, “St. Mary Magdalene”, “St. Francis”, “St. Bernard”, “St. Catherine of Alexandria”, “St. Catherine of Siena” and “St. Jerome”

“He was born in Vicenza and in the study of Rubini he had the inestimable advantage of going through the discipline of the school of Alessandro Vittoria. Shortly after his arrival in Rome he made these noble figures of monumental saints, his masterpieces. The Venetian touch is visible to all but it was strengthened with a new emphasis and a fine psychological insight, so that these works raise well above the average contemporary production and are linked to the intensity of the transitional style in painting in which we find crystallized the true spirit of the great reformers” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“Camillo Mariani was instrumental in the formation of another great sculptor, Francesco Mochi, who, some scholars speculate, might have been a young assistant of the master in S. Bernardo. Mindful of the painting of the Venetian masters such as Veronese, Titian and Tintoretto, Mariani here realizes 'the achievement of monumentality combined with naturalness, the bright distinction of matter combined with a noble stylization' (Nava Cellini). It is a style that would leave a deep imprint in the Roman scene and it would be a source of inspiration and reflection for many seventeenth-century sculptors, including Bernini himself” (Sergio Lombardi)

ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

“Vision of St. Bernard” about 1705 by Giovanni Odazzi (1663/1731), a pupil of Baciccio

In 1718 Odazzi was commissioned to add a lunette in the upper part of the painting, which was originally rectangular. The addition is well connected and the painted angels help to give a buoyancy to the composition

“Odazzi, faithful follower of Baciccio, shows here that he was influenced by the master in the figures of angels and in the bright colors he used, as well as in the setting of the theatrical scene” (Sergio Lombardi)

The painting is flanked by two beautiful columns in verd antique (ancient green) marble from the Baths of Diocletian

ON THE 5th PILLAR ON THE RIGHT

“Tomb of S. Giovanni della Barrière” 1626 with painting maybe by Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661)

BEHIND THE MAIN ALTAR

At the sides canvas “Death of Joseph” second half of seventeenth century by anonymous and “Madonna of Loreto” beginning of seventeenth century by Carlo Saraceni (1579/1620)

UNDER THE 3rd NICHE ON THE LEFT

“Monument of the sculptor Carlo Finelli (1785/1853)” by Rinaldo Rinaldi (1793/1873)

Carlo Finelli from Carrara was part of a family of sculptors including the great Giuliano Finelli precious collaborator of Bernini in the extraordinary group of Apollo and Daphne in the Galleria Borghese

ALTAR ON THE LEFT

“Mystic Marriage of St. Robert with the Virgin Mary” 1710 by Giovanni Odazzi

In 1730 Giovanni Odazzi was commissioned to add, just like in the opposite painting, a lunette in the upper part

This painting, like the one in front, is flanked by two beautiful columns in verd antique (ancient green) marble from the Baths of Diocletian

To the right of the Presbytery

CHAPEL OF S. FRANCIS

Family chapel of the Nobili, built in 1647 for Vincenzo Nobili, grandson of Caterina Nobili Sforza

“Statue of St. Francis in Ecstasy” about 1647 by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli (1619/71), who also sculpted the statue of the Nile in the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona

On the left “Tomb of the painter Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789/1896)” 1869 by the German Karl Hoffmann (1815/86), his friend and collaborator

On the walls “Busts of Nobili family members: Vincenzo junior, Pierfrancesco, Sforza, Roberto and Vincenzo” who had initiated the construction of the chapel, 1647/49 by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli who also made the rich stucco decoration of the ceiling that frames the painting “St. Francis in Glory with Angels” and “Angels with Instruments of the Passion” in the square panels 1897 by Mario Adami

The altars on the left and on the right exhibit considerable seventeenth century frontals in scagliola, a type of fine chalk that mimics inlaid marble

St. BERNARDINO OF SIENA

S. BERNARDINO DA SIENA

Via Panisperna 256

1625 for Cardinal Giangarzia Mellini who also paid to build the monastery for the Franciscan Tertiaries Nuns

INTERIOR

Renovations in 1823 and in the years 1963/65

DOME

“Glory of S. Bernardino and Franciscan saints” about 1639 by Bernardino Gagliardi (1609/1660)

“In the busy and successful career as a fresco painter in various churches in Rome that the painter, who came to Rome from Umbria in the wake of fellow Umbrian Avanzino Nucci, began in the fourth decade of the seventeenth century as a lesser exponent of Classicism in Baroque, the frescoes of S. Bernardino represent an important episode, witness of Gagliardi's effort of adapting to the new Roman style of Domenichino, Lanfranco and Sacchi” (Angela Catalano)

1^st RIGHT - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCIS

Above the altar “St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata” first half of 1600s by the Bolognese Emilio Savonanzi (1580/1660)

2^nd RIGHT - CHAPEL OF THE PASSION

Above the altar “Christ Carrying the Cross between the Virgin Mary, Veronica and St. John the Evangelist” maybe by Giovanni Alberti (1558/1601)

MAIN ALTAR

Canvas “S. Bernardino in Glory” 1736/38 by Antonio Amorosi (1660/1738)

On the right “Preaching of St. Bernard”, on the left “Funeral of S. Bernardino”, on the apse “Assumption of Mary”, on the pilasters “Saints”, under the arch “Virtues” and, outside the arch, “Prudence” and “Fortress” 1663 by Clemente Maioli (1634/73) from Ferrara, follower of Pietro da Cortona close to the style of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli

2^nd LEFT - CHAPEL MAFFEI

Above the altar “Immaculate Conception” 1717 by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721)

“The canvas, with compositional influence from Carlo Maratta, shows a softening of the first way of the artist, more expressive and with more contrasts of light” (Angela Catalano)

1^st LEFT – ATTAVANTI CHAPEL

Above the altar “S. Verdiana and Mr. and Mrs. Attavanti” second half of the sixteenth century by an anonymous sixteenth-century artist

ON THE DOOR OF THE SACRISTY

“Eternal Father and an angel with Sts. Anthony, Elizabeth of Hungary and Agatha” 1617 by Giovanni Baglione (1566/1643)

ON THE RIGHT SIDE DOOR

“Blessed Elena and Francis in adoration of the Cross” 1631 by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist