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Sant'Agostino
Façade
English name:	St Augustine's
Dedication:	Augustine of Hippo
Denomination:	Roman Catholic
Clergy:	Augustinians
Titular church	Yes, none at present
National church:	No
Built:	1296–1446, rebuilt 1479–1483, major work 1661–1162
Consecrated:	1446
Architect(s):	Giacomo di Pietrasanta, Francesco Borromini
Artists:	Jacopo Sansovino, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Giovanni Lanfranco, Isaia da Pisa
Contact data
Address:	Piazza Sant'Agostino 00186 Roma
Phone:

Sant'Agostino was founded in 1286, when the Roman nobleman Egidio Lufredi donated some houses in the area to the Augustinians. They were asked to erect a church and a convent on the site, and after gaining the consent of Pope Honorius IV (1285-1287), this was done and the convent was built.

However, the church had to wait because of the proximity to the church of St Tryphon in the Via della Scrofa. This church was entrusted to the Augustinians by the Pope. The small church of St Tryphon had several relics, and was a titular church. The title was passed on the Sant'Agostino when that church had been built, but the older church was kept as an annex until it was demolished in 1736.

Orders to build the new church came in 1296, from Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303). Bishop Gerard of Sabina placed the foundation stone. Construction was to last nearly one and a half century. It was not completed until 1446, when it finally became possible to celebrate liturgical functions in it.

The church was rebuilt on a larger scale in the same century, during the pontificate of Sixtus IV (1471-1484). Funding was arranged by William (Guillaume) Cardinal d'Estouteville, who was the papal Camerlengo (chamberlain) and protector of the Augustinian Order. The design was entrusted to the architects Giacomo di Pietrasanta and Sebastiano Fiorentino. Construction began in 1479, and was finished in 1483 - the year that Cardinal d'Estouteville died. The present orientation was arranged by the Cardinal, who was also the head of the Street Authority, Rome's 'planning commission'. The new church faced the ancient Via Recta (traces of this can be seen in Via delle Coppelle, Via S Agostino and Via dei Coronari), which was one of the main access routes to the Vatican Basilica. The church was also near the now demolished Palazzo Apollinare, where the Cardinal lived.

In the 16th century, a lot of work was done in the interior. One of the artists commissioned for the decoration of the church was the young, but already famous, Michelangelo. In the early 16th century, he started painting The Burial of Christ for the church. He never finished it, and the imcomplete work has made its way to England, where it can be seen in the National Gallery in London.

Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590) established it as a cardinalitial title in April 1587. No titular priest was appointed until 1590, when Gregorio Cardinal Petrocchini de Montelbro O.E.S.A. became the first titular priest. The last titular priest was Marcelo González Martín, appointed in 1973, who died in 2004.

In 1660, there was an Apostolic Visitation in the church, and more work was carried out after that - presumably, it became easier to get funding after that important occasion. The plan as it is today is a result of the work done in that period; it was drawn by Francesco Borromini in 1661-1662.

The convent was restored in the 18th century; the work was completed in 1756. By then, the dome and the cross-vault of the church were in a bad state, and it was decided to start restoration work there. Vanvitelli was commissioned to lead the work. As he was also working on the Royal Palace at Caserta, most of the actual work fell to Carlo Murena. The church was closed while restorations were carried out, and was reopened in 1763. A new and more spacious sacristy was built at the same time, and the bell tower was altered.

Another restoration was carried out under Pope Pius IX (1846-1878); it was completed in 1870. The floor was renewed, pillars were encased in marble and frescoes were added in the nave, transept, choir and in the chapels.

The most recent work was carried out in 1998-2000 by the Soprintendenze di Roma per i Beni Ambientali ed Architettonici e per i Beni Artistici e Storici, the authority responsible for among other things the architectural and artistic patrimony of Rome.

[edit] Exterior

The Renaissance façade, one of the first in this style, is built in travertine said to be from the ruins of the Colosseum. It was designed by Giacomo di Pietrasanta. The balustrade on the stairs was added in the 18th or 19th century. The façade has two levels, divided by a trapezoidal strip. On the architrave at the top of the lower level is an inscription dating the façade: GUILLERMUS DE ESTOUTEVILLA EPISCO.OSTIEN.CARD.ROTHOMAGEN.S.R.E. CAMERARIUS FECIT MCCCCLXXXIII, meaning «William d'Estouteville, Bishop of Ostia, Cardinal of Rouen, Camerlengo, built this in 1483». There are three doors, a large one in the middle which is crowned by a tympanon with the arms of Cardinal d'Estouteville held aloft by angels (marble, 15th century), and a smaller one on each side. The façade is divided into three sections by pilasters, with one door in each section. Above each of the ones on the sides, there is a small oculus, a circular window. The side doors have simple marble cornices. Between the doors and the oculi, there are rectangular frames on the otherwise smooth façade. This is reminiscent of Medieval decoration, where the frames would be filled with paintings, mosaic or reliefs. It is likely that the frames here should have been filled, probably with reliefs, but that this was never accomplished due to a lack of funds after the death of the cardinal in 1483. Above the central door is a painting, The Handing Over of the Augustinian Rule. It was added a later date, and has been damaged by the ravages of time. On the upper level, there is a central oculus, much larger than the ones on the lower level. As is common on a church of this date, the upper storey covers only the middle section. To the sides are volutes, which hide the supporting buttresses.

Adjacent to the church, on the right side, is a former Augustinian monastery, once the residence of the order's general. It has been converted into government offices. The Angelica Library, founded in 1605, is still located here. It is named after the founder, the Augustinian Angelo Rocca, who became titular Bishop of Tagaste, Numidia, the same year.

On the left-hand side, a 14th century apse can be seen. The cornice with three fascias of increasing projection is typical of the period. The side entrance was created in the 17th century by rebuilding a side chapel. The door is from the 18th century, as is the circular window above it; they were installed by Vanvitelli. It's also possible to see the bricked-up Renaissance windows, which used to open onto the side chapels. The arms of Cardinal d'Estouteville can be seen on one of the buttresses. Between those are the newer windown, opening onto the left aisle. On the upper level, are traces of windows to opened onto the central aisle.

The bell tower was given its current form in the middle of the 18th century. It was mad lower, a new bell chamber was built and the small drum and dome were added.

[edit] Interior

The church is built on a Latin cross plan. It's 61.4 metres long, 23 metres wide in the nave and 42.5 metres wide in the transept. There are three aisles, separated by two rows of six arches. The central aisle is twice as wide as each of the side aisles. There were originally six chapels in each side aisle, but one on the left was removed to allow a side entrance, and one on the right to accomodate a new sacristy. The design is inspired by Brunelleschi's Church of the Holy Spirit in Florence, which is also owned by the Augustinians.

St Augustine often mentions the allegorical meaning of numbers in his writings, and this is reflected in the church. For instance, the universality of the Church is represented by the number twelve - twelve Apostles, twelve tribes of Israel - and this is reflected in the twelve arches and the twelve side chapels in the original design.

The interior is dominated by the dome. It was part of the 15th century church, but was changed in the 18th century restoration. At that time, it was found that in order to build a more lasting dome, it was necessary to reconstruct the support arches and strengthen the pillars. The new dome was built without a drum (that is, the dome rests directly on the arches, rather than having a drum between the arches and the dome.

A statue by Jacopo Sansovino found in a niche by the entrance is venerated as the Madonna del Parto, the Madonna of Childbirth. It was made in 1516.

The high altar by Gian Lorenzo Bernini is from 1627, and is decorated with a Byzantine icon of the Blessed Virgin, the Madonna of St Luke. The icon was moved here from the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in 1453.

The angels decorating the church are by Bernini. Andrea Sansovino made the statue of St Anne and the Blessed Virgin in the second chapel on the left. There are also other works of art by artists such as Raphael, Caravaggio and Guercino; the latter has painted St Augustine and St John the Evangelist in the right transept.

Caravaggio's work, a painting from 1609 of the Madonna dei Pellegrini, the Madonna receiving pilgrims, can be seen in the first chapel on the left. It caused an uproar because of the lowly and domestic setting and the dirty and tattered pilgrims, elements that we now view as adding to the realism of the painting. Isaiah by Raphael is found on the third pilaster on the left-hand side of the nave; it was painted in 1512.

The Chapel of St Augustine was decorated by Giovanni Lanfranco, and also has a painting of the saint by Guercino.

To the left of the sanctuary, in the Blessed Sacrament chapel, is the tomb of St Monica, St Augustine's mother. Her tomb in the chapel was designed by Isaia da Pisa c. 1450, when St Monica's relics had been found in the ruins of the cathedral of Ostia. The chapel has an altar dedicated to St Peter the Apostle, by Cotignola.