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Santa Maria del Popolo

Santa Maria del Popolo

English name:	Our Lady of the People

Dedication:	Blessed Virgin Mary
Denomination:	Roman Catholic
Type:	Minor basilica
Clergy:	Augustinians

Titular church	Stanislaw Dziwisz

Built:	1099, rebuilt 1472–1479

Architect(s):	Baccio Pontelli, Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Artists:	Raphael, Lorenzetto, Luigi de Pace Caravaggio et.al.
Contact data
Address:	12 Piazza del Popolo 00187 Roma
Phone:	06 36 10 836

Santa Maria del Popolo is on the north side of the Piazza del Popolo, and is dedicated to Our Lady.

1 History
2 Exterior
3 Interior
4 Opening hours
5 External links

HistoryEdit

A chapel dedicated to Our Lady was built here, over the Roman tombs of the Domitii family, by Pope Paschal II in 1099. It was financed by the people of Rome, which explains its appellation. Tradition claims that emperor Nero was buried on the slope of the Pincian hill by the piazza. In 1099, Pope Paschal II had his remains disinterred and thrown into the Tiber at the request of those who lived in the area. The chapel was built were the grave had been.

It was enlarged and consecrated as a church by Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241).

Baccio Pontelli rebuilt it between 1472 and 1479 on the orders of Pope Sixtus IV, making this one of the first Renaissance churches. He also had a monastery built adjacent to the church, and both were given to the Augustinian friars (Eremiti di San Agostino). It was in this monastery that Martin Luther stayed during his visit to Rome in 1511, since he was one of them at the time. In 1561 the parish was established, and the church remains parochial. (It is also a minor basilica.) The Augustinian friars are still in charge of the church and parish, but have changed their name to the Order of St Augustine or Agostininiani. They are not the same thing as the Canons Regular of St Augustine, and are friars not monks.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini carried out alterations to the façade and the interior in the 17th century, on orders from Pope Alexander VII (1655-1667).

The present titular of this church is Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow.

ExteriorEdit

The church has a nave with aisles and external chapels, a central dome and a long thin presbyterium with an apse and a pair of chapels on each side. The roofs are pitched and tiled, and have little dormer windows inserted. The central dome is on an octagonal drum with an arched window in each face, and is hemispherical with eight pitches in lead. There is no lantern, but a spike finial with a ball.

The smple and dignified early Renaissance façade is accessed by a flight of stairs from the level of the piazza, and is of two storeys in white travertine limestone. It is attributed to Andrea Bregno (1418-1506). For the first storey, four thin pilasters in shallow relief and with high plinths support an entablature, and have non-Classical capitals which are rather eroded. They feature pairs of roses. There are three entrances, the main one being much larger than the outer two. The marble doorcase has rolled moulding, and a raised triangular pediment over a lintel decorated with foliage and little putti. The pediment contains a relief of the Madonna and Child within a stylized rainbow. The aisle entrances also have triangular pediments, and short dedicatory inscriptions on their lintels. A pair of large round-headed windows are above these entrances.

The second storey has a pair of derivative Composite pilasters supporting a large triangular pediment. In the centre is a round window, and on the apex of the pediment is a set of stylized mountains from the arms of Pope Sixtus. The outer angles of the pediment have a pair of stone torches looking rather like candlesticks. The outer corners of this storey have the two halves of a broken and separated segmental pediment, and the sweeping curves that connect these to the nave frontage are decorated with caterpillar-shaped garlands.

Two of the external nave chapels have their own domes. The southern one belongs to the Cybo chapel. It is a prominent landmark on the Piazza, and is similar in style to the main dome except that the drum is very low and that there is a lantern with columns and a tiny cupola. The other dome is on the north side belongs to the Chigi chapel, and is not easily seen except from the Viale Giorgio Washington (through the city gate and turn right). It has a shallow tiled saucer dome on a tall circular drum with eight large rectangular windows.

The church's campanile is attached to part of the convent to the right of the main dome. It is a plain square tower in yellow limestone, with an arched soundhole on each side. Very unusually for Rome, it also has a stone spire with a ball on top and four cylindrical pinnacles with conical caps.

Next to the church is a gallery run by the Augustinians. They usually have exhibitions of the works of young Italian artists.

InteriorEdit

The nave and aisles have five bays, and the same number of external chapels on each side. The pair of chapels either side of the presbyterium brings the total number of chapels to fourteen.

The mediaeval vaults in the nave and aisles have been preserved, but Bernini had them decorated with saints and angels in stucco.

To the left of the main door is the tomb of G.B. Gisleni, died 1672. The Polish architect made it himself in 1670. It is a macabre monument, with a skeleton wrapped in a shroud and an inscription on the side saying «Neither alive in this world or dead in the next». Two bronze medallions show the metamorphosis of a larva into a butterfly, a symbol of the death in this world and the new life in the next.

The baptistery has two ciboria by Andrea Bregno. The tombs of the Cardinal Francesco Castiglione (died 1568) and Cardinal Antonio Pallavicini (died 1507) are also here.

The Cappella della Rovere has frescoes by Pinturicchio from 1485-1489, including a Nativity. The same artist decorated the Chapel of St Augustine. On the right side is the tomb of Cardinal Juan de Castro (died 1506), perhaps by Antonio Sangallo the Younger. On the left, the tomb of Cardinal Cristoforo della Rovere (died 1478) is by Andrea Bregno, and that of Cardinal Domenico della Rovere (died 1501) is by Mino da Fiesole.

The next chapel on the right-hand side is the Cappela Cybo, designed by Carlo Fontana for Alderano Cybo between 1682 and 1687. There is a bust of the founder in the chapel. It contains the tomb of Bishop Girolamo Foscari (died 1463), by Vecchietta, as well as tombs of various members of the Cybo family. The altarpiece by Carlo Maratta depicts The Assumption and Four Doctors of the Church. Below the altar is an urn containing the relics of St Faustina, which were brought here from the catacombs.

In the next chapel is the tomb of Giovanni della Rovere, made 1483 by the school of Andrea Bregno. The frescoes are by the school of Pinturicchio, and have recently been restored.

At the end of the right aisle you will find the Cappella Costa with the tombs of Giovanni Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503), and his mother Vannozza Cattanei. Her original funeral plaque was defaced by enemies of the Borgias, and has been moved to the porch of San Marco. The founder of the chapel, Jorge (Giorgio) Cardinal da Costa, is buried on the left. The bronze effigy of Cardinal Pietro Foscari is thought to be by Giovanni di Stefano, but was formerly attributed to Vecchietta. The altarpiece is by the school of Andrea Bregno.

In the right transept is an altarpiece of the Visitation by Giovan Maria Morandi. The angels on the frame are by Ercole Ferrata and Arrigo Giardè. On the right side is the tomb of Cardinal Ludovico Podocatoro (died 1504), made c. 1508.

The Cappella Chigi was designed by Raphael, and has an altarpiece by Sebastiano del Piombo. It was paid for by the banker Agostino Chigi (died 1512) and his brother Sigismondo (died 1526) - both of them are buried in the chapel. Their tombs have an unusual pyramidal form derived from Roman tombs. They were designed by Raphael and made by Il Lorenzetto. Maria Flaminia Princess Odaleschi, a member of the Chigi family who died in 1771, is buried just outside the chapel. The lion on her tomb is attributed to Franzoni. Raphael drew sketches for the mosaics in the vault and for the statues of the prophets Jonas and Elias. The two other statues of prophets, depicting Habacuc and Daniel, are by Bernini. The mosaics were made after Raphael's sketches by Luigi de Pace in 1516. The motif is God the Father as Creator of the Firmament. The statues were made by Lorenzetto. The altarpiece, depicting the Nativity of the Virgin, is by Sebastiano del Piombo, made 1530-1534. The bas-relief on the altar is by Lorenzetto, depicting Christ and the Woman of Samaria. It was originally intended for Agostino Chigi's tomb, but was moved here by Bernini. Above the tombs of the Chigi brothers are lunettes painted by Raffaele Vannoi in 1653.

The Capella Mellini has a monument to Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini by Allesandro Algardi, c. 1630. Also here by the same artist is a bust of Urbano Mellini, to the left of the altar. To the right of the altar is the tomb of Cardinal Pietro Mellini, 1483.

The Cappella Cerasi has two canvases by Caravaggio, the Conversion of Paul and the Crucifixion of St Peter, from 1601-1602. His realism gives the chapel an intense atmosphere. The Resurrection is by Annibale Carraci, painted 1601.

The venerated icon of the Blessed Virgin, known as the Madonna del Popolo, which is enshrined at the high altar was given by Pope Gregory IX in 1231. It has until then been in the treasury of the Lateran. It is said to have been painted by St Luke, but is usually dated to the late 12th or early 13th century. The altar is from 1627. The story of Nero's grave is depicted at the arch above the high altar in 17th century gilded stucco relief.

Behind the sanctuary are the funerary monuments of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, died 1505, and Cardinal Girolamo Basso della Rovere, died 1507, both by Andrea Sansovino.

There is also a vault painted by Pinturicchio in the presbytery - if you see a friar, ask if he will take you there.

The apse was designed by Bramante. The stained glass windows in the apse are the oldest in Rome, made by the French artist Guillaume de Marcillat in 1509. They depict scenes from the childhood of Christ and the life of the Blessed Virgin, and can best be seen from behind the sanctuary.

You will see the coat-of-arms of the architect Pontelli, an oak tree, in several places.

The choir was extended by Bramante between 1500 and 1509, on orders from Pope Julius II. The Augustianian friars sang office there earlier, when there was a larger community here.

In the sacristy is a tabernacle made by Andrea Bregno for Rodrigo Cardinal Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503). There are also monuments of Bishop Rocca (died 1482) and Archbishop Ortega Gomiel of Burgos. The sacristy is opened at request.