San Giuseppe alla Lungara is a church of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

), in the

Rione A (; plural: ) is a neighbourhood in several Italian cities. A is a territorial subdivision. The larger administrative subdivisions in Rome are the , with the being used only in the historic centre. The word derives from the Latin , the 14 su ...

Trastevere, facing on

Via della Lungara Via della Lungara is a street that links Via di Porta Settimiana to Piazza della Rovere in Rome (Italy), in the Rione Trastevere. History and name In the 16th century, Pope Julius II opened the new ''via recta'' ("straight road") that cut throug ...

. It was built under the papacy of

Clement XII Pope Clement XII ( la, Clemens XII; it, Clemente XII; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the ...

in 1734, after a design by

Ludovico Rusconi Sassi Ludovico Rusconi Sassi (28 February 1678 – 18 August 1736) was an Italian architect of the Rococo period. Biography and principal works Born in Rome, he was inducted in 1702 to the Academy of Saint Luke. Ludovico Rusconi is known to have worke ...

; it underwent restoration works during the 19th century, when the dome, that had collapsed, was rebuilt (1872).

Description

The church shows a two-orders façade. The interior has an octagonal plan; the high altar is dominated by the painting "''The dream of St. Joseph''" by

Mariano Rossi Mariano Rossi (7 December 1731 - 24 October 1807) was an Italian painter, persisting in what had become an anachronistic Rococo style amid an ascendant neoclassical environment. His placement legions of figures in a complex scenography and quadr ...

. On the side walls of the little

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

there are two oil paintings within simple marble frames, both by Mariano Rossi: the one on the left shows the "''Adoration of the Magi''" and the one on the right the "''Massacre of the innocents''". The sacristy houses a marble bust portraying Pope Clement XI and a ceiling painting with the ''Triumph of the Church'' by Rossi (1768). The cloister annexed to the church is entrusted to the Congregation of the ''Pii Operai Catechisti Rurali''; it was built in the years between 1760 and 1764 by Giovanni Francesco Fiori and shows a beautiful façade with many decorative features. Above the main gate there is the following inscription: ''“D.O.M. Domum hanc Piorum Operariorum Clementis PP. XIII pietas a fundamentis erexit anno MDCCLXIII”''

Bibliography

Mariano Armellini Mariano Armellini (7 February 1852 – 24 February 1896) was an Italian archaeologist and historian. Born in Rome, he was one of the founders of the Pontifical Academy of Martyrs. He is the author of ''Gli antichi cimiteri cristiani di Roma e d' ...

,
''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Rome 1891
* C. Rendina, ''Le Chiese di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milan 2000, p. 152 * G. Carpaneto, ''Rione XIII Trastevere'', in AA.VV, ''I rioni di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milan 2000, Vol. III, pp. 831–923 * D. Vizzari, ''La chiesa di San Giuseppe alla Lungara'', Ardor, Rome 1986. {{DEFAULTSORT:Giuseppe Lungara Rome Giuseppe alla Lungara Roman Catholic churches completed in 1734 Churches of Rome (rione Trastevere)