Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli is a baroque church dedicated to St.

Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...

on Largo Magnanapoli on the slopes of the

Quirinal Hill The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Pala ...

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 ...

History

A group of Dominican tertiary nuns, living in a small house in via Santa Chiara where St. Catherine had died, were looking for larger premises. Lead by Porzia Massimo whose late husband was a Conti,Raissa Teodori
''Porzia Massimo''
in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 72 (2008). from 1574 they successively acquired parts of properties belonging to the Conti family at Magnanapoli to establish their

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

there, financially assisted by

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

. The originally small community thrived and quickly expanded from 27 nuns in 1574 to 108 in 1626,Alberto Zucchi, ''Roma domenicana, note storiche'', Florence 1938, pp. 226 ss. many of whom from important noble families. The construction of a church began in 1608, initially at expense of Cardinal

Scipione Borghese Scipione Borghese (; 1 September 1577 – 2 October 1633) was an Italian Cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legacy is the establ ...

to a design by

Carlo Maderno Carlo Maderno (Maderna) (1556 – 30 January 1629) was an Italian architect, born in today's Ticino, who is remembered as one of the fathers of Baroque architecture. His façades of Santa Susanna, St. Peter's Basilica and Sant'Andrea della Vall ...

, but stopped in 1613. Meanwhile, the monastery acquired the

Torre delle Milizie The Torre delle Milizie ("Tower of the Militia") is a fortified tower in Rome, Italy, located between Trajan's Market in the Imperial fora to the southwest and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, or Angelicum, to the east. Histor ...

in 1619. In 1628, the building of the current church was begun to a design by

Giovanni Battista Soria 220px, Façade of Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli in Rome, with the Torre delle Milizie">Rome.html" ;"title="Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli in Rome">Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli in Rome, with the Torre delle Milizie behind. Giovanni Battista Soria (1 ...

. In 1631 the

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 ...

and two adjacent

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s were completed. Building then came to a halt until the final portion of the church took shape from 1636 and concluded with the facade in 1641. The consecration of the church by cardinal

Alessandro Cesarini Alessandro Cesarini (died 13 February 1542), bishop of Pistoia, was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Life Born in Rome, the son of Agabito Cesarini, he became close to the Medici family, particularly Cardinal Giovanni di Lore ...

took place in 1640. Another Dominican nuns' convent, Santi Domenico e Sisto, is just a stone's throw away. When the Via Nazionale was laid out in the 19th century, the street level was lowered. This raised the church entrance to a considerable height above the street. To allow access, a double staircase leading to the portico was built. Under the stairs is the entrance to the ''Crypt of the Fallen'', constructed in 1934 and dedicated to the priests who were killed in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The crypt contains a bronze crucifix by

Romano Romanelli Romano Romanelli (14 May 1882 – 25 September 1968) was an Italian artist, writer, and naval officer. He is best known for his sculptures and his medals. Romanelli was born in Florence, the son of sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. Romano's wor ...

. Most of the convent was demolished in 1924. The

Military Ordinariate A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military ...

, whose headquarters are adjacent to the church, took over the church, and it is now served by diocesan clergy. A restoration occurred in 1992. File:Roma, chiesa di santa caterina a magnanapoli, esterno 01.JPG, S. Caterina a Magnanapoli, with the

in the background. File:Chiesa di S. Caterina di Siena col' Monastero delle Monache di S. Domenico a Monte Magnanapoli by Giovanni Battista Falda (1667-1669).png,

Engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

of c. 1667-1669 by

Giovanni Battista Falda Giovanni Battista Falda ( Valduggia 7 December 1643 – 22 August 1678 Rome) was an Italian architect, engraver and artist. He is known for his engravings of both contemporary and antique structures of Rome. Biography Falda was sent as a b ...

showing the church at the original street level.

Interior

The interior is a single nave with a barrel vault and three chapels on each side. The rich decoration, although carried out over a long period of time, appears very homogeneous.

Chancel

Main altar

The massive main altar's architecture to the design of the Maltese sculptor

Melchiorre Cafà Melchiorre Cafà (1636–1667), born Melchiorre Gafà and also known as Caffà, Gafa, Gaffar or Gafar, was a Maltese Baroque sculptor. Cafà began a promising career in Rome but this was cut short by his premature death following a work acci ...

is shaped similar to church facades. It creates an elaborate frame for the large marble relief, also by Cafà and finished by the time of his untimely death in 1667, aged only 31.Gerhard Bissell, ''Melchiorre Cafà at S. Caterina a Magnanapoli'', in: Keith Scriberras (ed.), ''Melchiorre Cafà. Maltese Genius of the Roman Baroque, Valletta (Midsea Books) 2006, pp. 84-88. The relief, ''St Catherine in Ecstasy'', shows the saint in a very indeterminate stance on a cloud pushed by an angel and some

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

, all in white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

(some of the flattest parts of the cloud are in plaster). The scene is embedded in a smooth, polychrome background which forms a

concave Concave or concavity may refer to: Science and technology * Concave lens * Concave mirror Mathematics * Concave function, the negative of a convex function * Concave polygon, a polygon which is not convex * Concave set * The concavity of a ...

curve through which it underlines the protagonist's statuesque appearance, seemingly detached from it. Its pieces of differently coloured marble are arranged in such a way that they suggest dematerialised dark clouds opening up to let St. Catherine ascend to heaven. With her floatingly light posture and upwards gaze this ascend seems inevitable, she seems to be drawn heavenwards. Cafà's work is something new in Roman baroque sculpture. It incorporates lessons learned from Bernini, in particular his ''

Memorial to Maria Raggi ''Memorial to Maria Raggi'' is a sculptural monument designed and executed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini, started in 1647 and finished in 1653. The monument is attached to a pillar in a nave of the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerv ...

'' (1647) and the ''

Ecstasy of St Theresa The ''Ecstasy of Saint Teresa'' (also known as ''Saint Teresa in Ecstasy'' or the ''Transverberation of Saint Teresa''; it, L'Estasi di Santa Teresa or ) is a sculptural group in white marble set in an elevated aedicule in the Cornaro Chapel of ...

'' (ca. 1652) as well as the use of a polychrome marble background at the relic balconies in the pillars of the crossing of Saint Peter's (1630s). In addition, Cafà pulls together recently finished or contemporary solutions from within the workshop of

Ercole Ferrata Ercole Ferrata (1610 – 10 July 1686) was an Italian sculptor of the Roman Baroque. Biography A native of Pellio Inferiore, near Como, Ferrata initially apprenticed with Alessandro Algardi, and became one of his prime assistants. When hi ...

of which he himself was an essential part, in particular the ''Statue of St. Catherine'' for

Siena Cathedral Siena Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. It was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, and ...

, ''St. Agnes on a Pyre'' and the concave shaped relief ''Martyrdom of Sant'Emerenziana'' (both in

Sant'Agnese in Agone Sant'Agnese in Agone (also called Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona) is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christi ...

). From these ingredients and his own artistic power, Cafà produces a highly emotive pictorial solution unseen before, neither neatly definable as a relief nor as a statue nor as a picture.

Other works

In the chancel's dome are four medallions depicting Dominican saints surrounded by a multitude of putti, all possibly also by Cafà, and the fresco ''The Glory of the Eternal Father'' by Francesco Rosa in the lantern. The decoration of the chancel was completed in the 18th century with the marble reliefs of St Rose of Lima and St

Agnes of Montepulciano Agnes of Montepulciano (28 January 1268 – 20 April 1317) was a Dominican prioress in medieval Tuscany, who was known as a miracle worker during her lifetime. She is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. Life Agnes was born in 1268 i ...

Pietro Bracci Pietro Bracci (1700–1773) was an Italian sculptor working in the Late Baroque manner. Biography He was born in Rome and became a student of Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari and Camillo Rusconi. His most familiar works are the colossal ''Oceanus' ...

on the side walls (1755). The

tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

in the shape of a ciborium, made from lapis lazuli,

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...

, and gilded bronze, and the high altar on which it sits was designed in 1785 by the architect Carlo Marchionni.

Nave and chapels

The nave's ceiling fresco, ''Glory of St. Catherine'', one of the masterpieces of

Luigi Garzi Luigi Garzi (1638 – 1721) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, whose work displayed heavy influences of the Bolognese painter, Guido Reni. Biography Born in Pistoia. He started learning from a poorly known landscape painter, Salomo ...

, shows St. Catherine arriving in heaven and concludes the narrative started by Cafà. It was first mentioned in 1713 and is retained by some scholars to be from around that period while others date it considerably earlier.Elisa Debenedetti, ''Garzi, Luigi'', in: ''

Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was complet ...

'', vol. 59, de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, p. 496. Garzi had already painted an altarpiece with the subject '' All Saints'' in 1674 for the second chapel on the right. This second chapel on the right was decorated in fresco from 1700-1703 by

Giuseppe Passeri Giuseppe Passeri (12 March 1654 – 2 November 1714) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in his native city of Rome. Born the nephew of the painter Giovanni Battista Passeri, Giuseppe trained in the studio of Carlo Maratta. A ...

who also painted two other altar paintings, ''Three

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

s'' as well as ''Madonna of the Rosary''.Stefan Albl, ''Passeri, Giuseppe'', in: ''

'', vol. 94, de Gruyter, Berlin 2017, p. 400. The latter, one of Passeri's best works, is in the third chapel on the left which also contains the tomb monuments to ''Giuseppe Bonanni'' (1648) and ''Virginia Primi Bonanni'' (1650) by

Giuliano Finelli Giuliano Finelli (1601–1653) was an Italian Baroque sculptor who emerged from the workshop of Bernini. He was born in Carrara to a family of marble masons in a town associated with mining of the stone, and he initially trained with Michelangel ...

. In the first chapel on the right,

Benedetto Luti Benedetto Luti (17 November 1666 – 17 June 1724) was an Italian painter. Early life Luti was born in Florence on 17 November 1666. Career In 1691, he moved to Rome, where he was patronized by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, an en ...

painted a fresco of ''Putti'' in the ceiling and carried out its altarpiece, '' Communion of St.

Mary Magdalen Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

'' (1706-1708).

Corridor

In the corridor leading to the sacristy are remains of frescoes by

Antoniazzo Romano Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili (c. 1430 – c. 1510) was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the latter part of the 15th century. He "made a speciality of re ...

which came from the original house of the nuns in via St. Chiara. Some time after 1637 they became part of the room of St. Catherine in the Magnanapoli convent. When this was demolished the frescoes were relocated to this corridor. Among the saints shown are St

Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (c. 1303 – 23 July 1373) born as Birgitta Birgersdotter, also Birgitta of Vadstena, or Saint Birgitta ( sv, heliga Birgitta), was a mystic and a saint, and she was also the founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after ...

and St

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Caterina A Magnanapoli Caterina a Magnanapoli Roman Catholic churches completed in 1641 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Caterina a Magnanapoli Cathedrals of military ordinariates