Santa Cristina is a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

-style, Roman Catholic church located on via Repubblica in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, region of

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, Italy.

History

The present church of Santa Cristina and its adjacent monastery were erected at the site of some ruined building and a 10th-century parish church of San Siro. This marked the eastern limit of Parma, and was the name attached to the gate of the town leading to Reggio. With the patronage of the Duchess

Margherita Aldobrandini Margherita Aldobrandini (29 March 1588 — 9 August 1646), was an Italian noblewoman member of the Aldobrandini family and by marriage Duchess consort of Parma and Piacenza during 1600–1622. She was also Regent of both Duchies during 1626–1628 ...

, widow of

Ranuccio I Farnese Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and Piacenza, thus rescinding the ...

, in a bull dated 22 January 1629, the Pope

Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

Barberini entrusted the complex to the Theatine order. In 1649 the Theatines utilized a design which one of its members, Pietro Caracciolo, had developed for the church of San Vicenzo in Piacenza. Work continued until 1662 in the church, and the monastery till 1732. The Theatines remained here until 1805.

Description

The building has three naves divided by pillars with Ionic capitals, with four chapels on each side in front of each of which opens a hemispherical dome. The facade and the apse remained unfinished. The interior was frescoed by the figure painter and Theatine Filippo Maria Galletti and quadratura by and other painting by

Alessandro Baratta Alessandro Baratta (April 16, 1639 – September 1, 1714) was an Italian painter and engraver. Biography He was born and died in Parma. He is known in Parma for quadratura and elsewhere through a topographic engraving of a view in Naples.

. Most of the altarpieces depicting the ''Life of the Virgin'' were painted by Giovanni Battista Venanzi, including the main altarpiece depicting the ''Martyrdom and Glory of Ste Cristina''. The ceiling of the nave is decorated with four scenes from the life of St Cajetan: the ''Virgin appears to a dying St Cajetan'', framed by allegories of Humility and Faith; ''Glory of St Cajetan before the Trinity'', between allegories of Obedience and Temperance; ''Vision of the Virgin and Child to Cajetan during his first Mass'', between Providence and Justice; and finally, ''Cajetan contemplates the signs of the Passion'', between Hope and Charity. In the side walls, on the sides of the windows that illuminate the central nave, are the figures of the apostles and evangelists and below, on the sides of the arches, those of the prophets . Among the other paintings, are a ''Saint Nicolas'' by a follower of

Lionello Spada Leonello Spada (also called ''Lionello Spada'') (1576 – 17 May 1622) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Rome and his native city of Bologna, where he became known as one of the followers of Caravaggio. Biography He fi ...

, a ''Deposition'' by Donnino Pozzi; and the ''Glory of St Joseph with the blessed Theatine Paolo Burali'', painted in 1722 by Francesco Nassi. The choir was added to the central door in 1720, with the organ built in 1764 by Antonio Poncini Negri, damaged in the bombings of 1944 and restored in 1983 by the Tamburini company from Asciano.Derived mainly from Italian Wikipedia entry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cristina Parma Roman Catholic churches in Parma Baroque architecture in Parma 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Theatine churches