The Church of St. Mary of the Priory ( it, Chiesa di Santa Maria del Priorato), also known as St. Mary on the Aventine ( it, Santa Maria in Aventino), is the monastery church of the

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

of the

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

on the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; la, Collis Aventinus; it, Aventino ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the sou ...

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 ...

, and is dedicated to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

. The first church on this site was built in 939, when

Odo of Cluny Odo of Cluny (French: ''Odon'') ( 878 – 18 November 942) was the second abbot of Cluny. He enacted various reforms in the Cluniac system of France and Italy. He is venerated as a saint by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. His feast da ...

was given the Roman palace of

Alberic II of Spoleto Alberic II (912–954) was ruler of Rome from 932 to 954, after deposing his mother Marozia and his stepfather, King Hugh of Italy. He was of the house of the counts of Tusculum, the son of Marozia by her first husband, Duke Alberic I of Spoleto ...

, which was then converted into a

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery. When the monastery was dissolved in the 14th century, the site was acquired by the Knights of Malta, who had the church rebuilt in the 1550s. In 1760, the

papal nephew A cardinal-nephew ( la, cardinalis nepos; it, cardinale nipote; es, Favourite, valido de su tío; pt, cardeal-sobrinho; french: prince de fortune)Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardina ...

and Grand

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of the Knights, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rezzonico, sought to improve the appearance of the buildings. On a limited budget, the church was substantially renovated between 1764-66 according to the designs of

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...

. It is his only architectural work. According to a 2019 account, he "consolidated the structure of the 16th-century church and raised the side walls...restored the vault and designed the decoration for its new aspect". Piranesi also designed the piazza in front of the church, the Piazza dei Cavaliere di Malta. The fairly low wall around the piazza is articulated by panels with paired

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

s with ''

stelae A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

'' positioned between them. The church facade has paired

fluted Fluting may refer to: *Fluting (architecture) * Fluting (firearms) * Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump ''Fluting on the Hump'' is the first album by avant-garde band Kin ...

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

towards its edges to infer a temple front. The vertical linearity of the fluted pilasters act as a foil to enhance the more decorative reliefs of the facade. The reliefs on this facade, the entrance gate and the panels and ''stellae'' in the piazza include emblems and other references to the military and naval associations of the Knights of Malta and the Rezzonico family heraldry. The way in which they are represented indicates Piranesi's fascination with Rome's ancient past as they allude to motifs from

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

and

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

. Piranesi's decoration of the church interior culminates in the very sculptural main

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. The church contains Piranesi's tomb and that of Bartolomeo Carafa (died 1405) designed by

Paolo Romano Paolo Romano, also known as Paolo Tuccone and as Paolo di Mariano di Tuccio Taccone was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and goldsmith. He was active by 1451, and probably died by 1470.Getty ULAN Giorgio Vasari in his '' Lives of the Most Exc ...

. The Grand Priory of Rome (a division Knights of Malta) with support from the Fondazione Roma financed the restoration of both the interior and exterior that lasted from 2015 to 2019.

Other Images

File:Aventino s Maria del Priorato cenotafio Piranesi version.jpg, ''Funeral Monument of Piranesi'' File:Aventino s Maria del Priorato panoplia del soffitto 1050395.JPG, Detail of the central nave vault File:Altar santa-maria-de-aventinae.jpg, High Altar File:Aventino s Maria del Priorato trono magistrale 1050393.JPG, Throne of the Grand Master File:Aventino s Maria del Priorato interno 1050384-5.JPG, Interior File:Priorato Muse Sarcophagus Spinelli Tomb.jpg, alt=, Muse Sarcophagus and Tomb of Bishop Spinelli

Notes

References

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Santa Maria del Priorato sull'Aventino in Roma
Antropologia Arte Sacra {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Del Priorato, Santa Maria delPriorata Rome Maria delPriorata Rome Maria delPriorata Rome Maria delPriorata Rome Maria delPriorata Rome Maria delPriorata Rome Maria delPriorata Maria delPriorata Church buildings of the Knights Hospitaller Neoclassical church buildings in Italy