Santa Maria di Loreto is a 16th-century church in

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 ...

, central

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 re ...

, located just across the street from the

Trajan's Column Trajan's Column ( it, Colonna Traiana, la, Columna Traiani) is a Roman triumphal column in Rome, Italy, that commemorates Roman emperor Trajan's victory in the Dacian Wars. It was probably constructed under the supervision of the architect Ap ...

, near the giant Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II.

History

After the

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

of 1500, the association of bakers (Sodalizio dei Fornai) received permission from

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

to build a church at this site. Construction of this church began in 1507 under

Donato Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style ...

, carried out by Andrea Sansuini and completed by

Antonio da Sangallo the younger 250px, A model of the Apostolic Palace, which was the main project of Bramante during Sangallo's apprenticeship. 250px, The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the Rome.html"_;"title="Trajan's_Market_in_Rome">Trajan's_Market_in_Rome. image: ...

. The design called for a square first story and an octagonal second story built in travertine and brick. It was one of the earliest domed square churches built on classical forms. Sangallo's facade is a maturer, more ornate version of the facade of the

Palazzo Baldassini Palazzo Baldassini is a palace in Rome, Italy, designed by the Renaissance architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in about 1516–1519. It was designed for the papal jurist from Naples, Melchiorre Baldassini. The ground floor was used for sho ...

. A second dome and lantern were added by Jacopo del Duca around 1575. The church was built atop an earlier 15th century chapel, which contained an icon of the Virgin of Loreto, hence the church retained the icon and acquired the title. It is most notable for the adjacent erection of a similarly domed, but pale marble, 18th-century church

Santissimo Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano The Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary at the Trajan Forum ( it, Santissimo Nome di Maria al Foro Traiano, la, Ss. Nominis Mariae ad forum Traiani) is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, Italy. This church should not be confused with the church ...

, giving the semblance of twin churches.

Interior

The interior decoration is best noted for the statuary, including a statue at the entrance by

Andrea Sansovino Andrea dal Monte Sansovino or Andrea Contucci del Monte San Savino (1529) was an Italian sculptor active during the High Renaissance. His pupils include Jacopo Sansovino (no relation). Biography He was the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte S ...

and around the altar, four angels by

Stefano Maderno Stefano Maderno (''c.'' 1576 – 17 September 1636) was one of the greatest Roman sculptors of the early 17th century. Biography Information about Maderno's life is scarce and often contradictory. He was long supposed to have been a brothe ...

, and representations of four martyred virgin and Roman saints, apt companions to a church dedicated to the transposed house of the Virgin Mary's

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

. The four martyrs in order of completion were

Saint Agnes Agnes of Rome () is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. St. Agnes is one of several virgin martyrs com ...

Pompeo Ferrucci Pompeo is both a masculine Italian given name and a surname, derived from the Roman " Pompeius". Notable people with the name include: Given name: * Pompeo Aldrovandi (1668–1752), Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church *Pompeo Aldrovandin ...

, Saint Flavia Domitilla by

Domenico de Rossi Domenico de' Rossi (1659–1730) was an Italian sculptor and engraver. In 1709 Domenico inherited the printshop of Giovanni Giacomo de' Rossi, by the church of Santa Maria della Pace, the largest and most long-lived publisher of the Roman baroqu ...

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia ( la, Sancta Caecilia), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She b ...

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 Michelange ...

, and the famous early

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 ...

statue of

Santa Susanna The Church of Saint Susanna at the Baths of Diocletian ( it, Chiesa di Santa Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano) is a Roman Catholic parish church located on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, Italy. There has been a titular church associated to its site ...

by Francois Duquesnoy.Harris, Ann Sutherland. ''Seventeenth-century Art and Architecture'', Laurence King Publishing, 2005, p. 96
One chapel is covered by mosaics by

Paolo Rossetti Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American ...

and was frescoed by the studio of

Federigo Zuccaro Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541August 6, 1609), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad. Biography Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino ( Marche). His doc ...

. The main chapel was built by

Onorio Longhi Onorio Longhi (1568–1619) was an Italian architect, the father of Martino Longhi the Younger and the son of Martino Longhi the Elder. Born in Viggiù, Lombardy, Longhi began as assistant for his father, and inherited the latter's commission a ...

and frescoed by

Cavaliere d'Arpino Giuseppe Cesari (14 February 1568 – 3 July 1640) was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and called ''Cavaliere d'Arpino'', because he was created ''Cavaliere di Cristo'' by his patron Pope Clement VIII. He was much patroniz ...

References

External links

{{Commons, Santa Maria di Loreto
Santa Maria di Loreto

''Studio di Pittura scoltura et architettura nelle Chiese di Roma''
(1674), Filippo Titi. Page 316-317. Maria Loreto Renaissance architecture in Rome Maria Di Loreto, Rome Maria Loreto