Santi Giovanni e Petronio dei Bolognesi is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in central

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. It is named after the Saints

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...

and

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. This church was made the "national church" of the Bolognese in Rome in 1581, by order of

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 ...

. It is located in the Rione of

Regola Regola is the 7th ''rione'' of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. VII, and belongs to the Municipio I. The name comes from ''Arenula'' (the name is recognizable in the modern ''Via Arenula''), which was the name of the soft sand (''rena'' ...

, on Via del Mascherone, across the street and just south of the Gardens behind the

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance List of palaces in Italy#Rome, palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and cur ...

. It is today the "regional church" 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 ...

. Mention of a parish church on the site was mentioned by 1186, and it was attached to the church of

San Lorenzo in Damaso The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simply San Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish and titular church in central Rome, Italy that is dedicated to St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr. It is incorporated ...

. At the Time it had a name of ''Sanctae Thomae de Yspanis'' (of Spain), and later ''San Tommaso dei Muratori'', or ''della Catena'', or ''dei Frati''. The church was in disrepair, when Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni, commissioned the Bolognese architect

Ottaviano Mascherino Ottaviano Nonni (1536 – 6 August 1606), called Il Mascherino, was an Italian architect, sculptor, and painter born in Bologna. Apprentice of Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, he was active in Emilia and in Rome, where he had been living in the rione of ...

to rebuild it as the national church of his countrymen. An adjacent oratory was built in 1601, but later razed. The facade was rebuilt in the late 17th century. The church property was once expropriated but returned to the church in 1940. Most of the artists originally decorating the church were Bolognese, but many of the paintings were removed and some are lost. The painting to the right of the altar about the ''Transit of St Joseph'' was painted by

Francesco Gessi Francesco Gessi (20 January 1588 – 1649) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Bologna. Biography Born to a noble family, his father noticed his attraction to the arts and placed him in the apprenticeship with Den ...

, while the painting of ''Santa Caterina da Bologna'' (now lost) was painted by

Giovanni Giuseppe dal Sole Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole (10 December 1654 – 22 July 1719) was an Italian painter and engraver from Bologna, active in the late-Baroque period. Upon the death of Carlo Cignani, Gioseffo dal Sole became among the most prominent painters in Bolo ...

. The main altarpiece with a ''Virgin, Baby Jesus, and Saints John the Evangelist and Petronio'' was painted by

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a sho ...

; it is now in the

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica or National Gallery of Ancient Art is an art museum in Rome, Italy. It is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome – mostly from before 1800; it does not hold any antiquities. It has two ...

Palazzo Barberini The Palazzo Barberini ( en, Barberini Palace) is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. Today, it houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome. History ...

of Rome. The missing altarpieces are replaced by works from unattributed artists. The tomb of Alessandro Algardi was destroyed. The virtues frescoed on the pennants were by

Pompeo Aldrovandini Pompeo Aldrovandini (1677–1735) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Born in Bologna to a family of painters, he mainly learned from his cousin Tommaso Aldrovandini and was employed much in the decoration of churches, palaces, and the ...

. It is a

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary de ...

. Its

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

s have been: *

Giacomo Biffi Giacomo Biffi (13 June 1928 – 11 July 2015) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna, having served as archbishop there from 1984 to 2003. he was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985. Biograp ...

(1985–2015) *

Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo (; born 10 October 1944) is a Venezuelan prelate of the Catholic Church, who was named Metropolitan Archbishop of Caracas in 2023 after serving as apostolic administrator there for four and a half years. He was au ...

(2016–present)

Sources

Nyborg
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santi Giovanni Evangelista E Petronio

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

1186 establishments in Europe 12th-century establishments in the Papal States Religious organizations established in the 1180s 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Giovanni Evangelista e Petronio