San Bernardo alle Terme 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 abbatial church located on Via Torino 94 in the rione Castro Pretorio of

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 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 ...

History

The church was built on the remains of a circular tower, which marked a corner in the southwestern perimeter wall of the

Baths of Diocletian , alternate_name = it, Terme di Diocleziano , image = Baths of Diocletian-Antmoose1.jpg , caption = Baths of Diocletian, with the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri built in the remains of the baths. , map_dot_ ...

(its pendant is today part of a hotel building, 225 meters southeast from San Bernardo alle Terme). These two towers flanked a large semicircular

exedra An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...

; the distance between the towers attests to enormous scale of the original structure. In 1598, under the patronage of Caterina Sforza di Santafiora, this church was built for the French

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

group, the

Feuillants Feuillant and its plural Feuillants, a French word derived ultimately from the Latin for "leaf", can refer to the following: *Les Feuillants Abbey, also known as Feuillant Abbey ( la, Fulium), a Cistercian monastery in Labastide-Clermont, France *C ...

, under the leadership of Giovanni Barreiro, abbot of Toulouse. Later, after the dissolution of the Feuillants during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, the edifice and the annexed monastery were ceded to the Congregation of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, after whom the church is named.Guida metodica di Roma e suoi contorni
by Giuseppe Melchiorri, Rome (1836); page 314. The current

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 ...

of the ''Titulus S. Bernardi ad Thermas'' is

George Alencherry George Alencherry ( syr, ܡܵܪܝ ܓܝܼܘܲܪܓܝܼܣ ܐܵܠܲܢܫܝܪܝ, Mar Giwargis Alencherry) is the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the ...

Art and architecture

The structure of San Bernardo alle Terme is similar to the

Pantheon Pantheon may refer to: * Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building Arts and entertainment Comics *Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization * ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...

, since it is cylindrical, with a dome and an ''

oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American ...

''. The edifice has a diameter of 22 meters. The octagonal dome coffers recall those of the

Basilica of Maxentius The Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine ( it, Basilica di Massenzio), sometimes known as the Basilica Nova—meaning "new basilica"—or Basilica of Maxentius, is an ancient building in the Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. It was the largest building ...

. The interior is graced by eight stucco statues of saints, each housed in wall niches, the work (c. 1600) of

Camillo Mariani Camillo Mariani (Vicenza 1565–Rome 1611) was a major Italian sculptor whose work bridged the artistic worlds of Venice and Rome, forming a base for the Baroque style of the seventeenth century. Biography Camillo Mariani was born in 1565 in Vic ...

. These are a good example of the

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

sculpture. The Chapel of St Francis is an addition to the ancient rotunda, and contains a sculpture of St Francis by Giacomo Antonio Fancelli. The large canvases in the lateral altars are by

Giovanni Odazzi Giovanni Odazzi (1663 – 6 June 1731) was an Italian painter and etcher of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. Biography Rest on Flight to Egypt He was a pupil of Ciro Ferri, then worked under the guidance of Giovanni Battista Gaulli. He ...

. The German painter

Johann Friedrich Overbeck Johann Friedrich Overbeck (3 July 1789 – 12 November 1869) was a German painter. As a member of the Nazarene movement, he also made four etchings. Early life and education Born in Lübeck, his ancestors for three generations had been Protes ...

, founder of the Nazarene

art movement An art movement is a tendency or style in art with a specific common philosophy or goal, followed by a group of artists during a specific period of time, (usually a few months, years or decades) or, at least, with the heyday of the movement defin ...

, is buried here. The abbot Barreiro is buried left of the main altar; also buried in the church are the cardinals Francesco Gabrielli and Giovanni Bona of Monreale.

List of cardinal protectors

This church is the seat of cardinalatial title of ''S. Bernardi ad Thermas''.

References

* ''Le chiese barocche di Roma'', Federico Gizzi, Newton Compton, Rome, 1994

External links

"San Bernardo alle Terme"
by Nyborg. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernardo alle Terme, San Baroque architecture in Rome Titular churches 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Rotundas in Europe Centralized-plan churches in Italy Churches of Rome (rione Castro Pretorio)