Santi Dodici Apostoli (Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles; la, SS. Duodecim Apostolorum), commonly known simply as Santi Apostoli, is a 6th-century

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 let ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

and titular church and minor basilica 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 ...

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 ...

, dedicated originally to St. James and St. Philip, whose remains are kept here, and later to all Apostles. Today, the basilica is under the care of the

Conventual Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites. Dating back to ...

, whose headquarters in Rome is in the adjacent building. The

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 XII Apostolorum'' is

Angelo Scola Angelo Scola (; born 7 November 1941) is an Italian Cardinal of the Catholic Church, philosopher and theologian. He was Archbishop of Milan from 2011 to 2017. He had served as Patriarch of Venice from 2002 to 2011. He has been a cardinal since 20 ...

. Among the previous Cardinal Priests are

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

, whose tomb by

Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...

is in the basilica, and Henry Benedict Stuart.

History

Built by

Pope Pelagius I Pope Pelagius I (died 4 March 561) was the bishop of Rome from 556 to his death. A former ''apocrisiarius'' to Constantinople, Pelagius I was elected pope as the candidate of Emperor Justinian I, a designation not well received in the Western C ...

to celebrate the victory of

Narses , image=Narses.jpg , image_size=250 , caption=Man traditionally identified as Narses, from the mosaic depicting Justinian and his entourage in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna , birth_date=478 or 480 , death_date=566 or 573 (aged 86/95) , allegi ...

, the general of the Emperor Justinian, over the Ostrogoths, and dedicated by

Pope John III Pope John III ( la, Ioannes III; died 13 July 574), born Catelinus, was the bishop of Rome from 17 July 561 to his death. Family Catelinus was born in Rome to a distinguished family. His father, Anastasius, was a ''vir illustris'', a high-rank ...

to St. James and

Saint Philip the Apostle Philip the Apostle ( el, Φίλιππος; Aramaic: ܦܝܠܝܦܘܣ; cop, ⲫⲓⲗⲓⲡⲡⲟⲥ, ''Philippos'') was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Later Christian traditions describe Philip as the apostle ...

, the basilica is listed as "Titulus SS Apostolorum" in the acts of the synod of 499. Santi Apostoli was ruined by the

earthquake of 1348 The 1348 Friuli earthquake, centered in the South Alpine region of Friuli, was felt across Europe on 25 January. The earthquake hit in the same year that the Great Plague ravaged Italy. According to contemporary sources, it caused considerabl ...

, and left abandoned. In 1417, Pope Martin V, whose Colonna family owned the adjacent

Palazzo Colonna The Palazzo Colonna () is a palatial block of buildings in central Rome, Italy, at the base of the Quirinal Hill, and adjacent to the church of Santi Apostoli. It is built in part over the ruins of an old Roman serapeum, and it has belonged to ...

, restored the church, while the facade was built at the end of the same century by

Baccio Pontelli Baccio Pontelli (c. 1450 – 1492) was an Italian architect, who designed the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican City. Baccio is an abbreviation of Bartolomeo. Pontelli was born in Florence. Passing the phase of artistic formation with Giuliano and ...

. It was frescoed by

Melozzo da Forlì Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school. Biography ...

whose wall-paintings at Santi Apostoli were renowned for their innovative techniques of

foreshortening Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...

and came to be regarded as Melozzo's masterpiece. Pope Clement XI instigated dramatic renovations of the church. Melozzo's frescoes were either destroyed or moved partly to the Quirinal and partly to the Vatican Museums. A new Baroque interior was designed by

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634 or 1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture. Biography There seems to be no proof tha ...

and Francesco Fontana, and was completed in 1714. The church was later restored again, with the facade completed by

Giuseppe Valadier Giuseppe Valadier (April 14, 1762 – February 1, 1839) was an Italian architect and designer, urban planner and archaeologist and a chief exponent of Neoclassicism in Italy. Biography The son of a goldsmith, Luigi (1726–1785), Valadier was born ...

in 1827. The inscriptions found in SS. XII Apostoli, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.

Interior

This church has three naves, divided by a row of Corinthian pillars, supporting the ceiling, on the middle of which is painted in 1707 the ''Triumph of the Order of St Francis'', by Baciccio. There are also frescoes of the ''Evangelists'' by Luigi Fontana. The use of perspective is very good, and the angels appear to come out of the vault. Above the sanctuary is a fresco from 1709 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 ...

, representing the "Fall of Lucifer and his Angels". To the right of the high altar are the tombs of Count Giraud de Caprières (died 1505) and Cardinal

Raffaele Riario Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario (3 May 1461 – 9 July 1521) was an Italian Cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the person who invited Michelangelo to Rome. He was a patron of the ...

(died 1521), tentatively attributed to Michelangelo. To the left is a monument to Cardinal Pietro Riario, by the school of Andrea Bregno and possible designed by Andrea Bregno himself. There is also a Madonna by Mino da Fiesole. On the wall, to the right of the portico of the ancient church, is an antique bas-relief of an eagle surrounded by an oak crown that it holds in its talons. Opposite is the monument of the engraver Giovanni Volpato executed and erected by his friend and countryman Antonio Canova. It consists of a large bas-relief, representing ''"Friendship"'' in the form of a woman weeping before the bust of the deceased Volpato. On a pier of the nave on the right-hand side, near the first chapel, is enshrined the heart of

Maria Klementyna Sobieska Maria Clementina Sobieska ( pl, Maria Klementyna Sobieska; 18 July 1702 – 18 January 1735) a titular queen of England, Scotland and Ireland by marriage to James Francis Edward Stuart, a Jacobite claimant to the British throne. The granddaughte ...

, wife of the Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart. Her tomb is in

St Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a Church (building), church built in the Renaissance architecture, Renaissanc ...

. Her monument is by

Filippo della Valle Filippo della Valle (26 December 1698 – 29 April 1768) was an Italian late-Baroque or early Neoclassic sculptor, active mostly in Rome. Biography Della Valle was born in Florence. Initially apprenticed with Giovanni Battista Foggini in F ...

. Her husband used to pray here every morning. James III was laid in state here himself in 1766, before he was buried with his wife at St Peter's.

Frescoes of Melozzo da Forlì

Basilica dei Santi Apostoli (Rome) - Ceiling

painted, on the ceiling of the great chapel, the ''Ascension of our Lord''. According to

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...

, "the figure of Christ is so admirably foreshortened as to appear to pierce the vault; and in the same manner the angels are seen sweeping through the field of air in two opposite directions." This painting was executed for Cardinal

, nephew of Pope Sixtus IV about the year 1472. During the dramatic renovation of the church, it was removed and placed in the

Quirinal Palace The Quirinal Palace ( it, Palazzo del Quirinale ) is a historic building in Rome, Italy, one of the three current official residences of the president of the Italian Republic, together with Villa Rosebery in Naples and the Tenuta di Castelporzia ...

in 1711, where it is still seen, bearing this inscription: ''""''. Several heads of the apostles which surrounded it, and were likewise cut away, were deposited in the Vatican palace.

Chapels

The twelve chapels in total, with three domed ones on each side, are adorned with marbles and fine paintings; the painting in the first chapel to the right is by Nicola Lapiccola; and that in the next by

Corrado Giaquinto Corrado Giaquinto (8 February 1703 – 18 April 1766) was an Italian Rococo painter. Early training and move to Rome He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, (c1667–1725), escaping the rel ...

. The ''Chapel of St. Anthony'' contains eight fine marble columns, and a painting by Benedetto Luti. The first chapel on the right-hand side is the ''Chapel of the Immaculate''. It has a 15th-century Madonna donated by

Cardinal Bessarion Bessarion ( el, Βησσαρίων; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the so-called great revival of letters ...

(1403–1472). The ''Chapel of the Crucifixion'' on the right-hand side is divided into a nave and two aisles. The 8 columns are from the 6th-century church. The tomb of Raffaele della Rovere (died 1477), brother of Pope Sixtus IV and father of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

, is found in the chapel on the left side of the crypt. It was designed by Andrea Bregno. The confessio was constructed in 1837. During its construction, the relics of St James and St Philip, which were taken from the catacombs in the 9th century to protect them from invaders, were rediscovered. The wall paintings are reproductions of ancient catacomb paintings. An inscription explains that

Pope Stephen IV Pope Stephen IV ( la, Stephanus IV; c. 770 – 24 January 817) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from June 816 to his death.Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

(1769–1774) is buried in the last chapel on the left side, near the door of the sacristy. His Neo-Classical tomb is by Antonio Canova, made in 1783-1787. Besides the statue of that Pope, there are two uncommonly fine figures of ''" Temperance"'' and ''"

Clemency A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

"''. This was the first major work Canova did in Rome. Beyond the sacristy is the chapel of St. Francis, painted by Giuseppe Chiari. On the altar of the following chapel, the second chapel on the left has an altarpiece from 1777 by Giuseppe Cades, depicting

Saint Joseph of Cupertino Joseph of Cupertino, OFM Conv. ( it, Giuseppe da Copertino; 17 June 1603 – 18 September 1663) was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar who is honored as a Christian mystic and saint. According to traditional Franciscan accounts, he was ...

. The two columns of verde antico, green marble, are the largest known in that type of stone. The "Descent of the Cross", on the altar of the last chapel, is a famous work of Francesco Manno. On the second pillar on the left side is the epitaph of Cardinal Bessarion, and a 16th-century portrait of him. His mortal remains were moved here in 1957.

Burials

* Raffaele Riario (died 1521) *

(1769–1774) *

(1403–1472) * Count Giraud de Caprières (died 1505) * Cardinal

Pietro Riario Pietro Riario (1445 – 3 January 1474) was an Italian cardinal and Papal diplomat. Biography Born in Savona, he was the son of Paolo Riario and Pope Sixtus IVs' sister, Bianca Della Rovere. Sixtus nominated him in 1471 bishop of Treviso and card ...

(died 1474) For a short time, the basilica housed the tomb of Michelangelo, before its transportation to the

Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze The ( Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. Th ...

. Upon the death of James Francis Edward Stuart in 1766, his body lay in state here before he was buried with his wife at

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

List of Cardinal-priests since 1059

List of the cardinal titulars of the church * Bernardus (attested in 1059) * Gregorius (by 1102 - 1112) went into schism against

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...

. * Hugo (Ugone d'Alatri) (by 1116 - after 10 November 1121) *

Gregorius Gregorius or ''The Good Sinner'' is a Middle High German narrative poem by Hartmann von Aue. Written around 1190 in rhyming couplets, it tells the story of a child born of the incestuous union of a brother and sister, who is brought up in a mona ...

(restored) (by 6 April 1123 - 1138) He followed Anacletus II in the schism of 1130. * Ildebrandus (1156 - 1178)Angelo Fumagalli, ''Delle Istituzioni Diplomatiche'' (Milano: Al Genio Tipografico 1802), p. 140. * Pandulfus de Masca (1182 - 1201) * Stephanus de Ceccano, O.Cist. (1213 - 1227) * Guilelmus Talliante O.S.B. (1244 - 1250) * Annibale Annibaldi de Molaria O.P. (1262 - 1272) * Gerardo Bianchi O.Cist. (March 1278 - 1281) * Imbertus de Puteo (Dupuis) (18 December 1327 - 26 May 1348) * Pectin de Montesquieu (17 December 1350 – 1 February 1355) * Pierre de La Forêt (23 December 1356 – 7 June 1361) * Bernard du Bosquet (22 September 1368 – 19 April 1371) * Robert de Genève (30 May 1371 – 20 September 1378) *

Jan Očko of Vlašim Jan Očko of Vlašim ( cs, Jan Očko z Vlašimi; Jan VIII as the Bishop of Olomouc) (? – died 1380), from the family of the House of Vlašim, was the second Archbishop of Prague (1364–1378). He was the uncle to his successor Jan of Jenštej ...

(18 September 1378 – 14 January 1380) * Pietro Filargis (12 June 1405 – 26 June 1409) *

Basilios Bessarion Bessarion ( el, Βησσαρίων; 2 January 1403 – 18 November 1472) was a Byzantine Greek Renaissance humanist, theologian, Catholic cardinal and one of the famed Greek scholars who contributed to the so-called great revival of letters ...

(8 January 1440 – 18 November 1472) * Clemente Grosso della Rovere (6 December 1503 – 18 August 1504) * Leonardo Grosso della Rovere (17 December 1505 – 15 September 1508) * Francesco Soderini (15 September 1508 – 29 October 1511) * Pompeo Colonna (13 November 1517 – 28 June 1532) *

Alonso Manrique de Lara Alfonso or Alonso Manrique de Lara y Solís ( Segura de León, Badajoz, 1476 – Seville, 28 September 1538) was a Spanish churchman. Biography Manrique was born in Segura de León in Badajoz, apparently a son from the third marriage of the famou ...

(12 July 1532 – 28 September 1538) * Pedro Sarmiento (15 November 1538 – 13 October 1541) * Miguel da Silva (6 February 1542 – 5 October 1543) * Durante Duranti (9 January 1545 – 24 December 1557) * Markus Sitticus von Hohenems Altemps (10 March 1561 – 15 May 1565) * Marcantonio Colonna (15 May 1565 – 5 December 1580) * Rodrigo de Castro Osorio (20 May 1585 – 18 September 1600) * François de Sourdis (20 December 1600 – 30 January 1606) * Domenico Ginnasi (30 January 1606 – 16 September 1624) *

Desiderio Scaglia Desiderio Scaglia (1567 – 21 August 1639), also known as the ''Cardinal of Cremona'', was an Italian cardinal and bishop. He was a relative of cardinals Girolamo Bernerio, Scipione Cobelluzzi and Francesco Cennini de' Salamandri and was a membe ...

(9 February 1626 – 6 October 1627) * Francesco Maria Brancaccio (9 January 1634 – 2 July 1663) *

Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni (8 June 1623 – 29 June 1698) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal-Nephew to Pope Clement X. Biography Altieri was born Paluzzo Paluzzi degli Albertoni in Rome, the eldest of two sons to Anton ...

(15 March 1666 – 1 December 1681) * Francesco Lorenzo Brancati di Lauria (1 December 1681 – 30 November 1693) * Giorgio Cornaro (7 April 1698 – 10 August 1722) * Benedetto Erba Odescalchi (29 January 1725 – 13 December 1740) * Domenico Riviera (2 January 1741 – 2 November 1752) * Henry Benedict Stuart (18 December 1752 – 13 July 1761) *

(29 March 1762 – 19 May 1769) * Francisco de Solís Folch de Cardona (26 June 1769 – 21 March 1775) * Giovanni Archinto (15 July 1776 – 1 June 1795) * Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana (24 July 1797 – 17 April 1804) * Dionisio Bardaxí y Azara (29 April 1816 – 27 September 1822) * Carlo Odescalchi (16 May 1823 – 15 April 1833) * Francesco Serra Casano (29 July 1833 – 17 August 1850) * Antonio Francesco Orioli (30 September 1850 – 20 February 1852) * Giusto Recanati (10 March 1853 – 17 November 1861) * Antonio Maria Panebianco (23 December 1861 – 21 November 1885) * José Sebastião de Almeida Neto (10 June 1886 – 7 December 1920) * Pietro La Fontaine (7 March 1921 – 9 July 1935) * Ignatius Gabriel I Tappuni (19 December 1935 – 11 February 1965) *

Francesco Roberti Francesco Roberti (7 July 1889 in Pergola – 16 July 1977) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Roman Curia from 1959 to 1969, and was elevated to the cardinalate in ...

(26 June 1967 – 16 July 1977) *

Agostino Casaroli Agostino Casaroli (24 November 1914 – 9 June 1998) was an Italian Catholic priest and diplomat for the Holy See, who became Cardinal Secretary of State. He was the most important figure behind the Vatican's efforts to deal with the persecutio ...

(30 June 1979 – 25 May 1985) *

Giovanni Battista Re Giovanni Battista Re (born 30 January 1934) is an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2001. He was prefect of the Congregation for Bishops ...

(21 February 2001 – 1 October 2002) *

(21 October 2003 – incumbent)

References

Bibliography

* Giovanni Antonio Bonelli, ''Memorie storiche della Basilica costantiniana dei SS. XII.: Apostoli di Roma e dei nuovi suoi ristauri'' (Roma: Tipi del Salviucci, 1879). * Rezio Buscaroli, ''Melozzo da Forlì nei documenti'' (Roma: Reale accademia l'Italia, 1938). * Emma Zocca, ''La basilica dei S.S. Apostoli in Roma'' (Roma: F. Canella, 1959). * Nicholas Clark, ''Melozzo da Forlì: pictor papalis'' (London: Sotheby's Publications 1990). * L. Finocchi Ghersi, ''La Basilica dei Santi Apostoli a Roma tra il XV e il XIX secolo'' (Roma: La Sapienza 1990) issertation* Isabelle Jennifer Frank, ''Melozzo Da Forli and the Rome of Pope Sixtus IV: (1471 - 84)'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1991). * L. Finocchi Ghersi, "Francesco Fontana e la basilica dei Santi Apostoli a Roma," ''Storia dell'Arte'' no. 73 (1991), pp. 332–60. * Lorenzo Finocchi Ghersi, ''La basilica dei SS. Apostoli a Roma: storia, arte e architettura'' (Roma: Artemide, 2011).

External links

Santi Apostoli
in Mariano Armellini, ''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX''. * {{Authority control Apostoli, Santi XII Apostoli, Santi XII 6th-century churches Burial places of popes Apostoli Tombs of apostles