The Dominican Church (), also known as the Church of St. Maria Rotunda, is an early

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

parish church and

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in the historic center of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria. It is the third church built on the same site in the course of time.

History

The first church on this site was built in 1237 by the newly arrived Dominicans on a parcel of land allotted in 1225-1226 by the duke Leopold VI. The church was enlarged between 1240–1270 and a new choir was added in 1273. A series of fires caused the construction of a new Gothic church between 1283 and 1302. The nave was extended between 1458 and 1474. This church consisted of a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with five cross vaults, and two aisles. This church was heavily damaged during the first siege of Vienna by the Turkish army in 1529. The choir was demolished and the nave was partly taken down. The building became more and more dilapidated during the next period. The new-found self-awareness of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

didn’t allow any more such a sorry state for a church. In 1631 the Dominicans started to build a new oblong church with a dome, following the plan of Jacopo Tencala, architect of Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein. The master builders were Jacopo Spacio, Cipriano Biasino and Antonio Canevale. They introduced to Vienna the

style of Italy. The first stone was laid by emperor Ferdinand II on 29 May 1631. The structural work was finished in 1634. The church was consecrated on 1 October 1634. The finishing touch was finally given in 1674. The church was elevated to the status of basilica minor in 1927 under the name “Rosary Basilica ad S. Mariam Rotundam”.

Facade

The impressive facade was built in the Roman-Lombardic style with dominant columns, supporting the cornice. Its architecture goes back to early Baroque churches in Rome, that in turn, rely on the facade of the Dominican church

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The ch ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. Above the portal one can see the statues of St.

Catherine of Siena Caterina di Jacopo di Benincasa (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), known as Catherine of Siena, was an Italian mystic and pious laywoman who engaged in papal and Italian politics through extensive letter-writing and advocacy. Canonized in 1461, ...

and Agnes of Montepulciano, kneeling at the feet of Our Lady, patron saint of this church. On both sides of the portal there are niches with (on the left) the statue of Ludwig Bertrand and (on the right)

Saint Rose of Lima Rose of Lima, TOSD (born Isabel Flores de Oliva; 20 April 1586 24 August 1617) (, ), was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic in Lima, Peru, Spanish Empire, who became known for both her life of severe penance and her care of the pover ...

. On top of the facade is a large rectangular

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

with a dormer window, crowned by a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

Interior

The church consists of a long central

, flanked by three side chapels on each side, a

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and an

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. The nave is approximately 25 m long, 14 m wide, and 22.10 m high. The large

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

reaches a height of 23.80 m. Above each side chapel is gallery with a shallow balcony.

Frescoes

The ornate interior is imposing by its architecture and the exquisite stucco in the decorations. Semi-circular windows allow a soft light on the

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es of the

barrel-vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed ceiling. The ceiling frescoes are the work of

Matthias Rauchmiller Matthias Rauchmiller (also known as Matthias Rauchmüller) was a painter, sculptor and ivory carver active and influential in Vienna after 1675. Born on 11 January 1645 in Radolfzell (near Lake Constance, in Germany), he died in Vienna on 5 Februa ...

(1675), showing in their color and composition the influence of

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

. They depict in 46 scenes the life of Our Lady. The influential painter

Carpoforo Tencalla Carpoforo Tencalla (or Tencala) (10 September 1623 - 9 March 1685) was an influential Swiss-Italian Baroque painter of canvases and frescoes. He is little studied and has come only recently to the attention of art critics and historians. He introd ...

decorated at the same time the apse around the main altar with two historic paintings of Christian victories, ascribed to power of the Rosary : the

Battle of Muret The Battle of Muret (Occitan: Batalha de Murèth), fought on 12 September 1213 near Muret, 25 km south of Toulouse, was the last major battle of the Albigensian Crusade and one of the most notable pitched battles of the Middle Ages. Althoug ...

(1213) and the

Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval warfare, naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League (1571), Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of t ...

(1571). Tencala also added some paintings on the walls of the side chapels. The fresco in the dome replaced an earlier work by Nikolaus van Hoy (1674) when the new dome was built in 1820. The fresco dates from 1836 and is by Franz Geyling. It shows ''Our Lady and Child'' under the golden light of the Trinity, surrounded by kneeling Angels. The medallions in the four supporting columns are by an unknown artist, depicting three popes from the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

(

Innocent V Pope Innocent V (; c. 1225 – 22 June 1276), born Pierre de Tarentaise, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 January to 22 June 1276. A member of the Order of Preachers, he acquired a reputation as an effective ...

Benedict XI Pope Benedict XI (; 1240 – 7 July 1304), born Nicola Boccasini (Niccolò of Treviso), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 October 1303 to his death on 7 July 1304. Boccasini entered the Order of Preachers in ...

and

Pius V Pope Pius V, OP (; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (and from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 January 1566 to his death, in May 1572. He was an ...

) and St. Antony of Florence. The large statues in these columns show us the four original

Doctors of the Church Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribut ...

(Jerome, Gregory the Great, Augustine and Ambrose), all sculpted by a local artist.

Main altar

The apse is dominated by the imposing red-marbled wooden

retable A retable is a structure or element placed either on or immediately behind and above the altar or communion table of a church. At the minimum, it may be a simple shelf for candles behind an altar, but it can also be a large and elaborate struct ...

in Baroque style from 1839-1840 by

Carl Roesner Carl Roesner (19 June 1804, Vienna - 13 July 1869, Steyr) was an Austrian architect. Life He studied architecture in Vienna and Rome. In 1826, he began his work as a proofreader for lectures at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and, in 1835, beca ...

, replacing the dilapidated old altarpiece. It surrounds the large canvas (720 cm x 430 cm) by

Leopold Kupelwieser Leopold Kupelwieser (17 October 1796, Markt Piesting – 17 November 1862, Vienna) was an Austrian painter, often associated with the Nazarene movement. Biography He was the son of Johann Baptist Georg Kilian Kupelwieser (1760–1813), co-owne ...

(1840), flanked by red Corinthian columns. It depicts the establishment by Pope Pius V of the ''Feast of the Rosary''. The tabernacle dates from 1885 and is made of gilded brass.

Pulpit

The gilded

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

dates from 1700 and was made by

Matthias Steinl Matthias Steinl (otherwise Steindel, Staindle, Steindl or Stinle) (c. 1644–18 April 1727) was an Austrian painter, architect and designer, and one of the country's best known Baroque art, Baroque sculptors. Together with Johann Bernhard Fis ...

. It was modeled on an engraving by

Jean le Pautre Jean Le Pautre or Lepautre (baptised 28 June 1618; died 2 February 1682) was a French designer and engraver, the elder brother of the architect Antoine Le Pautre, the father of the engravers Pierre Le Pautre and Jacques Le Pautre, and the unc ...

(1618–1682), that now can be seen at the Martin von Wagner Museum in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, Germany. The

antependium An ''antependium'' (from Latin ''ante-'' and ''pendēre'', "to hang before"; : ''antependia''), also known as a pulpit fall, parament or hanging, or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: ''pallium al ...

shows a blue globe surrounded by a rosary and below, in the medaillon, the motto "toto diffunditur orbe" (spread all over the world). On the canopy of the pulpit the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

, represented in the form of a dove, is surrounded by a halo of light and angels in elegant poses.

Transept chapels

* Altar of

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic, (; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilians, Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he a ...

: painting by

Tobias Pock Tobias Pock (or Poch, Bock or Pockh) (1609 - 12 June 1683) was an Austrian Baroque painter from Swabian descent, a pioneer of sacral art. Pock was born in Konstanz, where his father worked as a master at the Cathedral. Tobias Pock probably was ...

(1655), depicting the saint adoring the Trinity. The statue on the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

is a copy of the '' True image of St. Dominic'' in the pilgrimage church of Soriano, Calabria, Southern Italy. The niches contain the statues of (below) St. Leopold and St. Florian, and (above) St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Barbara. Archduchess Claudia Felicitas, second wife of

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; ; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia, and List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Rom ...

, was buried at the age of 22 in the crypt of this chapel. She died on 2 September 1676. * Altar of

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (; ; ) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was a saint of Bohemia (a western part of what is now the Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts st ...

, situated against the pillar of the crossing. The painting is by an unknown master. The four statues (Antony of Padua, Vincent Ferrer, the apostle Peter, and Severin von Noricum) were sculpted by

Lorenzo Mattielli Lorenzo Mattielli (1678/1688 ? – 27 or 28 April 1748) was an Italian sculptor from the Late Baroque period. His name has also variously been written as ''Matielli'', ''Mattiely'', ''Matthielli'', and ''Mathielli''. He supplied statuary for pala ...

in 1724. At the top of the volutes, resting on the capitals of double columns flanking the statues, he added female figures, allegories of Faith and Hope.

Side chapels

Each of the six chapels is dedicated to a saint, portrayed in the painting above the altar. The altars are the rather unpretentious work of workshops. The figures are of diverse quality. *Chapel of St.

: situated next to the pulpit. The painting, ascribed to

François Roettiers François Roettiers (or Roëttiers, Roettier, Rottier, Rottiers) (1685–1742) was a Flemish Baroque painter, sculptor, medallist and engraver from the early 18th century, who worked mainly in Austria. He was born in London on 3 November 1685 in ...

(1685–1742), depicts the ''Mythical wedding of the saint with Christ''. The paintings on the side walls are by the same artist. *Chapel of

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

: The paintings of the altarpiece and the side walls are by the Flemish painter

Frans Luycx Frans Luycx or Frans Luyckx (; before 17 April 1604 – 1 May 1668) was a Flemish painter who became the leading portrait painter at the imperial court of Emperor Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand III in Vienna. He is best known for hi ...

(1638 and 1649–1650) *Chapel of

: the original altarpiece of this Dominican saint by an

anonymous master In art history, an anonymous master is an Old Master whose work is known, but whose name is lost. Renaissance Only in the Renaissance did individual artists in Western Europe acquire personalities known by their peers (some listed by Vasari in hi ...

(1671) was replaced in the second half of the 18th century by a ''Coronation of Our Lady'' * Chapel of

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

(mother of Mary) : the altarpiece with St. Anna, St. John the Baptist and St. Barbara has a long time wrongly been ascribed to

* Chapel of St.

Vincent Ferrer Vincent Ferrer, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ; ; ; ; ; 23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419) was a Kingdom of Valencia, Valencian Dominican Order, Dominican friar who gained acclaim as a preacher, missionary and logician. After supporting Antipope Benedic ...

: . The magnificent paintings are again by

. The altarpiece (1726) shows the saint bringing back to life a dead person. The angels with trumpets above the painting refer to the mission of this preacher of penitence. The high-quality bronzed statues of St. Jerome and Mary Magdalen were produced by the workshop of

Johann-Georg Bendl Johann-Georg Bendl (; before 1620 – 27 May 1680 in Prague), or Jan Jiří Bendl (), was a Bohemian Baroque sculptor, who worked mainly in Prague. He was the son of fellow sculptor Georg Bendl (–1656) and is considered the first important Boh ...

. The gilded wrought-iron fencing of the chapel is the work of the monks Martin Eker and Raymund Schrob. *Chapel of St.

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and Virginity, virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a ...

: The altarpiece is by

, depicting realistically the martyrdom of the saint. The side walls were painted by Frans Leuyx

The organ

The main body of the organ was made in two parts at about 1750 according to the traditions of the Vienna organ builders of that time. The gilded concave-convex balustrade of the

rood loft The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

is a typical example of the transition between Baroque and

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

. The organ with 34 registers dates from 1895–1896 and was renovated in 1991. The painting under the rood loft is by an anonymous master from 1642 and depicts the glorification of the rosary and the mediation via Saint Dominic. Hans Haselböck was organist at the church from 1949 to 2014.

Notes

{{Reflist

References

* Kunstführer nr. 1516 - Verlag Schnell & Steiner Gmbh, Regensburg, 2003 (in German) Roman Catholic churches completed in 1634

Roman Catholic church buildings in the Vicariate of Vienna City Basilica churches in Austria 1634 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy 17th-century establishments in Austria