The Church of Saint Anne in the Vatican (), known as ' (), is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish church dedicated to

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 ...

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. The church is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of the State of Vatican City and is placed under the jurisdiction of the Vicariate of the Vatican City and is located beside the Porta Sant'Anna (Saint Anne's Gate), an international border crossing between Vatican City State and Italy. Commissioned by the ,

Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola ( , , ; 1 October 15077 July 1573), often simply called Vignola, was one of the great Italian architects of 16th century Mannerism. His two great masterpieces are the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Chu ...

introduced the oval plan to church design, for the first time in the churches of

Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia Sant'Andrea in Via Flaminia () is a Roman Catholic churches of Rome, church dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle in Rome, Italy. The edifice is also known as ''Sant'Andrea del Vignola'', after its architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola. History It w ...

and Saint Anne in Vatican, pioneering a plan which was to become influential to

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

History

On 20 November 1565,

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV (; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death, in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered itself a b ...

authorized the Archconfraternity of the Pontifical Grooms to build a church dedicated to

close to the

Apostolic Palace The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Papal Palace, the Palace of the Vatican and the Vatican Palace. The Vatican itself refers to the build ...

. The construction began that same year on a design attributed to Renaissance architect

. It was one of the first churches in Rome with an elliptical plan. According to David Watkin, Vignola introduced the oval plan to church design for the first time in the churches of

and Saint Anne in the Vatican, pioneering a plan which was to become influential to

. After a smooth start, the construction of the church slowed because the Archconfraternity was in financial trouble. After Vignola's death in 1573, the church was finished by his son

Giacinto Barozzi Giacinto is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: *Giacinto Achilli (1803–1860), Italian Roman Catholic discharged from the priesthood for sexual misconduct * Giacinto Allegrini (born 1989), Italian professional fo ...

, according to a payment made by the Archconfraternity. When it was consecrated in 1583 it had a temporary roof. The facade attributed to Borromini and later attached to the oval church prefigured the facade of the church of

Sant'Agnese in Agone Sant'Agnese in Agone (also called Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona) is a 17th-century Baroque church in Rome, Italy. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, one of the main urban spaces in the historic centre of the city and the site where the Early Christ ...

in attempting to reconcile a front with five bats to two towers. The facade was completed between 1700 and 1721 by

Alessandro Specchi Alessandro Specchi (1668 – 16 November 1729) was an Italian architect and engraver. Biography Born in 1668 in Rome, he trained as an architect under Carlo Fontana. He also specialized as an engraver and made a well known series of plates ...

while the dome was finally built in 1763 and completed in 1775. The Archconfraternity briefly exhibited in St. Anne a painting of the saint it commissioned in 1603 from

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

. Destined for the altar of the papal Grooms in the

Basilica of Saint Peter The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the cit ...

, it was painted in 1605–1606, '' Madonna and Child with St. Anne''. It was later sold to Cardinal Scipione Borghese and now hangs in the museum of the

Galleria Borghese The or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touri ...

. The church belonged to the Archconfraternity until the

Lateran Treaties The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and as ...

of 1929, which constituted the

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

elevated the church into a parish, with the Apostolic Constitution ''"Ex Lateranensi pacto"'' of 30 May 1929. The pastoral care of the new parish was entrusted to the

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th ...

. In return, Pope Pius XI granted the Archconfraternity the church of Santa Caterina della Rota.

Interior

The interior, built to Vignola's design, is elliptical with eight side chapels. The main entrance is located at one end of the major axis of the

ellipse In mathematics, an ellipse is a plane curve surrounding two focus (geometry), focal points, such that for all points on the curve, the sum of the two distances to the focal points is a constant. It generalizes a circle, which is the special ty ...

. The minor axis ends with two chapels. Four doors surmounted by a pediment and framed by travertine columns with Corinthian capitals are distributed between the main altar and the side chapels. Four large arches rise at the ends of the two main axes, framing the areas of entry, the altar and the two chapels. The sacred area of the main altar is a square enclosed by four arches as a clear counterpoint to the oval part of the church. The dome itself rests on a plinth with a cornice with three strips, pierced at the base by eight windows. At the top of the dome stands the lantern, the only source of natural light onto the main altar. It is decorated with the dove of 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 ...

, from which golden rays radiate in circle. Until the mid-18th century, the inner walls of the church were white and the columns showed the natural color of the

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

stone, typical of

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

churches. Influenced by the rise of the Baroque in Rome, the Archconfraternity started redecorating the church with more lavish decorations and plenty of gilt and

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

. The façade was re-decorated in the Baroque style by

who added the upper facade to

Vignola Vignola (; Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese: ; Bolognese dialect, Bolognese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Modena (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. Its economy is based on agriculture, especially fruit farming, but there are also mecha ...

's church. The dome was designed by Francesco Navole. They commissioned in 1746 the sculptor Giovan Battista de' Rossi (Il Rosso) to redecorate the church with angels holding garlands in

above the doors. Four windows were walled and replaced with four frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Saint Anne. Giovan Battista de' Rossi also made in stucco shells with

festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...

s decorating the frescoes. The decorator

Annibale Rotati Annibale is the Italian masculine given name and surname equivalent to Hannibal. In English, it may refer to : Given name * Annibale Albani (1682–1751), Italian cardinal * Annibale I Bentivoglio, (died 1445), ruler of Bologna from 1443 * Anniba ...

(c. 1673–1750) colored the walls in blue, cream and light gray. The doorjambs were decorated with marble stucco marbled by Giacomo de Rocchi. The gold and silver stucco was made by

Pietro Ricci Pietro Ricchi (1606 – 15 August 1675) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, born in Lucca. Life Pietro Ricchi, called ''il Lucchese'', trained from 1620 to 1623 with Domenico Crespi, called Passignano, in Florence and from 1624 to 1627 ...

. Despite the Baroque decoration, the initial plan of the church is still visible.

Notes

References

* * * * * * . * *

External links

Venerabile Arciconfraternita di Sant'Anna de Parafrenieri
*
Official website of the vicariate of Rome – Sant’Anna In Vaticano
*
The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome
a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri (pp. 152–3) * {{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Vatican City Roman Catholic churches completed in 1583 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

History

Interior

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links