Santa Maria del Suffragio is a 17th-century church in the center

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 ...

. It lies on the via Giulia, in the rione Ponte. In 1592, the ''Confraternita del Suffragio'' ("Fraternity of those who succor the suffering") was a

purgatorial society Purgatorial societies are Roman Catholic Church associations or confraternities which aim to assist souls in purgatory reach heaven. The doctrine concerning purgatory (the term for the intermediate state in Roman Catholicism), the condition of the ...

established adjacent to the church of Saint Biagio della Pagnotta; their goal was to pray for the spirits of the dead and dying. Two years later, the group received a charter of approval from

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

. In 1620, it was elevated to ''Arciconfraternita'' by Pope Paul V. Having outgrown their premises, the group acquired in 1607, part of an unfinished site that originally had been destined to be the Bramante-designed Palace of the Courts. In 1662, the architect

Carlo Rainaldi Carlo Rainaldi (4 May 1611 – 8 February 1691) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period. Biography Born in Rome, Rainaldi was one of the leading architects of 17th century Rome, known for a certain grandeur in his designs. He worked at f ...

designed the church, which was completed by 1669, with interior decorations continuing till 1685. The interior has frescoes by Cesare Mariani (''Coronation of the Virgin''). The third chapel on the right has a ''Birth of Mary'' and an ''Adoration of the Magi'' by

Giuseppe Chiari Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (10 March 1654 – 8 September 1727), also known simply as ''Giuseppe Chiari'', was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome. Biography Born in Rome, he was one of the main assistants, alon ...

. The third chapel on the left once had the ''Passion of Christ'' frescoed on the walls by

Lanfranco Lanfranco (active in Modena from c. 1099 to 1110) was an Italian architect. His only known work is the Modena Cathedral. Record of his work there is in the early 13th-century manuscript ''Relatio de innovatione ecclesie sancti Gemeniani'' in the ...

. The frescoes with the Eternal Father in Gloria and the Assumption in the choir are by

Giovanni Battista Beinaschi image:Benaschi-llanto por abel.JPG, ''The Deploration of Abel'', Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Madrid). Giovanni Battista Benaschi, or Beinaschi, (1636–1688) was an list of Italian painters, Italian painter and engraver active i ...

Sources

Romecity entry

External links

Maria del Suffragio, Santa Roman Catholic churches completed in 1685 1685 establishments in Italy Maria Suffragio 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy {{Italy-RC-church-stub

See also

Sources

External links