Santa Maria della Consolazione is a

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 ...

-style

pilgrimage church A pilgrimage church () is a church to which Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimages are regularly made, or a church along a pilgrimage route, like the Way of St. James, that is visited by pilgrims. Pilgrimage churches are often located by the graves o ...

Todi Todi (; ''Tuder'' in antiquity) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) of the province of Perugia (region of Umbria) in central Italy. It is perched on a tall two-crested hill overlooking the east bank of the river Tiber, commanding distant view ...

, Italy. The centralized, symmetric plan, surmounted by a tall dome, distinguishes this

church, from the more common elongated

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

or Latin-cross designs. Another Todi sanctuary church, also with a symmetric layout, is the Tempio del Santissimo Crocifisso on the eastern end of town.

History and description

Originally, the site held a small chapel with an aedicule painted with an icon of the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. the Legend holds that a worker, who was blind in one eye, had the sight of that eye restored when he wiped it with a cloth that had cleaned the icon. The church was built at the site where the icon had been housed, and now contains the icon at the altar. Contributions to a confraternity assigned to the construction of the church allowed building to begin by 1508. The church was not complete until 1608 at the cost of over 34000 scudi. The original project is attributed to

Donato Bramante Donato Bramante (1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rom ...

, despite the absence of documentation. For the first four to five years, the architect Cola da Caprarola (Cola di Matteucio) led in the initiation of the construction; it is unclear how much he contributed to the design. He was followed at the site by the builder Giovanni Domenico da Pavia in 1515. The project recruited various sculptors and craftsmen such as Ambrogio da Milano (during 1516-20); Francesco da Vita (during 1522); and Filippo di Giovanni da Melide (during 1522-38). Documents report that the project was aided in 1518 by

Baldassarre Peruzzi Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi (7 March 1481 – 6 January 1536) was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena (in Ancaiano, ''frazione'' of Sovicille) and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and lat ...

. In 1531, the ''Compagnia di Santa Maria della Consolazione'' who managed the site ceded the church to Hieronymite monks from a community at Fiesole. During the 16th-century, the advice of other prominent architects was sought. Antonio di Sangallo il Giovane visited in 1532. Payments were made to Giacomo Vignola in 1565; to

Galeazzo Alessi Galeazzo Alessi (1512 – 30 December 1572) was an Italian architect from Perugia, known throughout Europe for his distinctive style based on his enthusiasm for ancient architecture. He studied drawing for civil and military architecture under th ...

in 1567; and William of Portugal in 1584; all presumably related to the design of the dome. More artisans to complete the sculptural decorations were engaged including Giovanni Battista Cardona da Ligornetto and Francesco Casella da Carona. Other architects involved in the construction were Ippolito Scalza (1584) and Valentino Martelli (1587) who were also involved with the design of the centrally planned domed Tempio del Santissimo Crocifisso on the eastern side of town. The cupola was finally closed in 1607. The church is built in a Greek cross plan: three apses are polygonal and the one on the north side is semicircular. The apse is surmounted by a square terrace with four eagles at the corners, from which the dome rises. In the interior, twelve niches in the first three apses house giant statues of the

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

. Also noteworthy is the wooden statue of

Pope Martin I Pope Martin I (, ; between 590 and 600 – 16 September 655), also known as Martin the Confessor, was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 649 to his death 16 September 655. He had served as Pope Theodore I's ambassador to Constantinople, and was pap ...

, a native of the Todi area.Text in part derived from

entry

Gallery

File:Pianta.Consolazione.Todi.jpg, Base plan of church File:L’Architecture de la Renaissance - Fig. 2.PNG, Interior plan File:Tempio di Santa Maria della Consolazione Interno.jpg, Interior File:Santa Maria della Consolazione - Stefani.jpg, Exterior File:Consolazione 3.JPG, Wide shot File:Emme 3.JPG, Surrounding view

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria della Consolazione, San Churches in Todi Renaissance architecture in Umbria 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1607 Centralized-plan churches in Italy 1607 establishments in Italy Donato Bramante church buildings

History and description

See also

Gallery

Sources