Santa Maria della Quercia (Our Lady of the Oak Tree) is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on the piazza of the same name, one block southeast of the

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French e ...

in the Rione (district) of

Regola Regola is the 7th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. VII, and belongs to the Municipio I. The name comes from (the name is recognizable in the modern ''Via Arenula''), which was the name of the soft sand ( in Italian) that the river T ...

of central

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

A prior church at the site was named ''San Niccolò de Curte'' or ''de Ferro'', with the former referring to the ancient Roman noble family of the Orsini, who had their palace nearby;"Santa Maria della Quercia", Churches of Rome
/ref> and the latter name likely referring to the Capodiferro family who once owned the nearby

Palazzo Spada The Palazzo Spada is a palace located on Piazza di Capo Ferro #13 in the rione Regola of Rome, Italy. Standing very close to the Palazzo Farnese, it has a garden facing towards the Tiber river. The palace accommodates a large art collection, ...

in the contiguous Piazza Capo di Ferro. In 1507,

Pope Julius II Pope Julius 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, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

allowed for the church to represent

Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...

, and the church was renamed after a venerated image of the Virgin from that town that had initially been hung on an oak tree. In addition the ''quercia'' or oak was the emblem on the heraldic shield of the

House of Della Rovere The House of Della Rovere (; literally "of the oak tree") was a powerful Italian noble family. It had humble origins in Savona, in Liguria, and acquired power and influence through nepotism and ambitious marriages arranged by two Della Rovere p ...

, to which Pope Julius belonged. In the piazza in front, an oak tree is traditionally planted. In 1532, the

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

granted the church to the guild of the Butchers (Macellai), to whom it still belongs.

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

in the early 18th century entrusted the reconstruction to

Filippo Raguzzini Filippo Raguzzini (19 July 1690 – 21 February 1771) was an Italian architect best known for a range of buildings constructed during the reign of Benedict XIII. Biography Raguzzini was born in Naples into a family of stonemasons. Little is k ...

,Accurata, E Succinta Descrizione Topografica, E Istorica Di Roma
Volume 1, by Ridolfino Venturini, published by Carlo Barbellieni, Rome (1768); page 244-245. later completed by Domenico Gregorini by 1731. In the 19th century, restorations were again pursued by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, and other continued after the Second World War.

Interior

The church layout is in a Greek cross with a cupola and three chapels. The ceiling has a painting of the ''Sacrifice of Isaac'' by

Sebastiano Conca Sebastiano Conca (8 January 1680 – 1 September 1764) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born at Gaeta, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, and apprenticed in Naples under Francesco Solimena. In 1706, along with his brother Giovanni, wh ...

. To the right of the entrance is a depiction of the ''Baptism of Christ'' by Pietro Barbieri and to the left of the entrance, a ''Crucifixion'' by Filippo Evangelista. Above the main altar is a replica of the icon of the ''Madonna della Quercia di Viterbo''.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

M. Armellini, ''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Roma 1891

Bibliography

* C. Rendina, ''Le Chiese di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, p. 213 * M. Quercioli, ''Rione VII Regola'', in AA.VV, ''I rioni di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, Vol. II, pp. 448–498 * G. Ciprini – F. Ciprini, ''La confraternita di S. Maria della Quercia de’ Macellari di Roma'', Roma 2004

Maria Quercia Maria Quercia Maria Quercia 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

History

Interior

See also

References

Sources

Bibliography