San Francesco di Paola dei Calabresi

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Basic data
Patronage : St. Francis of Paola
Consecration day : High altar consecrated 10 July 1728
Cardinal Deacon : Renato Raffaele Cardinal Martino
Address: Piazza di San Francesco di Paola
00184 Roma
The facade from the early 18th century

San Francesco di Paola dei Calabresi , also called San Francesco di Paola ai Monti , is a church in Rome . In its present form it comes from the middle of the 17th century, but has been redesigned a few times. It is the monastery church of the Paulaner and titled deaconry of the Roman Catholic Church .

location

The church is located in the first Roman Rione Monti in a place named after the patron saint, about 330 meters north-northwest of the Colosseum .

History and building history

The order of the Paulaner had originally been assigned to another church since 1622. Later the order inherited some built-up land on the site of the present church from a priest from Calabria ; after this incident it also has its name affix, in the second variant from the location in the Rione Monti. The founder, Giovanni Pizzullo, is buried in the church today. Construction work on the church began in 1645 and was completed in 1650, with Olimpia Aldobrandini-Pamphili initiating the construction . The commissioned builder was Gian Pietro Morandi . At the beginning of the 18th century, the church was redesigned, the interior by Luigi Barratoni , and the facade added. Restorations followed in 1760, 1826 and finally in 1953, the year the ceiling was rebuilt. In 2003 Pope John Paul II assigned the church to its current title holder Renato Raffaele Cardinal Martino.

facade

The facade made of travertine is two-story and three-axis on the lower floor. The upper floor is kept much simpler, which is due to the fact that the facade was never completed. The pilasters that structure the surface, are simple towards the corners and are set in pairs in the middle , basically follow the Ionic order , but the capitals are designed with cherub heads and festoons , which differ significantly from the order . The central projection emerges somewhat through an additional step. The portal is flanked by two three-quarter columns according to composite order, as are the empty niches of the traves . A triangular gable with a cranked lower part rises above the portal , whereas the niches on the side surfaces are covered by shells in segment gables . The powerfully crafted architrave separates the floors. The upper floor only contains one window under a segmented arch. The sun disks are made of stucco and contain the word Charitas .

Interior and design

The church has a single nave with a tribuna. This corresponds roughly to the width of the nave. Three side chapels are added to the longitudinal walls, the middle one of which is significantly larger than the two on the side. The nave is covered by a barrel vault, which is broken through by stitch caps . Due to the lower height of the first and third side chapels, small balconies, so-called chorretti , are located above the arches of the nave to the chapels .

The walls of the nave are structured by stepped pilasters with capitals of Ionic order, here again, as in the facade, in the modification with angels' heads and festoons on the capitals. The barrel above the nave is coffered and gold-plated.

All six side chapels are structured according to the basic structure with pilasters of the Tuscan order .

The first chapel on the right in the direction of the high altar is covered by a barrel vault, the fresco in the barrel depicts St. Mary , it was created by Onofrio Avellino . On the altarpiece there is a depiction of St. Anna , a work by Filippo Luzi . Both works date from the beginning of the 18th century.

The middle chapel on the right was mainly designed by Giuseppe Chiari , who created the fresco in the barrel, depicting the Glory of St. Francis of Paola , as well as the frescoes on the side walls of the chapel, The Saint gives a newborn a human appearance on the left and The Saint brings a mason to life right. On the altar itself there is an image of the church patron, it is an 18th century copy of a 16th century image that is in Montalto Uffugo, Calabria . The original is considered to be the “best” surviving image of St. Francis of Paola.

The foremost chapel on the right was worked out by Antonio Grecolini , it contains the fresco Glory of St. Francis de Sales in the barrel vault ; the same artist has a picture of this saint on the altarpiece. The oil painting on the left side depicts Francis de Sales writing , on the right the subject The Saint Heals the Sick , both paintings also by Grecolini.

The first chapel on the left contains three frescoes by Stefano Pozzi , God the Father in the barrel , on the left side wall Dream of St. Joseph , on the right Flight into Egypt . On the altar panel a depiction of the Blessed Gaspare de Bono from the 18th century.

The middle chapel on the left also contains three frescoes by Pozzi: In the middle of the barrel a depiction of Mary in Glory , on the left side wall: Adoration of the Magi and on the right Adoration of the Shepherds . In the chapel in a sarcophagus of porphyry buried is the 1786 beatified Nicola Saggio ; his picture adorns the altarpiece, a work by Francesco Manno from the late 18th century.

The front chapel contains an angel with a cross on the fresco of the barrel vault . The altarpiece was made by Stefano Perugini in the 18th century, it is a representation of the Archangel Michael . Giacomo Triga created the paintings on the side walls in the 18th century, on the left the Archangel gives St. Francis a hood and on the right the Archangel gives St. Francis the coat of arms of the order .

The Tribuna contains a bust of Lazzaro Pallavicino on the right . This bust was donated by Pope Benedict XIV in 1740. The Pope wanted to emphasize the extraordinary modesty of this man, who renounced the cardinal dignity offered to him . The work was designed by Ferdinando Fuga and the sculptor was Agostino Corsini . On the left side of the Tribuna is the tomb of the founder Giovanni Pizzullo, who died in 1646, his depiction in a praying posture, also a work of Corsini.

The choir contains choir stalls made of walnut . It was not created for the church, but moved to this church from Santa Maria Maggiore in 1673 .

The high altar is made to a design by Giovanni de'Rossi . The lunette contains another fresco by Stefano Pozzi depicting the Immaculate .

The fresco in the sacristy was created after 1660, either a work by Giovanni Battista Salvi-Sassoferrato or Francesco Cozza , depicting Mary appears to St. Francis of Paola . A draft of this is still in the Louvre in Paris to this day . The other eight frescoes in this room depict scenes from the life of the patron saint, created by Agostino Masucci  - four pictures by him - Filippo Luzi made three pictures and one picture was made by Pierre Argenvilliers .

In the chapter house there are frescoes by Francesco Cozza: Christ on the cross with St. Francis of Paola , St. Veronica and a scene from the Mount of Olives

Cardinal deacons

literature

  • Walter Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . 1st volume, Brothers Hollinek publishing house, Vienna 1967.
  • Mariano Armellini: Le Chiese di Roma . Roma 1891.

Web links

Commons : San Francesco di Paola  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 718.
  2. ↑ Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 719.
  3. ↑ a b c d Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 720.
  4. ↑ Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , pp. 720/721.
  5. ↑ a b c Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 721.
  6. ↑ a b Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 722.

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 37.7 "  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 29.2"  E