San Giovanni dei Fiorentini

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Basic data

facade

Patronage : St. John
Consecration day :
Cardinal priest : Giuseppe Petrocchi
Address: Piazza dell'Oro

00186 Roma

The Basilica of San Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini ( Latin : Sancti Ioannis Baptistae Florentinorum ), also San Giovanni dei Fiorentini , is a church in Rome . The Basilica minor is also a titular church of the Roman Catholic Church , parish church and national church of the Florentines . It was built over more than two centuries and contains not only important art treasures, but also the tombs of Francesco Borromini and Carlo Maderno .

location

The church is located at the northern end of Via Giulia , in the 5th Roman Rione Ponte , directly on the eastern bank of the Tiber , directly on the Ponte Principe Savoia-Aosta about 350 meters south of Castel Sant'Angelo .

History and building history

The building history of the church is extremely changeable. Pope Leo X , himself a Florentine member of the de 'Medici family , announced a competition for the establishment of a Florentine national church at the beginning of the 16th century. Participated in it u. a. Raffael , Baldassare Peruzzi , Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. J. and Jacopo Sansovino . Leo X selected the Sansovino design, which envisaged a central building . After the construction work began in 1518, however, it was not continued. Instead, after a few interruptions, the work was now carried out in 1520 with Sangallos d. J. Design of a building with nave and choir continued. He continued the construction work until his death in 1546, but it came to a standstill in 1534, presumably for lack of money. One reason for this could be that the foundation work (the now planned choir protruded into the bed of the Tiber ) cost enormous sums. Only after 1550, possibly Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola was involved, was Michelangelo called in either in 1556 or 1559 . He submitted several plans; His design, which was again designed as a central building, was ultimately rejected, although the foundations were initially carried out according to his model. The construction work was finally stopped again in 1562 due to lack of funds. After some wealthy Florentines finally donated money, work was resumed from 1583/84. The builder was now Giacomo della Porta . He carried out the Sangallos d. J. continued and created the nave on the basis of the foundations. This was finally completed in 1593. Carlo Maderno, as his successor, finally completed the transept and choir from 1608 to 1614. From around 1611 to 1614 he completed the crossing with the dome . The facade of the church, although designs were available from the beginning, was not erected until 1734 by Alessandro Galilei according to his own plans.

architecture

Church floor plan

Basic structure

The church was ultimately built as a pillar basilica , i.e. three aisles with a transept and an octagonal domed crossing. The aisles in turn open into rectangular side chapels . The choir also contains side chapels, so that the church has an almost square floor plan.

facade

The travertine facade is a classic high baroque construction. It is two-story, very broad in the basement, structured by pilasters on the outer sides and a multi-tiered program of three-quarter columns with Corinthian capitals and by inserting niches in the areas between the columns. It corresponds to the basilical shape of the church through the insertions of side portals to the respective side aisles overlaid by windows. The main portal is crowned by an aedicula . It represents the coat of arms of Pope Clement XII in the coat of arms above . in whose pontificate the facade was completed. The upper floor continues the structure; here, too, three-quarter columns with inserted niches give the area order. The balcony is a balustrade placed in front of, as well as the six figures (three on the left and right of the upper-storey facade) connected by balustrades. The facade is crowned by a strongly contoured triangular gable.

Interior

The central nave

Since Michelangelo's plans, which might have led to the “boldest central system of the 16th century”, were ultimately not carried out, the impression of the interior is now that of a classic, three-aisled pillar basilica. The pillar arcades of the central nave are faced with pilasters and the capitals are designed in the Corinthian order. A surrounding cornice divides the walls of the central nave above the arcades. The triumphal arch is set unusually high. The crossing with the dome of Maderno follows the solution of St. Peter's Basilica in the style of the High Renaissance, the pillar massifs are presented with bent pilasters. The fluted pilasters at the corners of the pillars give the crossing an independent spatial impression. The overall impression of the interior of the church is “measured, almost cool” due to the fact that no painting or colored stucco decoration is used.

Interior

Apse and main altar

The group of figures of the main altar

In contrast to the rest of the interior is the apse designed by Pietro da Cortona with the main altar from 1640, designed by Borromini based on designs by da Cortona , it follows unmistakably (e.g. through the use of stepped double columns and the openwork gable) the eventful tradition of the Roman high baroque. The center of the main altar contains a marble group by Antonio Raggi ; depicted is the baptism of Christ . Francesco Moci originally created a marble work on the same subject; but it was rejected. Today, after a stopover at Ponte Milvio , it is in the Palazzo Braschi .

Cappella Falconieri and other tombs

The chapel, to the right of the choir, contains the tombs of Orazio Falconieri and Ottavia Sacchetti. The chapel itself and the tombs were based on Borromini's designs ; the figure Faith comes from Ercole Ferrata , the figure Caritas from Domenico Guidi .

The tomb of the Acciaioli family , who came from Florence and who gave birth to a number of important personalities, including two cardinals , also came from Ferrata .

The tomb for Alessandro Gregorio Marchese Capponi was built in 1745/46 by René Michael Slodtz , a sculptor who came from a French family of artists. He executed it from a drawing by Ferdinando Fuga . The tomb is not considered particularly successful, both the stylistic exaggeration in the folds of the mantle and the falling apart of the composition due to the use of white and colored marble are mentioned as too painterly effects. Simon Louis Du Ry made a drawing of the grave in graphite and pen around 1753/56. Today it is kept in the Staatliche Museen Kassel (Inv. No. GS 1110).

The church contains a number of other funerary monuments and tombs, including those of Carlo Maderno , Francesco Borromini and various other personalities, mostly with a Florentine reference.

  • Tomb for Alessandro Gregorio Capponi

  • Memorial plaque for Carlo Maderno

  • Memorial plaque for Francesco Borromini

More art monuments

In the church there is the painting Portrait of St. Jerome , when translating the Vulgate by Ludovico Cardi , called Cigoli. It is considered an example of experimental light treatment in the late 16th century. Gian Lorenzo Bernini is said to have worked on the bust of Antonio Copolla ; this is not guaranteed. The church also contains a monument to Pope Clement XII. ; he too came from Florence.

crypt

The crypt , in turn, was designed and executed by Borromini. It is designed in the basic shape of an ellipse with a maximum length of 10 meters and a width of 5 meters, the room height is 5 meters. Doors are inserted on the sides of the vertices, and arched windows open above these doors. The structure of the half-columns is continued above the spiers by pilaster-like bands to the oval stucco relief inserted in the middle of the flat dome. The chapel contains the other graves of the Falconieri family and is considered "a small masterpiece by Borromini".

  • Look into the crypt

  • The ceiling of the crypt

See also

literature

in alphabetical order by authors / editors

Web links

Commons : San Giovanni dei Fiorentini  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Manfred Wundram (Ed.): Reclams Art Guide, Italy. Volume V. Rome and Latium , pp. 174f.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Stefan Grundmann (Ed.): Architekturführer Rom , p. 183.
  3. ^ Rosendorfer, Herbert: Kirchenführer Rom , p. 93.
  4. ↑ Marco Bussagli (Ed.): Rome - Art and Architecture , p. 546.
  5. ^ Rolf Toman: The Art of Baroque - Architecture, Sculpture, Painting , p. 313.
  6. ↑ Marco Bussagli (Ed.): Rome - Art and Architecture , p. 601.
  7. ↑ State Museums Kassel u. a .: With brush, pen and pen , p. 112.
  8. ↑ Marco Bussagli (Ed.): Rome - Art and Architecture , p. 488.
  9. ↑ Marco Bussagli (Ed.): Rome - Art and Architecture , p. 529.

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 '58.2 "  N , 12 ° 27' 53.3"  E