San Tommaso di Canterbury
| San Tommaso di Canterbury | |
|---|---|
| Patronage : |
Holy Trinity |
| Consecration day : | January 18, 1888 |
| Parish: | San Lorenzo in Damaso |
| Address: |
Via di Monserrato, 45 00186 Roma |
San Tommaso di Canterbury , also San Tommaso degli Inglesi and Santissima Trinità e San Tommaso di Canterbury , is a church in Rome . It is the collegiate church of the Venerable English College , the college of English-speaking seminarians . In its current form, it was built on the remains of previous buildings in the second half of the 19th century in the neo-Romanesque style . It is known for its paintings and the tomb of Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge .
Location and naming
The church is located in the VII. Roman Rione Regola , about 90 meters northwest of the Palazzo Farnese and diagonally opposite the church of San Girolamo della Carità . It is named after Saint Thomas Becket , Italian : Tommaso di Canterbury , originally it was only consecrated to the Holy Trinity ; Becket appears for the first time in 1373 as a further patron.
History and building history
The older literature assumed that a predecessor of today's church with the - no longer existing - church SS. Trinità degli Scozzesi from the 8th century was meant. Recent research rejects this assumption, as does the claim that the church was later rebuilt from 1575 under Cardinal Philip Thomas Howard with the participation of Carlo Fontana . The information cannot actually apply as the cardinal lived from 1629 to 1694. The more recent opinion is that the first previous building of the current church dates from the second half of the 14th century, which is related to the original dedication of the building as a hospital for English-speaking believers. First of all, a chapel with various altars is mentioned, but it has been proven from 1376.
From 1496/97 the church was completely renovated and almost completely rebuilt up to the consecration in 1501. A three-aisled church was built, of which a tracery window in the garden of the college has survived . During the Sacco di Roma in 1527 the church was severely damaged, later - until 1583 - Pomarancio painted the side walls of the building with frescoes . In the second half of the 17th century, consideration was given to rebuilding the church from scratch. Andrea Pozzo made plans for this between 1682 and 1685. They are kept in the college archive to this day, but were never implemented except for the construction of the bell tower. This is most likely related to the Glorious Revolution of 1688/89 and the subsequent accession of the Protestant Williams III to the throne . together; No more financial resources were to be expected from England to support a new building. Pozzo at least received orders for a fresco and an altar sheet , which he executed in 1701. The church deteriorated so much in the following decades that it was closed in 1780 out of consideration for the safety of visitors. Even after the college reopened in 1818 after being occupied by Napoleonic troops, the situation did not change. In 1834 the last of the works of art that remained in the church were brought to the college. The following overall planning for a new building was completed in 1866; the plans come from Virgilio Vespignani . Pope Pius IX laid the foundation stone that year, completion dragged on until the frescoes were finished in 1893.
facade
The neo-Romanesque facade is two-story and two-part. The western part is taken up by the portal with fine ornamentation and the double-stepped round arch, which is supported by two columns placed in pairs. A wheel window is set in the portal tympanum, and a triforium window is inserted above the cornice with an arched frieze . The wall surface of the south aisle takes up the eastern part. It is framed and also provided with pilaster strips. The upper part of the wall is broken by four arched windows, the lower real round windows. A console frieze closes the surface off at the top.
Interior and outfit
The basic structure of the church is a gallery basilica , so it has three naves; the galleries go over the aisles into the central nave. Since it was built parallel to the street, the narthex is positioned across. She has four bays, pillars of marble with capitals Corinthian bear the arcades of the high walls of the nave. The side aisles are covered with groin vaults, the roof structure over the central nave is open and painted. The ships are just closing to the east; the east side of the central nave contains a triumphal arch . In the narthex and the outer walls of the aisles, the vaults are supported by pilasters .
The church is known for its decoration with furnishings reminiscent of cosmatic works . The high walls of the central nave contain medallions depicting various English saints.
In the triumphal arch of the east wall of the central nave there is a painting from the previous building. It was created by Durante Alberti in 1580 and depicts the Trinity as a mercy seat with angels, flanked by St. Thomas Becket and St. Edmund .
The main work of art in the church is the Renaissance tomb of the Prince-Bishop of Durham and Cardinal Christopher Bainbridge; he died on July 7th or 14th, 1514 by poison. The tomb is a work by Michele di Luca Marini da Fiesole . The cardinal rests in full regalia on a stretcher, which is held by two lion figures. The facial features are shown realistically, his head rests on double pillows that are very finely decorated with ornaments. A scroll placed at his feet gives information about the dead. “ The tomb of the English prelate can be described as a landmark in Roman Renaissance sculpture. It is the last monument of the pure style of the High Renaissance in Rome; as a portrait figure it is the greatest achievement of Marini and one of the most magnificent grave statues in Rome ”.
The church also contains other tombs, for example in the narthex that of Martha Swinburne, daughter of Henry Swinburne , made by the Irish sculptor Christopher Hewetson in 1779 ; she died in 1778. Also in the narthex is the tomb of Sir Thomas Dereham , a scientist and member of the Royal Society ; he died in 1739.
The organ on the gallery dates from 1925, the gallery still contains a copy of a painting from the previous building, originally painted in 1518 with the theme of the Holy Family and St. Anna ; the original is said to have been created by Francesco Penni .
literature
- Brigitte Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome . Founded by Walter Buchowiecki. 4th volume, Verlag Brüder Hollinek, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-85119-266-4 .
- Mariano Armellini: Le Chiese di Roma . Roma 1891.
- Christian Hülsen : Le Chiese di Roma nel Medio Evo . Firenze 1927.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Diocese of Rome
- ↑ a b Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 22.
- ↑ As an example: Mariano Armellini: Le Chiese di Roma , Roma 1891, p. 413 ( online ).
- ↑ a b Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 21.
- ^ Entry at catholic-hierarchy.org .
- ^ Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 23.
- ^ Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 24.
- ^ Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 26.
- ^ Kuhn-Forte: Handbook of the Churches of Rome , p. 27.
- ↑ Quoted in Kuhn-Forte: Handbuch der Kirchen Roms , pp. 27/28.
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 44.1 ″ N , 12 ° 28 ′ 12.1 ″ E