(077/31) Santa Maria della Pace ! Santa Maria della Pace is a 15th century titular church in Rome near Piazza Navona, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. History The first church here, built in the Middle Ages, was the church of the aquarellari, the water-salesmen who provided casks of water from the Tiber to parts of Rome that had no direct water supply. The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 1482. (1) The present church was built by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, with construction starting in 1482, after he had made a vow to build a new church here if peace was restored between the Papal States and Florence, Milan and Naples following the Pazzi conspiracy and was brought to an end in December 1480. The author of the original design is not known, though Baccio Pontelli has been proposed. (1) (a) (f) The church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary to remember a miraculous bleeding of a Madonna image there in 1480. It is said that a drunken soldier had stabbed a statue of the Madonna in the breast, and it had started bleeding; or that a stone was thrown at the image that hangs over the high altar, which started bleeding. (1) The church was partially rebuilt in 1611. Pope Alexander VII Chigi commissioned Pietro da Cortona to remodel the square and to restore the facade, in the years 1656-1667. Contemporary documents stress the practical reasons for the reconstruction, the difficulty for carriages to reach the entrance of what had become a rather fashionable church. The architect in charge of the work on the church (077/31) was Giovanni Maria Bolina. (1) (5) (a) (f) The church became very popular after Pope Alexander VII had restored it. For a long time, it was the only church in Rome that offered Mass in the afternoon on a regular basis. (1) A custom arose that newly-weds should make a pilgrimage here the day after their wedding in order to entreat the Blessed Virgin for a peaceful married life. (a) Exterior The façade and the semi-circular porch is by da Cortona. The portico, and the Baroque style, is reminiscent of ancient Roman theatrical architecture. The approach to the church was originally through a narrow street, but this led to problems when the church became popular. Da Cortona had several houses demolished to design the Piazza Santa Maria della Pace. (1) The inscription around the porch architrave is taken from Psalm 72: SUSCIPIANT MONTES PACEM POPULO ET COLLES IUSTITIAM ("The mountains shall bring peace to the people and to the hills, justice"). This reference to the 'mountains' of the coat of arms of the Chigi family, to which both Sixtus IV and Alexander VII belonged, presumably is an allusion to the benefits of their papal reigns. Oak leaf motifs, another Chigi family emblem, can also be found on the facade. On the upper facade, Cortona had the curved travertine panels cut to make grained matching patterns, in an unusual use of this particular material. Through the tall central window, the circular window of the Quattrocento church facade is visible. (2) On either side of the semi-circular porch, above the cornice are two medallions. The one on the left contains the figure of Pope Sixtus IV, and the one on the right the figure of Pope Alexander VII. The putti on either side of the medallions are by Ercole Raggi. The church also retains the original 15th century door. (4) (5) (f) (g) The main feature of the church is however the Bramante cloister. Built in 1500-1504 for Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, it was the first work of Donato Bramante in the city. It has a double loggias, the first with arcades on pilasters, the second with arcades on pilasters and columns. The rooms are now let as apartments. (2) (a) (077/31) Plan Interior The interior, which can be reached from the original fifteenth-century door, has a short nave with cruciform vaulting and a tribune surmounted by a cupola. Cortona articulated the interior of the dome with octagonal coffering and a series of ribs radiating from the lantern. This is an early example of combining these two forms of dome decoration and was employed by Gianlorenzo Bernini. (2) The arch and vault of the tribune was painted by Francesco Albano in 1612-1614 with the representation of The Assumption of Our Lady, in the center of the vault, and the lunette above the altar with the allegorical figures of Justice and Peace. The two allegorical figures representing Peace and Justice on the front of the altar are by Stefano Maderno, donated by his patron, conte Gaspare Rivaldi. (4) Under the high altar are the bodies of SS Basilissa and Anastasia, martyrs and disciples of St Peter. The venerated painting of the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Child hangs over the high altar. It used to hang in the porch of the original ancient church. The high altar from 1614 is by Carlo Maderno, and was designed specifically to enshrine the painting. Above the alter, the statues of Peace and Justice are by Maderno. The fresco of the Visitation is by Carlo Maratta. The Birth of the Virgin is by Domenico Cresti. The choir was decorated by Francesco Albani from 1612 until 1614. (1) (4) (a) The stucco Virtues on the counter façade, Peace and Justice, and on the entryway into the octagonal tribune, Fortitude and Prudence, are by Cosimo Fancelli in 1657. The organ dates from 1655. (4) (077/31) The monument for Bishop Giovan Andrea Boccaccio was by Luigi Capponi. The bishop was legate to Ferdinand of Sicily under Sixtus IV, and one of the Savoy inquisitors under Innocent VIII. and Alexander VI. Of this tomb only the figure and sarcophagus with two pilasters have survived, the greater part of what we now see being plaster restoration. (4) (d) Both the Chigi Chapel, on the right of the entrance, and the Ponzetti Chapel opposite, are in the form of rather shallow bays of modest dimensions, approximately 2.8 meters wide. But with both the decoration embraces the whole wall-area up to the vaulting of the ceiling. (e) Cappella Chigi The first chapel on the right-hand side, was founded by Agustino Chigi, the 16th century banker, and extensively rest orated by Fabio Chigi (future Pope Alexander VII) beginning in 1627. An inscription which still exists, now inserted into the wall of a corridor which leads into the church, which records that the chapel was dedicated to the Virgin in 1519. The fresco of the four Sibyls is from 1514 by Raphael; Lima, Persia, Phrygia and Tibur; each receiving a revelation from an angel. The sibyls are represented as heralds of the Resurrection. At the top a small angel with a burning torch indicates their importance; they are to serve as lights to the pagan world. (1) (a) (e) Raphael died before the chapel was finished, and work was continued by Sebastiana del Piombo. Timoteo Viti, a pupil of Raphael, painted the four Prophets Habbakuk, Jonah, David and Daniel. The bronze bas-relief sculpture over the altar, The Deposition (commonly referred to as The Trinity), was modeled by Cosima Fancelli and cast by Giovanni Artusi. Fancelli also made the marble statue of St. Catherine in the alcove to the right of the altar, and one of the reliefs of Cherubim with the instruments of the Passion on the wall outside. The marble statue of St. Bernard, on the left, is by Antonio Raggi. (g) Cappella Ponzetti The chapel to the left by the main entrance, has an altar dedicated to Sts Bridget and Catherine of Sweden. Above the altar is a painting of the Madonna flanked by the two saints, made by Baldassare Peruzzi in 1516. The donor, Cardinal Fernando Ponzetti, kneels before St Bridget. The cardinal was murdered by German mercenaries during the Sacco de Roma in 1527. The cardinal had a memorial placed here in 1509 to all of his family who should die in Rome. He is buried here. (1) (d) To the right of the chapel is the epitaph of Beatrice and Lavinia Ponzetti, nieces of Card. Ponzetti, who died at ages 6 and 8 respectively in 1505 by the plague. The tomb is attributed to Michele Marini. The inscription reads: (c) (d) To God, Best and Greatest To Beatrice and Lavinia Ponzetti, Wonderfully talented and cheerful, Whom Naples brought to birth, Rome fitly reared, And the plague, rumored to have ceased, Carried off in the course of a single day. The later lived six years, the former eight. Their uncle Ferdinando, Dean of the Beard of Seven of the Apostolic Purse, Bereft of his great comfort and hope, in grief set this up To his dear little souls On 27 November 1505. (077/31) Presentation Chapel In the second chapel on the right-hand side of the nave is a chapel with marble decoration by Michelangelo. Peruzzi has also painted the Presentation of Mary - to see this you may have to move around a bit to find the best possible angle, since the light is dim. (1) Cesi Chapel The second chapel on the right was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, and has a very fine Renaissance decoration on the external arch by Simone Mosca, as well as two small frescoes, the Creation of Eve and the Original Sin by Rosso Fiorentino. The statues of the prophets and the reliefs on the Cesi family tomb are by Vincenzo de Rossi.