(121) Santa Maria in Publicolis

The Church of Santa Maria in Publicolis, situated on Via in Publicolis at Piazza Costaguti in the rione of Sant'Eustachio, is the only Roman church dedicated to the Nativity of the blessed Virgin Mary. It is a little church built near the palace of the patrons, the Santacroce, who claimed to descend from Publio Valerio Publicola, a Roman consul who in 509 BC promulgated laws in favour of the lower classes.

History: The church is mentioned in a papal bull promulgated in 1186 by Urban III. The consistory lawyer Andrea Santacroce had the church restored in 1465. Around 1640 the old church was in a state of disrepair, and it was pulled down. The cardinal Marcello Santacroce commissioned the architect Giovanni de' Rossi, who was the architect of the Santacroce family from c.1642-95, to design a new church.

In 1835 Blessed Gaetano Errico instituted the Congregation of Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1858 he was given the church along with an adjacent building to house his congregation.

Exterior: The façade is divided into three levels: the bottom two columns frame the entrance portal, above which is located a fresco surmounted by a broken pediment curved and four pilasters flank the two side niches. Inscription Deiparae Virgini in Publicolis MDCXLIII, or "the Virgin Mother of God in Publicolis 1643", separates the lower order from the central one, where there is a central window surmounted by a broken pediment. The third order presents a stained glass window surmounted by a curvilinear tympanum above which stands a cross.

Interior: The interior is a single nave with two large tombs on each side. Inserted into the floor are several tombstones of the 15th and 16th century, among which the most important to Alfonso Santacroce, the church houses the tombs of the family Santacroce.

On the left from the entrance is the memorial to marchese Antonio Publicola Santacroce (d. 1707) and his wife, Girolama Naro, designed by the architect Giovanni Francesco Zannoli above a confessional. Lorenzo Ottoni carved the busts of Antonio and his wife, and the two putti, Death’s head and inscription by Andrea Fucina, stonework by stonemason Francesco de Gasperi, walnut- wood confessional by the carpenter Giovenale Gauthier.

On the right, opposite, that to his son, principe Scipione Publicola Santacroce, Duke of Sangemini and Prince of Oliveto, designed and sculpted by Giovanni Battista Maini, and some part of it by Tommaso Righi, his first known work, stonework by mason Francesco Cerott, above a plaster statuette of St of Padua.

Card. Prospero Santacroce is credited with the introduction to Europe the use of tobacco, which was initially called Santacroce grass.

Artists and Architects:

Andrea Fucina (d. 1711), Italian sculptor, architect Francesco Cerott, Italian stonemason Francesco de Gasperi, Italian stonemason Giovan Antonio de' Rossi (1616–1695), Italian Baroque architect Giovanni Battista Maini (1690-1752), Italian sculptor of the Late-Baroque period Giovanni Francesco Zannoli (c.1666-1717), Italian architect Giovenale Gauthier, Italian carpenter Lorenzo Ottoni (1658-1736), Italian sculptor Tommaso Righi (1727–1802), Italian sculptor

Burials: Prospero Cardinal SANTACROCE, (1514-1589) {additional info here} Antonio Cardinal SANTACROCE, (1598-1641) {additional info here} Marcello Cardinal SANTACROCE, (1619-1674) {additional info here} Andrea Cardinal SANTACROCE, (1655-1712)

Alfonso Santacroce Marquis Antonio Publicola Santacroce and his wife Girolama Nari (1709)

Location: Address: Via dei Falegnami 23, 00186 Roma Coordinates: 41°53'37"N 12°28'34"E

Info: Telephone: 0039 06 6861679 Open: Holidays: 10:00am-12:00pm Weekdays: 05:30pm-07:00pm Masses: Holidays: 11:00 Weekdays: 18:30

Links: http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Publicolis http://www.info.roma.it/monumenti_dettaglio.asp?ID_schede=780 http://74.125.91.132/translate_c?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_di_Santa_Maria_in_Publicolis http://web.comhem.se/~u13117202/smpubl.htm http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.romasegreta.it/via-in- publicolis.html&prev=/ search%3Fq%3DSanta%2BMaria%2Bin%2BPublicolis%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1224%26bih%3 D994%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=8u-HUPPWPKS80AGPwYGoCw&ved=0CGwQ7gEwDg http://www.060608.it/en/cultura-e-svago/luoghi-di-culto-di-interesse-storico-artistico/chiese- cattoliche/santa-maria-in-publicolis.html http://www.romaspqr.it/roma/CHIESE/Altre_Chiese/s_maria_publicolis.htm

Refs:

Montagu, Jennifer; “The Santacroce Tombs in S. Maria in Publicolis, Rome”; The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 139, No. 1137 (Dec., 1997), pp. 849-859