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WALKING TOURS OF ROME

Church of Santa Francesca Romana

6/7/2020

 
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Church of Santa Francesca Romana, Rome
Church of Santa Francesca Romana

The church of Santa Francesca Romana, once known as Santa Maria Nova, incorporates an oratory to St Peter and St Paul which was built by Pope Paul I (r. 757-67) in the ruins of the ancient Temple of Venus and Roma.  

A church on this site was known by the tenth century. It was named Santa Maria Nova to distinguish it from the other church inside the Roman forum devoted to Mary, Santa Maria Antiqua. 

The beautiful apse mosaics were added circa 1161. In the centre of the apse we see the Virgin and Child with St Peter and St Andrew to the right and St James and St John to the left. All of the figures are placed under an arcade of round arches, the pillars of which separate them as they do in ancient sarcophagi. Two of the pillars are twisted. Above the arcade is a representation of a brick structure, which is unique in Roman mosaics. 

The facade, by Carlo Lombardi (1559-1620), dates back to a reconstruction of the church in 1615. 

The church is dedicated to St Francesca Romana (1384-1440), a home-grown Roman saint. Born Francesca Bussa de' Leoni, she founded the Congregation of Oblates in 1421, and joined it herself after the death of her husband Lorenzo Ponziani in 1436. She was canonised in 1608 and is interred in the crypt of the church. 

Mosaic in the apse of church of Santa Francesca Romana, Rome

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    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England. Since 2001 I have lived in Italy, where I run private and
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  • Home
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  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
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      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Gallery
    • Piazzas >
      • Piazza del Campidglio
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