San Carlo al Corso

Map of the Churches of Rome
Church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
San Carlo al Corso
The 17th century church of Santi Ambrogio e Carlo, better known simply as San Carlo al Corso, is dedicated to the two most famous bishops of Milan St Ambrose (died 397) and St Charles Borromeo (1538-84), as the inscription on the facade states: DIVIS AMBROSIO ET CAROLO DICATVM. 

San Carlo al Corso, which was designed and built by Onorio Longhi (1568-1619) and completed by his son Martino Longhi the Younger (1602-60), used to be the national church of the Duchy of Milan, but since the unification of Italy in 1861 it has been the regional church of Lombardy.

Dome

Dome of the church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Dome
​Its grand dome, a prominent feature of the Roman skyline, is the work of Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669).

Nave

Nave, church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Nave
​The Baroque interior of this very large church (72 by 54 metres) is sumptuously decorated.
Counter=facade, San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Counter-facade
​Each arch of the nave arcades is crowned by a tablet bearing a quotation from the psalms referring to the dedication of a church. A larger tablet on the counterfaçade starts the sequence with: DOMINE DILEXI DECOREM DOMUS TUAE (Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house).
Vault of the nave, church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Vault of the Nave
​The fresco in the vault of the nave depicts the Fall of the Rebel Angels (1677-79) and is the work of Giacinto Brandi (1621-91). The frescoes in the vault of the sanctuary are also by Brandi. 

Dome: Interior

Interior of the dome of the church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Interior of the Dome
The nave, transept and sanctuary all have barrel vaults of the same height, meeting at the crossing in four large arches with double rows of rosette coffering on their intradoses. These support pendentives with frescoes of the four Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel),  the work of Giacinto Brandi. The interior of the cupola is decorated with a complex design of gilded stucco-work.

Sanctuary

Apse, church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Apse
The painting on the high altar is the work of Carlo Maratta (1625-1713) and depicts the Madonna Presenting St Ambrose and St Charles Borromeo to Christ. A figure below the feet of Christ holds a tablet bearing a single word Humilitas, the virtue which St Charles Borromeo held in the highest esteem.
Fresco in vault of the apse, church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Apse Vault
The sanctuary apse has a short barrel vault with a fresco by Brandi depicting The Apotheosis of St Charles Borromeo. The conch of the apse has another fresco by the same artist, showing St Charles with the Plague Sufferers. The two works were completed by 1677.

Ambulatory

Reliquary of the heart of St Charles Borromeo, San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Reliquary of the Heart of St Charles Borromeo
San Carlo al Corso is the only church in the centro storico to have an ambulatory (a walkway behind the high altar). There you will find a niche with a reliquary containing the heart of St Charles Borromeo, who was canonised on November 1st 1610 by Pope Paul V (r. 1605-21).  It was donated to the church in 1614 by his cousin, Cardinal Federico Borromeo. 

Chapel of the Immaculate Conception

Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Chapel of the Immaculate Conception
The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, in the right transept, was designed by Paolo Posi (1708-76) and completed in 1769. The altarpiece is a copy, in mosaic, of The Immaculate Conception with the Doctors of the Church, a painting by Carlo Maratta in the Cybo Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. The inscription at the top of the altar proclaims: TU SOLA UNIVERSAS HAERESES INTEREMISTI (You alone have destroyed all our heresies), a reference to the Virgin Mary. ​
King David by Jean Lebrun, San Carlo al Corso, Rome
King David by Jean Lebrun
Judith and Head of Holofernes by Pietro Pacilli, San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Judith by Pietro Pacilli
The two marble statues depict King David and Judith with the Head of Holofernes; they are, respectively, the work of André Jean Lebrun (1737-1811) and Pietro Pacilli (1720-72). 
The profusion of stucco statues and bas-reliefs are the work of Antonio Fancelli (1606-74) and his younger brother Cosimo (c. 1620-86).  ​

Chapel of the Immaculate Conception

Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, church of San Carlo al Corso, Rome
Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, in the left transept, is very similar to the chapel opposite. It was, however, created less than a century ago, during the reign of Pius XI (r. 1922-39), to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the pope's ordination as a priest. The chapel was designed by the Roman architect Cesare Bazzani (1873-1939). 
The altar is crowned with an apt quotation from the Gospel of St Mark: TU ES FILIUS MEUS IN TE COMPLACUI MIHI (Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased).​​

Funerary Monuments

The funerary monument (1857) to Caterina Ioannetti, San Carlo al Corso, Rome
The funerary monument of Caterina Ioannetti
The funerary monument (1857) to Caterina Ioannetti, who only lived for one year, three months and one day, as the inscription on the sarcophagus states.