The Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome

San Giovanni dei Fiorentini

The church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (St John of the Florentines), which was begun in 1519 at the behest of Pope Leo X (r. 1513-21), is the product of several architects: Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570), Antonio Sangallo the Younger (1484-1546), Giacomo della Porta (1532-1602), and Carlo Maderno (1556-1629). Maderno, who is interred in the church, designed the transept, choir and dome.

A century later, during the reign of Pope Clement XII (r. 1730-40), the facade was added to a design by the Florentine architect Alessandro Galilei (1691-1737). The main entrance is surmounted by the pope's coat of arms, flanked by an angel and an allegorical statue of Fortitude, both the work of the Florentine sculptor Filippo della Valle (1698-1768). The four bas-reliefs illustrate scenes from the life of St John the Baptist and are the work of several artists, including Pietro Bracci (1700-73) and Filippo della Valle. The facade sports a short inscription, which reads: CLEMENS · XII · PONT · MAX · A · S · MDCCXXXIV · P · IV. (Clement the Twelfth, Pontifex Maximus, the year of Salvation 1734, the fourth of his pontificate).

There is a Tuscan feel to the simple and well-lit interior. The altarpiece in the sanctuary takes the form of a free-standing sculpture of the Baptism of Christ (1665) by Antonio Raggi (1624-86). This work replaced a sculpture (1644) of the same subject-matter by Francesco Mochi (1580-1654), which can now be found in the third chapel on the left. On the side walls of the sanctuary are two funerary monuments to the Falconieri family, which were designed by Franceso Borromini (1599-1667), who is buried in the church.

A detail of the facade

Dome

Interior of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

Nave

Apse, church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

High altar

Baptism of Christ by Antonio Raggi, church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

The Baptism of Christ by Antonio Raggi

Gallery

Statue of Fortitude by Filippo della Valle, facade of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

The Visitation, bas-relief on the facade of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

St John Baptises Christ, bas-relief on the facade of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

The Preaching of Christ, bas-relief on the facade of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

The Beheading of St John the Baptist, bas-relief on the facade of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

Commemorative inscription to the architect Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

Baptism of Christ by Francesco Mochi, church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

Funerary monument to Francesca Calderini Pecori Riccardi (1655) by Antonio Raggi, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

Funerary monument (1746) to Alessandro Gregorio Capponi, San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

The interior of the dome of the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome

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San Giovanni dei Fiorentini

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