The ancient church of San Lorenzo in Lucina may have been founded during the reign of Pope Sixtus III (r. 432-40), or even earlier. It is said to have been built on the site of the house of a Christian woman called Lucina. The church was rebuilt in the 12th century and again in the 17th century. The bell tower and portico survive from the 12th century rebuilding.
The interior comprises a single nave with side chapels. The first chapel on the right is home to a reliquary purporting to contain part of the gridiron on which St Lawrence is said to have been martyred in 258.
Outside the second chapel is a monument to the French painter Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665), who lived in Rome for many years, and who is interred in the church.
The fourth chapel was designed by Bernini for Gabriele Fonseca, the doctor to Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55).
The painting on the high altar is the Crucifixion by Guido Reni (1575-1642). It was much admired by the English poet Robert Browning (1812-89), who hailed it as 'second to nought observable in Rome' in his poem The Ring and the Book (1868).