Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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    • Altars >
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      • Chapel of St Helen
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  • Mosaics
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Walking Tours of Rome

San Luigi dei Francesi


Map
Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
San Luigi dei Francesi

The 16th century church of San Luigi dei Francesi is the national church of France.

The design of the facade has been attributed to Giacomo della Porta (1532-1602). 
The four statues are by the French sculptor Pierre de l'Estache (c.1688-1774) and depict Charlemagne and King St Louis of France and St Clotilde and St Jeanne de Valois. The two tondi at the base depict salamanders, the emblem of King Francois I (r. 1515-47). The façade is crowned with the coat of arms of France, the work of the Flemish sculptor Nicolaus Mostaert, better known as Niccolò Fiammingo (c.1530-1604). 

The church's extravagantly ornate interior was designed by the French architect Antoine Dérizet (1685-1768) and completed in 1756. The gilded stucco work of the ceiling of the nave contains images of the French fleur de lys. The central panel has a painting of  the Apotheosis of St Louis, which was executed by Charles-Joseph Natoire (1700-77). 

The sanctuary has a dome, which is coffered in hexagons containing stars and rosettes. The pendentives sport stucco sculptures of the four Latin Doctors of the Church (St Augustine, St Jerome, St Ambrose and Pope St Gregory the Great). The high altar is a painting of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Francesco Bassano the Younger (1549-92). 

San Luigi dei Francesi is a well-trodden stop on the Caravaggio trail. The Cappella Contarini is home to three beautiful scenes from the life of Saint Matthew, which Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) painted between 1599 and 1602. This was the artist's first public commission and was executed for the heirs of Cardinal Matthieu Cointrel, who had died in 1585.  

The third chapel on the left is dedicated to St Louis of France (1214-70). It is the most sumptuously decorated chapel in the church and was designed by Plautilla Bricci (1616 - c.1700), a female artist and architect, who also painted the altarpiece. 

In the left aisle stands a m
onument to the French artist Claude Gellée (1600-82), better known as Claude Lorrain, by Paul Le Moyne (1784-1883). Lorrain, who lived for much of his adult life in Rome, is famous for his paintings of the Roman countryside. He was originally buried in the church of Ss Trinita dei Monti, but in 1840 his remains were transferred to San Luigi dei Francesi. 

Nave, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Nave
Nave vault, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Nave vault
Apse, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Apse
Chapel of St Louis of France, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Chapel of St Louis of France

Gallery
Vault of the chapel of St Louis of France, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
An image of a salamander on the facade of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Monument to the painter Claude Lorrain (1600-1682) by Paul Le Moyne (1784-1883), church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome.
Statue of Charlemagne by Pierre de l'Estache, facade of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Statue of St Louis of France by Pierre de l'Estache, facade of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Stucco statue of St Jerome, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Stucco statue of Pope St Gregory the Great, church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
The coat of arms of France, the work of Niccolò Fiammingo, crowns the facade of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2022. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Home
  • Personalised Tours
  • Vatican Tours
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Images
  • 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
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
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      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • 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
    • Fountain of the Four Lions
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea del Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Mars Ultor
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Venanzio
    • S. Zenone
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
    • Churches
    • Domes
    • Fountains
    • Old Photographs
    • Palaces
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Palazzi
    • Palazzo Barberini
    • Palazzo del Quirinale
    • Palazzo della Cancelleria
    • Palazzo della Consulta
    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni
    • Palazzo Farnese
    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Venezia
    • Villa Farnesina
    • Villa Medici
  • Galleries & Museums
    • Galleria Borghese
    • Galleria Colonna
    • Galleria Doria-Pamphilj
    • Musei Capitolini
  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza del Campidglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Cloisters
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • House of the Owls
    • Knights of Malta
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione-Monti
    • Rione-Trevi
    • Rione-Colonna
    • Rione-Campo Marzio
    • Rione-Ponte
    • Rione-Parione
    • Rione-Regola
    • Rione-Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione-Pigna
    • Rione-Campitelli
    • Rione-Sant' Angelo
    • Rione-Ripa
    • Rione-Trastevere
    • Rione-Borgo