Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

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Map

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

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Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 9th century monastic and titular church, and a minor basilica. The church was built by Pope Paschal I (r. 817-24) to house the remains of St Cecilia and her husband St Valerius, which were transferred to the church from the catacombs of San Callisto in 820. According to tradition, the church stands above the house of the two saints.

Apse Mosaic

Paschal I appears in the beautiful mosaic in the apse; his halo is rectilinear to show that he was still alive when the mosaic was made. Above his halo, perched on a branch of a palm tree, is a phoenix, a symbol of the Resurrection. In the centre of the mosaic stands Christ with St Paul, St Agatha (wearing a crown) and Paschal I on the left and St Peter, St Valerian and St Cecilia on the right. At the lower level twelve lambs (representing the Apostles) emerge from the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem and converge on the Agnus Dei.

A Detail of the Mosaic on the Loggia

The facade above the loggia was commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Acquaviva d'Aragona, titular priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere between 1709 and 1724, and designed by the Florentine architect Ferdinando Fuga (1699-1782). The cardinal's coat-of-arms is prominently displayed in the tympanum of the pediment and his name is emblazoned on the loggia: FRANCISCVS · TITV · SANCTAE · CAECILIAE · CARD · DE · AQVAVIVA.  Below this is a strip of 12th century mosaic in a vine tendril pattern. The scroll work is embellished with flowers, little animals and the faces of six saints. ​

Funerary Monument to Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfrondati

The grand funerary monument in the loggia is that of Caridnal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, who arranged the exhumation of St Cecilia in 1599. He died in 1618. 

There is a shallow vestibule inside the entrance to the church, which is separated from the nave by an arcade of five arches. To the right of the main door is the tomb of Adam Easton of Easton in Norfolk, England (died 1398), who was a titular-cardinal of the church. The monument was made by Paolo Romano. On the opposite side is the tomb of Cardinal Niccolò Forteguerri (died 1473), partly the work of the Florentine sculptor Mino da Fiesole. The vault of the vestibule is decorated with images of St Cecilia, St Valerian, St Stephen, St Urban and St Lawrence. ​

Nave

The present appearance of the interior of the church is partly the result of a restoration performed on the orders of the titular Cardinal Acquaviva. The campaign lasted from 1712 to 1728, and the supervising architects were Domenico Paradesi and Luigi Berrettoni. Some older elements were preserved, notably the baldacchino and apse mosaic, but a new ceiling vault was inserted. 

Apse

The fresco of the Coronation of St Cecilia (c. 1727) in the centre of the ceiling is the work of Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764). 

Coronation of St Cecilia by Sebastiano Conca

The galleries above the arcades were enclosed to form passages to a choir above the entrance; these features were for the use of the nuns, who were (and still are) an enclosed order. 

In 1823, the interior was once again restored by the titular Cardinal Giorgio Doria-Pamphilj Landi. The weight of the 18th century ceiling was proving too much for the ancient columns of the arcade and so they were encased in thicker pillars.

The Baldacchino

The baldacchino (1294) in the sanctuary is the signed work of Arnolfo di Cambio.

​On October 20th 1599, during the course of restoration work in the church, two marble sarcophagi were discovered. Cardinal Paolo Emilio Sfondrati, the titular cardinal of the church, had the sarcophagi opened before the presence of witnesses. In one was a wooden casket, which contained the body of St Cecilia. Peering through the veil, which covered her body, they noted that the saint was small of stature and that her head was turned downward. A young sculptor, Stefano Maderno (1576-1636), was commissioned to depict the saint's body exactly as it was found. Maderno's sculpture (1600) is on display in a striking black marble recess, under the high altar.

St Cecilia by Stefano Maderno

The Latin inscription, in the pavement before the statue, reads: EN TIBI SANCTISSIMAE VIRGINIS CAECILIAE IMAGINEM QVAM IPSE INTEGRAM SVO SEPVLCHRO IACENTEM VIDI EANDEM TIBI PRORSVS EODEM CORPORIS SITV HOC MARMORE ESPRESSI (Behold for yourself the image of the most holy virgin Cecilia, whom I myself saw lying uncorrupted in her tomb. The same have I rendered for you by this statue in the very same posture as her body). 

Funerary Monument to Cardinal Mariano Rampolla

At the end of the right aisle a short corridor leads to the Cappella Rampolla, which was created as a funerary chapel for Cardinal Mariano Rampolla (1843-1913), who was the titular-cardinal of the church from 1887 until his death. He was also the Archpriest of St Peter's Basilica and might easily have been elected pope in 1903. The grand monument (1929) is the work of the sculptor Enrico Quattrini (1864-1950).

​The courtyard in front of the church was just an empty space until 1929 when it was transformed into a garden with a pool in the centre. The centrepiece of the pool is an ancient cantharus. 

The imposing Romanesque bell-tower (c. 1140) was, thankfully, left untouched by the remodelling of the church. 

The Last Judgement by Pietro Cavallini

The beautiful church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is home to a masterpiece of medieval fresco painting. The Last Judgement (c. 1293) was painted by the Roman artist, Pietro Cavallini (c. 1250 - c. 1330), on the counter-facade of the church. However, much of the painting was lost when the interior of the church was remodelled in the 18th century.

The fresco is now only visible from the nuns’ choir, where its impact is stunning. To either side of Christ and the angels stand the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist. They, in turn, are flanked by six seated apostles.
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Cavallini’s fresco is accessed by a door to the left of the church, which leads into the Benedictine convent. There is a small entry fee and the fresco can be viewed each morning from 10.00 until 12.30. The convent is closed on Sundays.

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