Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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Walking Tours of Rome

Santa Maria dell' Anima


Map
Church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Santa Maria dell' Anima

The church of Santa Maria dell' Anima (St Mary of the Souls), which is the national church of the Germans, was consecrated in 1543. The sculpture of the Madonna Between Two Souls in Purgatory, above the main door, is a copy of work attributed to Andrea Sansovino (c. 1467-1529); the original is kept in the sacristy. 

The church's campanile (bell tower), with its poly-chromatic spire, is one of the most striking in Rome. It was designed by Sansovino and is crowned with a bronze double-headed eagle, the symbol of the Hapsburg Empire. The latter was added in the 19th century. 

The interior of 
Santa Maria dell' Anima takes the form of a style of church known as a Hallenkirche (the aisles are the same height as the nave).

In the first two chapels, on either side of the church, are two fine paintings by Carlo Saraceni (1579-1620), a Venetian artist who worked most of his life in Rome.


The sumptuous decoration of the sanctuary is by Paolo Posi (1708-76). The painting of the Holy Family with Saints (1522), over the high altar, is the work of Giulio Romano (c.1499-1546), a pupil of Raphael. 
​

The sanctuary is the final resting place of Pope Adrian VI (r. 1522-23), a Dutchman from Utrecht, who was the last non-Italian pope until the election, almost 500 years later, of John Paul II (r. 1978-2005). His funerary monument was designed by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481-1536), with sculptures by Michelangelo Senese and Niccolò Tribolo. An inscription laments: PROH DOLOR QVANTVM REFERET IN QVAE TEMPORA VEL OPTIMI CVIVSQVE VIRTVS INCIDAT (Alas, how important, even for the best of men, are the times in which he finds himself). Adrian VI, and the even shorter-reigning Marcellus II (r. April 9th-May 1st, 1555), are the only popes of the modern era to have retained their own names. 

On the opposite side of the sanctuary is the funerary monument to 
Karl Friedrich of Jülich Cleves Berg, who died in 1575. This monument was designed by Albert Pighius with sculptures by Nicolas Mostaert and Gillis van den Vliete. The former sculptor is known in Italian as Niccolò Fiammingo or Niccolò Pippi d'Arras and the latter as Egidio de le Riviere.

In front of the sanctuary is the ornate funerary monument to Bishop Georgius Meisellius, whose epitaph consists of just three words: VIVENS MORI MEMOR (Live remembering that you will die).

The beautiful stained glass windows in Santa Maria dell' Anima were added between 1875 and 1882 and are the work of Ludovico Seitz (1844-1908), a Roman painter of German ancestry. 

Apse of the church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Apse
Apse, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Apse
Funerary monument to Pope Adrian VI, church o f Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Funerary monument to Pope Adrian VI
Bell tower, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Bell tower

Gallery
Apse of the church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Bell tower of the church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Holy Family and Saints (1522) by Giulio Romano, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
High altar of the church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Double-headed Hapsburg eagle with the Virgin and Child flanked by two souls, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Funerary monument to Bishop Georgius Meisellius, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Stained-glass window, church Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
16th century funerary monument to Duke Karl Friedrich of Cleves, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, Rome
Stained glass window, church of Santa Maria dell' Anima, 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
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      • Pope Gregory XIV
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      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
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      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
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      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
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      • 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
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      • Chigi Chapel
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
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    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
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      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
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    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
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    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
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  • Forum
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    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
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    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
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    • '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
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    • S. Zenone
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  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
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    • 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
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    • Villa Medici
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    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza del Campidglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Cloisters
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • House of the Owls
    • Knights of Malta
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano