Santa Maria in Campitelli

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Map of the Churches of Rome

Santa Maria in Campitelli

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The Baroque church of Santa Maria in Campitelli, also known as Santa Maria in Portico, was built as the shrine for a tiny icon of the Madonna and Child, which was believed to have stopped an outbreak of the plague in 1656. 

Lantern

The church was designed by Carlo Rainaldi (1611-91) and built between 1658 and 1667. The inscription on the facade reads: SPQR VOTVM S ALEXAN VII P M S MARIAE IN PORTICV A FVNDAM POS A D M D C L X V (The Senate and People of Rome, under a vow to the Supreme Pontiff Alexander VII, laid the foundations for the church of Santa Maria in Portico in the year of our Lord 1665).

Nave

Nave

The nave is barrel-vaulted with three chapels on each side; the middle two of which are very large.

High Altar

High Altar

The beautiful silver-gilt and enamel icon, known as the Madonna del Portico, which is thought to date from the 13th century, sits above the high altar in the centre of a dramatic burst of golden rays. 

Icon

The icon is only 25 cm high, which makes it very difficult to see from the nave. 

The high altar has been attributed to Giovanni Antonio de Rossi, with help from Ercole Ferrata and Johann Paul Schor. The fresco in the vault of the apse was painted by Giovan Battista Conti (1878-1971) and depicts Pope Alexander VI Offering the Church to the Virgin Mary (1925).  

Altieri Chapel

The Altieri Chapel

The first chapel on the left is the Cappella Altieri, which was created in the first decade of the 18th century. It is dedicated to St Joseph and the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1473-1533). The fine marble altarpiece, which is by the Roman sculptor Lorenzo Ottoni (1648-1736), depicts The Holy Family Appearing in a Vision to the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni. 

The Holy Family Appearing in a Vision to the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni

On the left wall is the funerary monument of Angelo Altieri and on the right that of his wife Vittoria Parabiacchi. Each monument bears a single word: NIHIL (Nothing) and VMBRA (Shadow). The bust of Angelo Altieri is by the French sculptor Michel Maille (1643-1703), who also started work on that of Vittoria Parabiacchi. It was completed by Antonio Lavaggi after Maille's death.  ​

Vault

The fresco in the vault, which depicts The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is by the Roman painter Giuseppe Passeri (c. 1610-79). 

Chapel of St John the Baptist

Chapel of San Giovanni Battista

The colossal chapel, second left, was commissioned by Cardinal Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni (1623-98), an adopted nephew of Pope Clement X (r. 1670-76), and designed by Giovanni Battista Contini (1642-1723).

Tomb of San Giovanni Leonardi

The figure enshrined at the base of the altar is San Giovanni Leonardi (1541-1609), the founder of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God (Ordo Clericorum Regularium Matris Dei), who was canonised by Pope Pius XI on April 17th 1938. 

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