Santa Maria Maddalena

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Map

Santa Maria Maddalena

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Santa Maria Maddalena is a 17th century convent church. 

The extravagantly ornate facade, which has been ascribed (at least in part) to Giuseppe Sardi (1680 - c.1768), is held to be the finest example of Rococo architecture in Rome. The church was once known locally as the Chiesa di Zucchero (Church of Sugar), as its ornate facade reminded people of the fancy sugar icing on a wedding cake!  

St Mary Magdalene

St Margaret of Antioch

St Philip Neri

St Camillus

The two figures in the lower storey of the facade are St Philip Neri and St Camillus de Lellis, while in the upper storey stand St Mary Magdalene and St Margaret of Antioch.

Entrance

​The large inscription above the entrance proclaims: O CRVX AVE SPES VNICA PIIS ADAVGE GRATIAM (O hail the Cross, our only hope. Grant increase of grace to the pious). 
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La Maddalena, as the church is better known, was built for the Camillians, a religious order that was founded by Camillo de Lellis (1550-1614) in 1582. Better known simply as the Camillians, La Maddalena remains their mother church. The order was set up to minister to the sick and its full title is the Clerici Regulari Ministeri Infirmaribus (Clerics Regular, Ministers to the Sick). A large red cross is its emblem.

Camillo de Lellis was canonised by Pope Benedict XIV (r. 1740-58) on June 29th 1746. The feast day of San Camillo de Lellis is July 14th. His shrine is beneath the large altar on the right side of the transept.   

The Raising of Lazarus by M. Cerruti

The layout of the nave is elliptical with four side chapels.

The frescoes in the vault are by Michelangelo Cerruti (1663-1749) and depict scenes from the life of St Mary Magdalene. The central fresco depicts the Raising of Lazarus. 

​The fine confessionals date back to the 1760s.

High Altar

The painting on the high altar depicts the St Mary Magdalene Adoring the Cross and is the work of Michele Rocca (1671-1751). The fresco in the vault of the apse is by Aureliano Milani (1675-1749) and depicts the Preaching of Christ. 

The large bas-reliefs, which flank the altar, are by the Roman sculptor Pietro Bracci (1700-73) and depict St Mary Magdalene Arriving at the Empty Tomb and Noli Me Tangere.

Counter-facade

Santa Maria Maddalena is home to one of the most ornate organs (1736) in Rome, the work of the Austrian organ-builder Hans Conrad Wehrle (1701-77). 

Organ

The organ, which dominates much of the counter-facade, is an extravagant confection of gilded wood and white stucco. ​​​

The second chapel on the right is dedicated to the Madonna della Salute and was designed by Francesco Claudio Ferruzzi in 1718. It contains a much-venerated image of the Virgin and Child. 

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