The 17th century church of San Carlo ai Catinari (St Charles at the Bowlmakers) was commissioned by the Clerks Regular of St Paul, better known as the Barnabites, and largely funded by the Milanese community in Rome to honour their compatriot St Charles Borromeo (1538-84), who was canonised by Pope Paul V (r. 1605-21) on November 1st 1610.
The Order of the Clerics Regular of St Paul was founded in Milan in 1530 by a group of local noblemen led by St Anthony Zaccaria (1502-39). They first met in the church of St Barnabas - hence the nickname.
Main Entrance
The church, which is also dedicated to St Blaise, was designed by Rosato Rosati (1559-1622) and built between 1612 and 1620. The façade was designed by Giovanni Battista Soria (1581-1651) and built between 1635 and 1638. It was financed by Cardinal Giambattista Leni, who is duly honoured in the inscription: IO ⋅ BAPTISTA ⋅ S ⋅ R ⋅ E ⋅ CARDINALIS ⋅ LENIVS ⋅ ARCHIPR ⋅ LATERAN ⋅ A ⋅ MDCXXXV(John Baptist Leni, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Arch-priest of the Lateran, in the year 1635).
The main entrance is surmounted by a fresco of St Charles Borromeo at prayer. Above it, crowned and in Gothic lettering, is a single word humilitas, which was the saint's motto. The heraldic device of Cardinal Leni comprised three diagonal logs of wood and it can be seen above the entrance and elsewhere on the facade.
Dome
The splendid dome of San Carlo ai Catinari is one of the largest in Rome.
Dome Interior
The inscription at the base of the cupola reads: ECCE SACERDOS QVI IN DEIBVS SVIS PLACVIT DEO ET IN TEMPORE IRACVNIAE FACTVS EST RECONCILIATIO(Behold, a priest who in his days pleased God and in a time of anger made reconcilation).
The frescoes in the pendentives depict allegories of the four cardinal virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude) and are the work Domenico Zampieri (1581-1641), better known as ilDomenichino.
High Altar
The high altar was designed by Martino Longhi the Younger. The altarpiece is by Pietro da Cortona and was one of his last works. To either side of the altar are stucco statues of St Peter and St Paul. The statues are copies of the pair in Piazza San Pietro; St Peter is by Giuseppe De Fabris and St Paul by Giulio Tadolini.
The interior was restored in 1897, in celebration of the canonisation of St Anthony Zaccaria (1502-39), the founder of the Barnabites, which took place on May 27th of the same year.