San Girolamo dei Croati

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Map of the Churches of Rome

San Girolamo dei Croati

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The church of San Girolamo dei Croati (St Jerome of the Croats) was built during the reign of Pope Sixtus V (r. 1585-90). The beautiful stone facade, the work of Martino Longhi the Elder (1534-91), is crowned with the pope's coat of arms. 

Facade

​The facade also sports a dedicatory inscription to Sixtus V and numerous images of the pope's armorial bearings (lion, pears, eight-pointed star & trimontium).

Interior

The interior comprises a single nave with three chapels on each side. 

Dome Fresco (1590) by Giovanni Guerra

The church does not have a dome, only a trompe-l'oeil fresco (1590) of one, the work of Giovanni Guerra (1544-1618). The central scene shows Jesus and Mary reigning in heaven, being venerated by St Jerome and pointed out by St John the Baptist. The pendentives are painted with frescoes of the four Evangelists, the work of Paolo Guidotti (c. 1560-1629), who was also known as il Cavalier Borghese.

Sanctuary

The frescoes in the sanctuary were painted by several artists: Giovanni Guerra, Antonio Viviani (Il Sordo di Urbino) and Andrea Lilio. The back panel depicts The Ordination of St Jerome as Priest at Antioch, while the side walls depict St Jerome Debates on the Scriptures Before Pope Damasus (right) and St Jerome Disputes on Doctrine in the Desert of Chalcis. 

There is no altarpiece. 

Mosaics by Jozo Kljaković

San Girolamo dei Croati, which is the national church of Croatia, belongs to the nearby Pontifical Croatian College of St Jerome. The college, which was founded in 1901, was built between 1938 and 1939. The facade facing Piazza Augusto Imperatore sports three large mosaics, which were designed by the Croatian painter Jozo Kljaković (1889-1969). 

St Jerome by Ivan Mestrovic

Pope Sixtus V by Ivan Mestrovic

The college also boasts two large bas-reliefs by the Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962). ​

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