Santa Maria della Vittoria - Roma, Italy
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denben
N 41° 54.277 E 012° 29.658
33T E 292167 N 4642222
Santa Maria della Vittoria (Saint Mary of Victory) is a 17th century Baroque Roman Catholic titular church located in the Rione Sallustiano at 17 Via XX Settembre in Rome, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM111BG
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 07/28/2019
Views: 1
The land for the church was purchased on April 20th in 1607, and built from 1608-1620, as a chapel dedicated to Saint Paul for the Discalced Carmelites. After the Catholic victory at the battle of White Mountain in 1620, which reversed the Reformation in Bohemia, the church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary. Turkish standards captured at the 1683 siege of Vienna hang in the church, adding to the theme of the Virgin helping to lead Catholic armies to victory.
The church is the only structure designed and completed by the early Baroque architect Carlo Maderno, though the interior suffered a fire in 1833 and required restoration. Its façade, however, was erected by Giovanni Battista Soria during Maderno's lifetime, 1624–1626, showing the unmistakable influence of Maderno's Santa Susanna nearby.
The interior has a single wide nave under a low segmental vault, with three interconnecting side chapels behind arches separated by colossal corinthian pilasters with gilded capitals that support an enriched entablature. Contrasting marble revetments are enriched with white and gilded stucco angels and putti in full relief. The interior was sequentially enriched after Maderno's death; its vault was frescoed in 1675 with triumphant themes within shaped compartments with feigned frames: The Virgin Mary Triumphing over Heresy and Fall of the Rebel Angels executed by Giovanni Domenico Cerrini.
Other sculptural detail abounds: The Dream of Joseph (left transept, Domenico Guidi, flanked by relief panels by Pierre Etienne Monnot) and the funeral monument to Cardinal Berlinghiero Gessi. There are paintings by Guercino, Nicolas Lorrain, and Domenichino. The church is also the final resting place of Saint Victoria, whose preserved remains are on display inside.
Cornaro Chapel - The most famous work of art in the church can be seen in Cardinal Federico Cornaro burial chapel: Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, executed with the rest of the chapel between 1647 and 1652. It is considered one of the best Baroque sculptures in Rome, and is one of Bernini's most accomplished and well-known works. The statues depict a moment as described by Saint Teresa of Avila in her autobiography, where she had the vivid vision of a Seraph Angel piercing her heart with a golden shaft, causing her both immense joy and pain. The flowing robes and contorted posture abandon classical restraint and repose to depict a more passionate, almost voluptuous trance.
Opening hours: 8:30 to 12:00 and 15:30 to 18:00.
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