Santa Maria in Vallicella

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Chiesa Nuova after restoration (2006).

Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, facing the alley of Corso Vittorio.

[edit] History

Pope Gregory I built the first church on the site. By the 12th century, it was dedicated to Santa Maria in Vallicella (Our Lady in the Little Valley).

In the 16th century, St. Philip Neri, helped by cardinal Pierdonato Cesi and Pope Gregory XIII, had the church rebuilt. When Pierdonato died, his brother Angelo Cesi, Bishop of Todi, continued his family's patronage^[1]. Initially the architect was Martino Longhi the Elder, but he was replaced later by Matteo da Castello. The nave was completed in 1577, and the church was consecrated in 1599. The facade, designed by Fausto Rughesi, was completed in 1605 or 1606. The Cesi heraldry is still evident in the church.

Nave.

[edit] Interior

The floor-plan models the post-Counter-Reformation design of the Gesù; cross-like with one main nave leading toward the altar. The interior of the Chiesa Nuova was filled by patrons mainly during 1620-1690 and accounts, by all measures, as a collection of masterworks by the prime artists of those decades in Rome. It is reknown for its Barocci altarpieces, Cortona frescoed ceiling, and Rubens's slate and copper altarpiece.

One painting's that did not stay in its intended chapel is worth recording; Caravaggio's altarpiece of the Entombment of Christ was commissioned by Alessandro Vittrice, nephew of one of Saint Phillip's friends, and depicted the entombment in a radically naturalistic format, foreign to the grand manner found in the remaining altarpieces. The original is now a treasure of the Vatican Pinacoteca.

The walls of the nave and transept, as well as the presbitery ceiling, have canvases of Episodes of the Old and New Testament are by Lazzaro Baldi, Giuseppe Ghezzi, Daniele Seiter, Giuseppe Passeri, and Domenico Parodi. The ceiling frescoes in the nave and cupola, Triumph of the Cross (1647-51), were painted by Pietro da Cortona, while his designs for stucco decoration (1662-65) was completed by Cosimo Fancelli and Ferrata. Cortona also frescoed the prophets in the spandrels of the dome (1657-60).

The first altarpiece on the right is a Crucifixion by Pulzone with a ceiling fresco painted by Lanfranco. The third altarpiece is an Ascension by Girolamo Muziano, the fourth, a Pentecost by Giovanni Maria Morandi; the fifth, an Assumption by Cerrini. In transept, a Coronation of Mary by the Cavalier d'Arpino, who also painted the first altarpiece (Presentation in the Temple) on the right. In the right presbytery, is the Spada family chapel completed in 1593 by Rainaldi.

Inside a Madonna with Child and Santi Carlo Borromeo & Ignazio di Loyola (1675) was painted by Maratta. In the center presbytery, the bronze ciborium was designed by Ciro Ferri in 1681. The Virgin with child and two lateral paintings, Ss.Domitilla, Nereo and Achilleo, Santi Gregorio Magno, Mauro and Papia (1606-1608) are among the few works painted by Peter Paul Rubens specifically for a Roman commission. The three slate panels are said to have caused a stir among observers in Rome, who were generally unaccustomed to Flemish painterly style. The Rubens altarpiece was commissioned by Monsignor Giacomo Serra for 300 scudi.

To the left, by the presbytery, is an altarpiece of San Filippo Neri by planned by Onorio Longhi and finished by Paulo Marucelli in 1604-06. Inside the presbytery, a history of the saints is depicted by Cristoforo Roncalli(also called il Pomarancio). In the left transept is a Presentation of Mary to the Temple (1593-4) by Barocci. The latter completed two altarpieces that were highly admired in his time, including one in the Chapel of the Visitation (1583-6).

In sacristy, begun in the 1621 from Mario Arconio and completed by Marucelli in 1629, the marble group by S.Filippo & Angel by Alessandro Algardi, with wall frescoes by Francisco Trevisani and “Benediction by Christ” by Cerrini with the ceiling frescoed with Angels carrying the instruments of the Passion (1633-34) by Cortona.

The fifth altarpiece on the left is an Annunciation by the Passignano; the fourth, a “Visitation” by Barocci with the ceiling frescoed with Saints by Saraceni. In the third Adoration by the Shepherds by Durante Alberti and the vault frescoed with a Saint by Roncalli. The second altarpiece is an Adoration by the Magi by Cesare Nebbia; the first, a Presentation to the Temple by d'Arpino.

Neri is buried in the chapel dedicated to him, in a tomb decorated with mother-of-pearl.