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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
Page revised in December 2010.
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Ospizio
e Chiesa di S. Luigi della Nazione Francese (Book
9) (Map
C2) (Day 4) (View C6) (Rione Sant'Eustachio)
In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
S. Luigi dei Francesi
Palazzo di S. Luigi
Palazzo Giustiniani
Palazzo Patrizi
Collegio Germanico
S. Agostino
The Plate (No. 175)
When Giuseppe Vasi published this etching in 1759, the interior of S. Luigi dei Francesi had just been renovated with large use of stuccoes, gold and precious stones; this improvement followed the placement in 1746 of four statues in the niches of the façade and the enlargement in 1716 of the hostel for the French pilgrims.
Although France's political influence declined throughout the XVIIIth century, its cultural supremacy reached its peak and French became the language spoken by the upper classes of all European countries.
The view is taken from the green dot in the 1748 map below.
In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Parte dell'Ospizio (Palazzo di S. Luigi); 2) Convento dei PP. Agostiniani;
3) Parte di Palazzo Patrizi. 2) is shown in another page. The map shows also 4) Palazzo Giustiniani;
5) S. Agostino; 6) S. Luigi de' Francesi; 7) Collegio Germanico. The dotted line in the small map delineates the borders among Rione Ponte (upper left corner), Rione Parione (lower left quarter) and Rione Sant'Eustachio (right half).
Today
The view in June 2011
The view is not much changed apart from the enlargements of Palazzo di S. Luigi (XIXth century) and of Collegio Germanico (late XVIIIth century); the small houses shown in the etching were replaced by larger buildings.
Today the area is reserved to pedestrians and is subject to police surveillance because the building shown in the left side of the image (Palazzo Madama) houses the Senate of the Italian Republic.
S.
Luigi dei Francesi
(left) Façade; (right) coat of arms of France by Nicolò Pippi; the two statues are thought
to have originally been in Porta Pia, holding
the coat of arms of Pope Pius IV; they are now replaced by copies
The construction of the national French church started in 1518, but it was completed only in 1589 after
Queen Catherine de' Medici donated some properties she had near Palazzo Madama (click here for a list of national churches in Rome);
the façade was designed by Giacomo della Porta, but it was actually built by Domenico Fontana.
The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to St. Denis and to King Saint Louis; you may wish to see the church as it appeared in a 1588 Guide to Rome.
(left) Charlemagne by Pierre L'Estache; (centre) salamander by Jean de Chenevières; (right) King Saint Louis by Pierre L'Estache
The initial project for S. Luigi dei Francesi was drawn by Jean de Chenevières, a French architect and sculptor, who devised a circular church, to some extent similar to
Tempietto del Bramante; the project was eventually abandoned, but two reliefs by Chenevières were placed on the final building; they portray a salamander, the symbol of King Francis I of France and that of enduring faith; the motto "Nutrisco et extinguo" means "I nourish (the good) and I extinguish (the bad).
(left) Cappella di S. Luigi: painting by Plautilla Bricci; (right) Cappella Contarelli: paintings by Caravaggio
The chapels were decorated in the XVIIth century by some of the best artists of that period;
that dedicated to St. Louis was designed by Plautilla Bricci, a female architect and painter (in other pages of this web site you can see a detail of the chapel and Villa del Vascello, a very extravagant building by her).
Cardinal Mathieu Cointerel was a great supporter of the construction of S. Luigi dei Francesi and he was buried in a
chapel near the apse; his heirs (Contarelli) commissioned Caravaggio the decoration of the altar and of the two side walls with paintings showing episodes of St. Matthew's life; it was one of the first commissions Caravaggio received for paintings to be placed in a church; he portrayed Matthew as a peasant being actually helped by the angel in writing his gospel; the painting was refused and Caravaggio had to replace it
with a more traditional portrayal of the Evangelist; the refused painting (external link) was bought by Vincenzo Giustiniani; it was lost in Berlin during WWII.
Ceiling fresco portraying "Death and Glory of King Saint Louis" by Charles Natoire
The interior was redecorated by Antoine Dérizet, a French architect who also redesigned SS. Andrea e Claudio dei Borgognoni, another French
church; the ceiling fresco was commissioned to Charles Natoire, Director of Accademia di Francia (you may wish to see other ceilings of Roman churches).
The image which appears in the background of this page shows the symbol of the French Republic with the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.
Palazzo di S. Luigi
(left) Balcony and main window; (right) coat of arms of France
Palazzo di S. Luigi is a large block made up of buildings of different periods; the side on Via di S. Giovanna d'Arco is by far the most
interesting with a complex façade designed by Carlo Bizzaccheri in 1707-12. The small 1748 map shows that there was a small square (Piazza del Pinaco) opposite
the entrance; this square does not exist any longer and the narrowness of the street makes it difficult to notice
the elaborate design of the central window.
(above) Inscriptions and coats of arms in the courtyard of the palace; (below-left) relief by Jean de Chenevières showing allegories of Astronomy, Arithmetics, Geometry and Music; (below-right) inscription celebrating the first consecration of S. Dionigi Aeropagita
The palace houses several offices of the French community in Rome; its large courtyard is decorated with reliefs
and inscriptions from lost French churches, such as S. Salvatore in thermis, S. Maria della Purificazione and S. Dionigi Aeropagita.
Palazzo Giustiniani
(left) Main façade; (right-above) inscription above a window with a quotation from Horace (Odes - Book 4 - Poem 5) "te multa prece, te prosequitur mero
defuso pateris et Laribus tuum
miscet numen" (A household power, adored with prayers and wine,
Thou reign'st auspicious o'er his hour of ease - translation by John Conington); (right-below) details of the cornice with the heraldic symbols of the Giustiniani (tower and eagle)
The Giustiniani were a family of Genoese origin who accumulated a fortune by trading in the Levant where they controlled the island of Scio (today's Chios); after the island was conquered by the Ottomans in 1566 Giuseppe Giustiniani settled in Rome where in 1590
he bought a palace which he and his heirs enlarged and modified in the following years, although the façade retained its original neat design;
there is uncertainty among art historians about the involvement of Carlo Maderno and Francesco Borromini in the design of the interior.
Athena Giustiniani in Braccio Nuovo in the Vatican Museums (maybe you may wish to see a page on Roman Feet and Sandals)
The Giustiniani embellished their palace with a very fine collection of ancient statues and reliefs.
J. W. Goethe admired in particular a statue of Athena which was bought in 1817 by Pope Pius VII, after most of the Giustiniani collection had been sold abroad.
Palazzo
Patrizi
(left) Façade; (right) window showing the heraldic symbols of the Aldobrandini
The façade of Palazzo Patrizi was built in 1611, but there is uncertainty about the architect who designed it; at that time it
belonged to Olimpia Aldobrandini, niece of
Pope Clement VIII, whose stars and stripes decorate the windows.
It was bought by the Patrizi in 1642. In recent years the palace was one of the first to be repainted in the light colours which
prevailed in the XVIIIth century (you may wish to see a page on the changes which have occurred in the colours of Rome in the last ten years).
Collegio Germanico
(left) Façade; (right) courtyard
The design of the main façade of Collegio Germanico
was used as a pattern for its enlargement in 1776 by Pietro Camporese. The airy courtyard has an interesting
baroque fountain.
S.
Agostino
(left) Façade; (right) S. Maria Novella in Florence
The Renaissance façade of S. Agostino was designed by Giacomo da Pietrasanta
for Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville (learn more about him) in 1483; he utilized some of the travertine blocks which had fallen from the Colosseum. The architect came from Tuscany and he based his project on a pattern established by Leon Battista Alberti in Florence's S. Maria Novella
(you may wish to see a page comparing works of art in Rome and in Florence).
You may wish to see the church as it appeared in a 1588 Guide to Rome.
(left) Madonna del Parto by Jacopo Sansovino; (right) The Charity of St. Thomas of Villanova by Melchorre Caffà
S. Agostino contains several interesting works of art; two statues in particular represent Renaissance and Baroque styles: Madonna del Parto (birth/delivery) by Jacopo Sansovino and S. Tommaso di Villanova by Melchiorre Caffà.
The statue by Sansovino is clearly inspired by classical models (a statue of Apollo according to M. D. Garrard)
and it is placed in a niche similar to a triumphal arch. The group of S. Tommaso by Melchiorre Caffà, one of the most talented
pupils of Bernini, is a perfect example of the Baroque attempt to create a link between the fictitious world of art and real life (R. Wittkower - Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750). You may wish to see the XVIIIth century monument to Cardinal Imperiali by Paolo Posi and Pietro Bracci.
(left) The Prophet Isaiah by Raphael; (centre) ceiling of Cappella di S. Nicola da Tolentino by Giovan Battista Ricci; (right) Madonna dei Pellegrini by Caravaggio
Those more interested in painting will find works in S. Agostino which are representative of different periods and styles: a fresco by Raphael, fully decorated Mannerist chapels and a painting by Caravaggio, which caused a scandal for the realism by which the dirty feet of the pilgrims were portrayed.
Sacristy: (left) monument to theologian Alessandro Oliva; (right) XVIIIth century clock indicating the "Italian hour"
In the XVIIIth century Luigi Vanvitelli redesigned the adjoining convent and library and he built a new sacristy where some Renaissance monuments were relocated.
Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:
Palazzo Giustiniani, e Patrizj
Nell'uscire dal portone del divisato cortile, ci viene incontro il ricchissimo palazzo Giustiniani, non
meno per la copiosa scelta di quadri de' primi valenti uomini, che per la quantità di statue, busti, e
marmi preziosi trovati nelle rovine delle accennate terme di Nerone, passando il numero di 500. le
statue antiche, oltre le moderne, distribuite negli appartamenti, nelle scale, e nel portico con magnificenza
di colonne di granito, collocate tra nicchie, e spartimenti con bassirilievi, correndone le stampe in due
gran tomi per piacere degli eruditi e dilettanti; onde questo si rende singolare fra i palazzi di Roma.
A destra evvi il palazzo Patrizj, ed incontro la
Chiesa di s. Luigi de' Francesi
Era quivi anticamente un priorato di Monaci Benedettini spettante alla Badia di Farfa, e vi era unita la
prossima e piccola chiesa collo spedale detto s. Giacomo in Thermis. La nazione Francese fece la permuta
l'an. 1589. con altra, che altrove possedeva, e colle limosine di Caterina de' Medici Regina di Francia fu
eretta la nuova chiesa col disegno di Giacomo della Porta, in onore di san Dionisio Areopagita, e di
san Luigi Re di Francia. Anni sono è stata tutta incrostata di marmi, ed ornata mirabilmente di pitture
e stucchi dorati. È celebre in questa chiesa la seconda cappella a destra, dedicata a s. Cecilia, non
solo per il quadro dell'altare copiato da Guido Reni dall'originale di Raffaello, ma altresì per le pitture ne'
laterali, e nella volta fatte a fresco dal gran Domenichino. Evvi nella cappella, che siegue la
B. Gio. di Sciantal dipinta da Monsù Parosel, e nell'altare maggiore l'Assunzione della ss. Vergine è di
Francesco Bassano, il s. Matteo con i laterali nella cappella, che siegue sono del Caravaggio,
l'adorazione de' Magi, del Cav. Baglioni, il s. Luigi, di Plautilla Bricci, ed il s. Niccolò nella
penultima, del Muziani; i laterali però sono di Girolamo Maffei, il quale fece ancora il quadro
nell'ultima. Nella sagrestia poi vi è il s. Dionigi dipinto da Gio: Miele, una Madonna del Correggio,
e l'abbozzo del san Erasmo, che sta nella Basilica Vaticana fatto del Pussino. Ufizia questa chiesa
un collegio di Preti nazionali, i quali abitano nel magnifico casamento laterale, ove è anche l'ospizio
per li pellegrini di loro nazione.
Chiesa e Convento di s. Agostino
Senza andar cercando dove sia questo, basta incamminarsi a sinistra, che dopo pochi passi
si vede la gran mole del nuovo convento, fatto con disegno del Cav. Luigi Vanvitelli Romano,
il quale ha rinnovato ancora la chiesa, che per la vecchiezza minacciava rovina,
particolarmente la cupola, la quale vantava il primato fra tutte le moderne di Roma.
Fu questa eretta l'anno 1483. con disegno quasi gotico di Giacomo Pontelli, servandosi
de' travertini caduti dal Colosseo, e furono trasportati in essa tutti i corpi de' santi
Martiri, che erano nell'antichissima chiesa di s. Tritone, ora affatto soppressa per la
nuova fabbrica del convento. Sono in questa nobilissime cappelle ornate di marmi,
depositi, e pitture celebri, fra le quali tiene il primo luogo un Profeta con due putti
dipinto sopra un pilastro della nave da Raffaello da Urbino, fatto a somiglianza delle
opere di Michel Angelo Bonarroti; il s. Agostino nell'altare della crociata è del
Guercino da Cento. L'altare maggiore ornato di marmi preziosi è disegno del Cav. Bernini,
e li Angioli furono terminati da Gio. Fancelli sotto il mentovato Bernini; le pitture
nella cappella di s. Agostino, e di s. Guglielmo sono del Lanfranco, il s. Tommaso di
Villanuova, del Romanelli, il medesimo Santo scolpito in marmo, è di Melchior Gafar Maltese,
terminato per causa di morte da Ercole Ferrata; il deposito del Card. Imperiali è opera di
Domenico Guidi; la deposizione dalla Croce è di Giorgio Vasari; il quadro del B. Giovanni,
è di Giacinto Brandi; la s. Appollonia, del Muziani; l'Assunta, dell'Abbatini, e
la s. Casa di Loreto, del Caravaggio, ed altre molte pitture, e sculture, che si
tralasciano per brevità.
Nel sito presso di questa chiesa e convento si crede essere stato eretto da Romolo
l'altare a Marte, per cui il campo si disse Marzio, ed ancora esservi stato il
Busto fatto da Ottaviano Augusto, cioè un luogo chiuso con cancellate di ferro,
in cui solevano i Gentili abbruciare i cadaveri degl'Imperatori, ed il primo fu
quello del medesimo Augusto.
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Next plate in Book 9: Chiesa della SS. Trinità
e Ospizio dei Pellegrini
Next step in Day 4 itinerary: Convento
di S. Agostino
Next step in tour of Rione Sant'Eustachio: Palazzo Madama
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