Santo Spirito in Sassia
Encyclopedia
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
) is a 12th century basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
church in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.
It has been erected in Borgo Santo Spirito, a street which got its name from the church, placed in the southern part of Rione
Rioni of Rome
A rione is an Italian term used since the Middle Ages to name the districts of Rome, according to the administrative divisions of that time. The word originates from the Latin word regio A rione (pl. rioni) is an Italian term used since the Middle Ages to name the districts of Rome, according to...
Borgo
Borgo (rione of Rome)
Borgo , is the 14th historic district of Rome, Italy. It lies on the west bank of the Tiber, and has a trapezoidal shape. Its coat of arms shows a lion , lying in front of three mounts and a star...
.
The church stands on the site of King Ine of Wessex
Ine of Wessex
Ine was King of Wessex from 688 to 726. He was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla, who had brought much of southern England under his control and expanded West Saxon territory substantially...
's Schola Saxorum or Saxon School, a charitable institution for Saxon pilgrim
Pilgrim
A pilgrim is a traveler who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journeying to some place of special significance to the adherent of a particular religious belief system...
s. It was rebuilt in the 12th century.
Subsequently it was restored several times. In 1475 Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. His accomplishments as Pope included the establishment of the Sistine Chapel; the group of artists that he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age,...
commissioned joining the church to the nearby Hospital of the Holy Spirit for foundlings
Child abandonment
Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring with the intent of never again resuming or reasserting them. Causes include many social and cultural factors as well as mental illness. An abandoned child is called a foundling .-Causes:Poverty is often a...
(which Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III was Pope from 8 January 1198 until his death. His birth name was Lotario dei Conti di Segni, sometimes anglicised to Lothar of Segni....
had built and whose history is given in wall-paintings in the church's sacristy) and given a bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
.
In 1538–1545, Antonio da Sangallo
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
thumb|250px|The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the [[Trajan's Market]] in [[Rome]], considered Sangallo's masterwork.thumb|250px|View of St. Patrick's Well in [[Orvieto]]....
the Younger, or Baldassare Peruzzi
Baldassare Peruzzi
Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena and died in Rome. He worked for many years, beginning in 1520, under Bramante, Raphael, and later Sangallo during the erection of the new St. Peter's...
, rebuilt the church after it had been damaged during the Sack of Rome
Sack of Rome (1527)
The Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527 was a military event carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Rome, then part of the Papal States...
. An organ, which survives, was added in 1547.
In 1585–1590, Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V
Pope Sixtus V , born Felice Peretti di Montalto, was Pope from 1585 to 1590.-Early life:The chronicler Andrija Zmajević states that Felice's family originated from modern-day Montenegro...
had the exterior restored, giving the church its present façade by Ottavio Mascherino, inspired by a design of Sangallo). This facade has two stories, with Corinthian pillars dividing the lower one into five sections, and the upper divided into three sections. In the upper middle section is a circular window, and above that is the coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus V. The façade is crowned by a pediment. It is strongly reminiscent of Renaissance architecture.
In the station for the first Sunday after the octave of the Epiphany instituted by Pope Innocent III, a procession carried the veil of Saint Veronica
Saint Veronica
Saint Veronica or Berenice, according to the "Acta Sanctorum" published by the Bollandists , was a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha, gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead...
from Saint Peter's Basilica, with the Pope celebrating Mass in this church. Indulgences were granted to those that took part, and money was given to the poor.
Art and architecture
The church has a single nave, and 10 apsidal chapels along the sides. The counter-facade has a Visitation (1545) by Marco PinoMarco Pino
Marco Pino or Marco da Siena was an Italian painter of the Renaissance and Mannerist period. Born and first trained in Siena, he later worked in Rome and in Naples, where he died. He was putatively a pupil of the painters Beccafumi and Daniele da Volterra. The biographer Filippo Baldinucci also...
, and a Conversion of St. Paul begun by Francesco Salviati
Francesco de' Rossi (Il Salviati)
Francesco de' Rossi was an Italian Mannerist painter from Florence, also active in Rome. He is known by many names, prominently the adopted name Francesco Salviati or as Il Salviati, but also Francesco Rossi and Cecchino del Salviati.-Biography:Salviati was born and died in Florence...
and completed by Francesco Rubiale. The first chapel to the right in the apse, has a fresco of the Pentecost by the Florentine Jacopo Zucchi
Jacopo Zucchi
Jacopo Zucchi was a Florentine painter of the Mannerist style, active in Florence and Rome.His training began in the studio of Giorgio Vasari, and he participated in decoration of the Studiolo and the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio. Moving to Rome in the early 1570s, he worked for...
and his brother. The second chapel has an Assumption by Livio Agresti
Livio Agresti
Livio Agresti , also called Ritius or Ricciutello, was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period, active both in his native city of Forlì and in Rome, where he died. He was one of the members of the "Forlì painting school"...
, who also painted the Trinity in the 4th chapel as well as frescoes in the third chapel. The 5th chapel has an Annunciation and an Ascent (1570) by Giuseppe Valeriano. The sacristy is decorated by stories of the Schola Saxonum by Guidobaldo Abbatini. The apse is frescoed (1583) by both Jacopo and Francesco Zucchi
Francesco Zucchi
Francesco Zucchi , engraver, was born at Venice in 1692. He was the brother of Andrea Zucchi , and was instructed by him in Pordenone. He was invited to Dresden to engrave some plates from the pictures in the Gallery but his work was interrupted by the Seven Years' War...
. The fifth chapel on the left has a Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist by Marcello Venusti
Marcello Venusti
Marcello Venusti was an Italian Mannnerist painter active in Rome in mid 16th century.Native to Mazzo di Valtellina near Como, he was reputed to have been a pupil of Perino del Vaga. He is known for a scaled copy of the Michelangelo's Last Judgement, commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese,...
. The second and first chapels contain paintings by Cesare Nebbia
Cesare Nebbia
Cesare Nebbia is an Italian painter from Orvieto who painted in a Mannerist style.-Biography:He trained with Girolamo Muziano, and under this master, he helped complete a flurry of decoration that was added to the Cathedral of Orvieto in the 1560s...
, including a Coronation of the Virgin.
See also
- Basilica of Sant'Elia, a church in Castel Sant'EliaCastel Sant'EliaCastel Sant'Elia is a comune in the Province of Viterbo, Latium, central Italy, located about 40 km north of Rome and about 30 km southeast of Viterbo.-Main sights:...
whose monastery was held by Santo Spirito in Sassia canons.