Santa Maria ai Monti
Encyclopedia
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...
, Italy. The church is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
History
Situated on the sloping terrain above the ancient forums of Rome, near Via Cavour, at 41 Via della Madonna dei Monti, the church was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIIIPope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
in 1580 to celebrate the discovery of a miraculous 15th century image of Our Lady with Sts Lawrence and Stephen, found in the ruins of a nearby convent of the Poor Clares, and which now hangs over the high altar. A copy is taken in procession through the streets on 26 April each year.
The church was designed by Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome.-Biography:...
with a façade inspired by his prior work of the church of the Gesú. It has two rows of Corinthian pilasters that are connected with volutes. (The façade was renovated in 1991-1992) Above the door is a dedicatory inscription and votive niches. The work was continued by Carlo Lombardi
Carlo Lombardi
Tenente Carlo Francesco Lombardi was a World War I flying ace credited with eight aerial victories. Postwar, he was active in his family's rice refinery, as well as in record breaking flights...
and Flaminio Ponzio
Flaminio Ponzio
Flaminio Ponzio was an Italian architect during the late-Renaissance or so-called Mannerist period, serving in Rome as the architect for Pope Paul V.Ponzio was born in Viggiù near Varese, and he died in Rome...
. Original to this phase are the statues by Giovanni Anguilla of the four major prophets of the Old Testament in the niches of the dome (1599).
The apse was decorated by Giacinto Gimignani
Giacinto Gimignani
Giacinto Gimignani was an Italian painter, active mainly in Rome, during the Baroque period.Gimignani was born in Pistoia, where his father, Alessio was also a painter and former pupil of Jacopo Ligozzi...
and Cristoforo Casolani. The latter also produced the frescoes of the four Evangelists in the dome and the ceiling fresco in the nave depicting The Ascension, Angels and Doctors of the Church (1624). In each of the eight sections of the dome are scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin by several artists, while in the vault and the arches of the chapels are stucco angels by Ambrogio Buonvicino. In the first chapel to the right are frescoes of the story of San Carlo Borromeo and a Madonna and child with the saint (1624) by Giovanni da San Giovanni
Giovanni da San Giovanni
Giovanni da San Giovanni , also known as Giovanni Mannozzi, was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period.-Biography:...
. The third chapel has a Walk to Calvary by Paris Nogari
Paris Nogari
Paris Nogari was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, a minor pupil of Cesare Nebbia active mainly in Rome. He painted in the library of the Vatican in a style resembling Raffaellino da Reggio and was among the painters who frescoed Santa Susanna.-References:...
. The main altar has a Madonna with child with saints Stephen & Lorenzo from the early 15th century. In the third chapel on the left, is a Nativity by Girolamo Muziano
Girolamo Muziano
Girolamo Muziano , was an Italian painter, active in a late-Renaissance or Mannerism style. He was born in Acquafredda, near Brescia, but active mainly in Rome....
, flanked by an Adoration of the Magi and Dream of St. John both 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...
. In the first chapel to the left (north) is an Annunciation (1588) by Durante Alberti
Durante Alberti
Durante Alberti was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period.He was born in Borgo San Sepolcro. He was active mainly in his native town and Rome, where he arrived during the papacy of Gregory XIII. He was also called Durante del Nero. His father was Romano Alberti. His son Pierfrancesco...
.
St Benedict Joseph Labre
Benedict Joseph Labre
Saint Benedict Joseph Labré was a French mendicant, Franciscan tertiary and Roman Catholic saint.-Life:He was born in Amettes, near Arras in the north of France, the eldest of fifteen children of a prosperous shopkeeper, and was religious from a very early age. He was noted for performing public...
collapsed here in 1783, died in a house behind the church, and was buried in the north transept beneath an altar. An effigy of him was added by Achille Albacini in 1892. His feast is celebrated in the church on 16 April.
It has been a parish church since 1824, served by diocesan clergy, and a titular since 1960.
Inscriptions in the church record other connections with notable people. St Joseph Calasanctius
Joseph Calasanctius
Saint Joseph Calasanctius , also known as Joseph Calasanz and Josephus a Matre Dei, was the founder of the Pious Schools and the Order of the Piarists.-The Spanish Years:...
, founder of the Piarists
Piarists
The Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools or, in short, Piarists , is the name of the oldest Catholic educational order also known as the Scolopi, Escolapios or Poor Clerics of the Mother of God...
, after arriving in Rome in 1592 often prayed in the new church before the image of Our Lady. At the request of Pope Benedict XIII
Pope Benedict XIII
-Footnotes:...
, the church and altar were rededicated in 1728 by the pope’s almoner
Almoner
An almoner is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing cash to the deserving poor.Historically, almoners were Christian religious functionaries whose duty was to distribute alms to the poor. Monasteries were required to spend one tenth of their income in charity to...
, Archbishop Nicola Saverio Albini, titular bishop of Leuce. St Paul of the Cross
Paul of the Cross
Paul of the Cross was an Italian mystic, and founder of the Passionists.-Biography:Saint Paul of the Cross, originally named Paolo Francesco Danei, was born on 3 January 1694, in the town of Ovada, Piedmont, between Turin and Genoa in the Duchy of Savoy in northern Italy.Paul, a son of a...
, founder of the Passionists, said Mass here in the years 1745 to 1767 when in Rome. St Alphonsus Liguori
Alphonsus Liguori
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, scholastic philosopher and theologian, and founder of the Redemptorists, an influential religious congregation...
, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a Roman Catholic missionary Congregation founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.Members of the Congregation, priests and brothers,...
, said Mass here from 25 April to 21 June 1762 as a guest of the Congregazione dei Pii Operai (Congregation of Pious Workers), who taught in the school for catechumens nearby at Via della Madonna dei Monti 39. St Vincent Pallotti
Vincent Pallotti
Saint Vincent Pallotti was an Italian ecclesiastic, born in Rome, and a saint. He was the founder of the Pious Society of Missions , He is buried in the church of San Salvatore in Onda. He was descended from the noble families of the Pallotti of Norcia and the De Rossi of Rome...
, founder of the Union of Catholic Apostolate
Union of Catholic Apostolate
Union of Catholic Apostolate is a Catholic association established by a Roman priest St. Vincent Pallotti in 1835. Its main task is to revive faith, rekindle love and unite efforts of all the faithful for the salvation of souls. A characteristic feature of the Union is the equality of rights and...
in 1835, was devoted to the Madonna dei Monti and to St Benedict Joseph Labre
Benedict Joseph Labre
Saint Benedict Joseph Labré was a French mendicant, Franciscan tertiary and Roman Catholic saint.-Life:He was born in Amettes, near Arras in the north of France, the eldest of fifteen children of a prosperous shopkeeper, and was religious from a very early age. He was noted for performing public...
, buried in the church. Cardinal Vicenzo Pecci, later Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
, donated family money in 1856 to members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The St Vincent de Paul Society is an international Roman Catholic voluntary organization dedicated to tackling poverty and disadvantage by providing direct practical assistance to anyone in need. Active in England & Wales since 1844, today it continues to address social and material need in all...
who tended the sick poor at the church. Pope John Paul II paid a pastoral visit to the church on 8 March 1987.
In 1634 cardinal Antonio Barberini
Antonio Barberini
Antonio Barberini was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII and a supporter of France, he played a significant role at a number of the papal...
built the Palazzo dei Neofiti for students of the Collegio dei Neofiti next door to the church.
Titular cardinals
Cardinal Priests of the titulus of Santa Maria ai Monti have included:- Rufino Jiao Santos of ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(31 March 1960 - 3 September 1973) - Jaime Sin of ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(24 May 1976 – 21 June 2005) - Jorge UrosaJorge Urosa-External links:**...
of CaracasCaracasCaracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, VenezuelaVenezuelaVenezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
(since 24 March 2006)