Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th century church of Rome, located in the Trastevere rione and devoted to Saint Cecilia.

History

The first church of Santa Cecilia was founded probably in the 5th century, by Pope Urban I, and devoted to the Roman martyr Cecilia. Tradition holds that the church was built over the house of the saint. The baptistery of this church, together with the remains of a Roman Imperial house, was found during some excavations under the Chapel of the Relics. In the synod of 499 of Pope Symmachus, the church is indicated with the "Titulus Ceciliae". On 22 November 545, Pope Vigilius was celebrating the saint in the church, when the emissary of Empress Theodora, Antemi Scribone, captured him.

Pope Paschal I rebuilt the church in 822, and moved here the relics of St Cecilia from the catacombs of St Calixtus. More restorations followed in the 18th century.

The Cardinal Priest of the "Titulus S. Caeciliae" is Carlo Maria Martini. Among the previous titulars are Pope Stephen III, Adam Easton, Thomas Wolsey and Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphili.

Art and architecture

The church has a façade built in 1725 by Ferdinando Fuga, which includes a courtyard decorated with ancient mosaics, columns and a "cantharus" (water vessel). It includes the coat of arms and the dedication to the titular cardinal who paid for the facade, Francesco Cardinal Acquaviva d'Aragona.

Among the artifacts remaining from the 13th century edifice are a mosaic depicting the "Final judgment" (1289-93) based on designs by Pietro Cavallini in the chorus of the monks, and the ciborium (1293) in the presbitery by Arnolfo di Cambio remain. The gothic ciborium is surrounded by four marble columns white and black, decorated with statuettes of angels, saints, prophets, and evangelists. The apse has remains of 9th century mosaics depicting the "Redeemer with Saints Paul, Cecilia, Paschal I, Peter, Valerian, and Agatha".

The ceiling of "Cappella dei Ponziani" was decorated "God the Father with evangelists" (1470) by Antonio del Massaro (Antonio da Viterbo or "il Pastura"). The "Cappella delle Reliquie" was frescoed and an altarpiece provided by Luigi Vanvitelli. The nave is frescoed with the "Apotheosis of Santa Cecilia" (1727) by Sebastiano Conca. The church contains two altarpieces by Guido Reni: "Saints Valerian and Cecilia" and a "Decapitation of Saint Cecilia" (1603). [ [http://www.romecity.it/Santacecilia.htm Romecity entry on Santa Cecilia] ] Among the most remarkable works is the graphic altar sculpture of St. Cecilia (1600) by the late-Renaissance sculptor Stefano Maderno. This sculpture reportedly is modelled on the saint's body as seen in 1595, when her tomb was opened. The statue depicts evidence of decapitation, thus helping to confirm the identity of the saint. In addition, it also it is meant to underscore the supposed incorruptibility of her cadaver (an attribute of saints), which miraculously still had congealed blood after centuries. This statue could be conceived as proto-Baroque, since it depicts no idealized moment or person, but a theatric scene, a naturalistic representation of a dead or dying saint. It is striking, because it precedes by decades the similar high-Baroque sculptures of Gian Lorenzo Bernini (for example, his Beata Ludovica Albertoni) and Melchiorre Caffà (Santa Rosa de Lima).

The crypt is also noteworthy, decorated with cosmatesque style, keeping the relics of St. Cecilia and St. Valerian

References

* [http://roma.katolsk.no/cecilia.htm "Santa Cecilia in Trastevere"] , by Chris Nyborg.
*it icon Armellini, Mariano, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/I/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/churches/_Texts/Armellini/ARMCHI*/2/Trastevere.html#S.Cecilia_in_Trastevere "S. Cecilia in Trastevere"] , "Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX", Tipografia Vaticana, 1891. Through Bill Thayer's site, [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/home.html Lacus Curtius] .

External links

* [http://kunsthistorie.com/galleri/index.php?album=Italia%2FRoma%2FSan.Cecilia&sortby=name&order=asc Kunsthistorie.com] , photogallery