Home > Piazza Navona - act II
s. agostino
-“wonderful marble.”
-“‘course it’s Coliseum marble.”
Indeed the travertine of S. Agostino façade comes from the Coliseum.
This Renaissance church was built by Giacomo da Pietrasanta and Sebastiano da Firenze at the end of 1400, maybe after a design of Leon Battista Alberti. The building is exceptional under many aspects:
- it was the first church in Rome with a dome, demolished by Valadier at the middle of 1700 owing to the peril of collapse;
- it shows one of the only two Raffaello’s paintings for a Church: Isaia the prophet (the other painting is in the close S. Maria della Pace. This is a Raffaello inspired by Michelangelo, but Raffaello is Raffaelo, that is enchanting;
- here is the famous statue “the Childbirth Virgin”, worshipped and overwhelmed by votive offerings;
- it keeps the tombs of Saints and Cardinals, as well as the tombs of famous courtesans as Fiammetta (lover of Cesare Borgia) and the renowned Tullia d’Aragona;
- it exhibits one of the “scandalous” paintings by Caravaggio: the Madonna dei Pellegrini (or Madonna di Loreto). Baglione wrote in 1642: Caravaggio made a Madonna di Loreto, realistic depicted with two pilgrims, one of them with muddy feet and the other with a dirty bonnet; because of this slovenliness a violent din was made by the common people.
Now enter an’ discover the fine arts world.
The sensitive plant can help you to have an accurate visit:
