PIAZZA NAVONA

Santa Maria dell’Anima

Santa Maria dell’Anima (=soul) sits on an ancient hospice for pilgrims German, Dutch and Flemish, and perhaps that origin is the reason because now it is the German national church (of course, mass in German language and of course the church is perfectly kept).

It was Pope Eugene IV (1441 - 1447) to begin the construction, it was revised between 1500 and 1515, perhaps by Giuliano da Sangallo (1445 - 1516), while the façade is attributed to Andrea Sansovino (1467 - 1529).
The Renaissance bell tower, unique in the panorama of Rome, is attributed to Bramante (1444 - 1514), author of the nearby closter of St. Maria della Pace.

The three naves interior, with four chapels on each side, is inspired by the Sondergotik Bavarian style, that had a certain spread in Italy at the turn of the '500.

We begin our visit from the right aisle an’see:

in the first chapel St. Benone who receives the keys of the cathedral of Meisen, a work by Carlo Saraceni (1579 - 1620);

in the second chapel the Holy Family by Giacinto Gimignani (1606 to 1681) and the tomb of Cardinal Sluse by Ercole Ferrata (1610 - 1686);

in the third chapel the Crucifixion by G. B. Montano and the cycle of the stories of the Virgin by Sermoneta (1521 - 1575);

in the fourth chapel the Pietà by Lorenzetto, an interpretation in bronze of the famous Pietà by Michelangelo, completed by Nanni di Baccio Bigio;

The altarpiece was made by Giulio Romano (1449 - 1546), principal collaborator of Raphael and heir of the Rapael’s shop;

on the right of the apse there is the monument of Pope Adrian VI (Utrecht 1459 - Rome 1523), design by Baldassare Peruzzi (1481 - 1536), while the statues of Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance are attributed to Michelangelo Senese ( 1491 to 1554).

Turning to the left aisle we find:

in the first chapel Martyrdom of St. Lambert by Carlo Saraceni;

in the second St. John of Nepomuceno and St. John Sarcander by Ludovico Seitz (1844 - Rome 1908);

in the third stories of Santa Barbara by Michel Coxie (1499 - 1592);

In the fourth chapel Deposition by Francesco Salviati (1510 - 1563).