Apologies in advance. I am brutally under the weather (as is half my architecture class) and seeing as we spent the last four hours walking around Rome and listening to lectures and are going on a 9 day field trip to the north of Italy, I am way too spent to do more than a little write-up on a small church that is very close up. So here it is.
Santa Maria in Monterone is under the care of the Redemptorist Fathers and has been since it was built. It stands at the corner of Via Monterone and Via Redentorists (named for those Redemptorists). Right across the street is my studio building so now you see why I chose it for today.
Last week, I featured an early Christian basilica style church. Before that, I focused on the Baroque. I believe that Santa Maria in Monterone (SMiM) was built between these two time periods. One of the reasons is the curious column capitals that adorn the nave arcade. There was a tendency in the time between the Early Christian era and the Renaissance to reuse column capitals and so a church would often have many different capitals from different buildings.
Another reason is related. Instead of an arch inscribed in a rectangle (usually a 2:1 proportion) flanked by pilasters, the columns support the arches by themselves. This is indicative of an earlier period. It also makes for a very open feeling to the nave. Sant’Agnese had this last week, while Santa Maria in Vallicella two weeks ago used the Baroque practice.
Santa Maria in Monterone has a coffered ceiling instead of a highly elaborately painted ceiling like many Baroque churches. In fact, it reminded me a little bit of Union Station in Washington D.C. It had a thermal window at the end of a long coffered barrel vault.
One of the most interesting things inside the church that I noticed was that the painting above the altar was actually a painting within a painting. It showed angels and what I assumed were Redemptorists holding a framed Madonna and Child. However, the frame was not painted on but was an actual frame.
Another interesting thing was that there were some very delicate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. In a lot of the
churches I’ve been in, the ceiling has been too high for these chandeliers, plus in most of them, there have been new electric lights installed. The fact of the matter is that this was a very dark church. It was small and dark like many of the churches tucked into the urban fabric as this one is.
The exterior is of course quite plain because of its humble location. In fact, the house of the Redemptorists is more ornate and is painted pink. I doubt that the interior of the house is more astounding, however.
I hope you enjoyed this short explanation of one of the more obscure churches here in Rome. Ciao until next week!
4 thoughts on “Le Chiese delle Cittá: Santa Maria in Monterone”
What is a thermal window?
Are the churches that you have been visiting still in use or are they mainly tourist attractions?
Thermal window: A semi-circular window that typically is at the end of a long barrel/groin vault. They were called that because they were popularized in the Roman Thermae, or Baths.
Yes, they are all still in use, although most of the bigger ones are very touristy.
Eew, you guys are all sick too? Colds spread like… well, the plague here in my studio. Especially around review week. >.< I'll pray for everyone there–being sick abroad must rot.
Yeah, talk about studio culture. Plus, I’m living with all of them in the same hotel. It stinks even more because I’m still sick and up in Vicenza on the 9 day field trip. Terrible timing.