Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza (''lit.'' 'Saint Ivo at the Sapienza (University of Rome)') is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
church in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. Built in 1642–1660 by the architect
Francesco Borromini
Francesco Borromini (, ), byname of Francesco Castelli (; 25 September 1599 – 2 August 1667), was an Italian architect born in the modern Swiss canton of Ticino , the church is widely regarded a masterpiece of Roman
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
architecture.
The church is at the rear of a courtyard at 40, Corso del Rinascimento; the complex is now used by the State Archives of Rome.
History
In the 14th century, there was a chapel here for the palace of the
University of Rome. The University is called ''La Sapienza'', and the church was dedicated to
Saint Ivo (or Yves, patron saint of jurists). When a design was commissioned from Borromini in the 17th century, he adapted to the already existing palazzo. He chose a plan resembling a
star of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
– which would have been recognized at the time as a Star of Solomon, symbolizing wisdom – and merged a curved facade of the church with the courtyard of the palace. The corkscrew lantern of the dome was novel. The complex rhythms of the interior have a dazzling geometry to them.
Exterior
The church rises at the end of a courtyard, known as the courtyard of
Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) 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
Giacomo Della Porta was ...
. The façade is concave, molding the church into the courtyard as if completing it rather than disrupting it. The façade itself looks like a continuation of the courtyard arches except with the openings filled in with small windows, a door, and a larger glass window above the door. Above the façade is a large parapet structure so that only the higher stages of the church is seen past the façade. A key exterior aspect is the top of the church: the lantern of Sant'Ivo is topped with a spiral shape, surmounted by a Cross.
Interior
The interior of Sant'Ivo is unique because of the shapes incorporated into the rotunda. Borromini was well known for fusing of geometrical shapes as well as his pairing of columns in order to facilitate curves, incorporating them in a harmonious manner in his project at
San Carlino. But for Sant'Ivo, Borromini did not blend the different shapes. The rotunda of Sant'Ivo is contrived of distinct shapes, a triangle with its three angles cut as if bitten off, and semi-circles located in between the triangle's three lines. Despite the shift from the smooth geometrical alignments of San Carlino to the sharper abrupt geometrical bends in Sant'Ivo, both buildings exhibit harmony between the sharp edges and the curves and spheres. Borromini utilized curves (semi-circles) and edges (clipped triangle tips) in equal amounts to define the shape of the rotunda. This blending of edges and curves is arguably Borromini's most distinguishable signature.
Another detail is that windows associated with the round sections of the dome are larger than those associated with the edges. One of the ''edgy sections'' is where the entrance is located while the altar is located on the opposite end, a round section. The two other round and edgy sections to the sides are identical in features . Through the perforations in the lantern, sunlight illuminates the dome through an oculi. Francesco Borromini had a talisman with the shape of a flying bee installed in the roof of the lantern as this is a symbol of the family of
Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As p ...
Barberini who patronized the construction of Sant'Ivo.
The aisles of arches surrounding the right and left wings of the bird or of Sant'Ivo are themselves not halted by the church. Here, the space between the arches and the walls in the aisles still continues past the church's sides. Each aisle has a single lateral entrance to the church. These hindered side entrances lead to hexagonal rooms (one on each side), and these hexagonal rooms are connected to the rotunda as well as the smaller façade windows. Behind the Altar to the rear of the church lies two more hexagonal rooms with windows aligned on the back. To the rear wings of the altar are the passages leading to the two separate hexagonal rear rooms.
The inside walls and dome of the rotunda were covered by Borromini with sculptures and motifs. On each edgy and round section there are columns of stars leading up to an angel's face with wings. One close observable difference between the round segments and the edgy ones is that the round ones exhibit a motif of a stylised mountain of six parts surmounted by a star (the Chigi coat of arms) which is also represented in sculptural form either side of the facade. while the edgy segments exhibit a bouquet of flowers held together by a single crown.
The main altar was designed by
Giovanni Battista Contini
Giovanni Battista Contini (1641–1723) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period.
He trained in Rome under Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini, but imbibed the influence of Francesco Borromini. He designed churches both in Lazio and the Marche. He ...
in 1684, and is surmounted by a large canvas, ''Ss. Ivo, Leone, Pantaleone, Luca, e Caterina d'Allessandria in gloria di angeli'', started by
Pietro da Cortona
Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...
(1661), and completed by
Giovanni Ventura Borghesi
Giovanni Ventura Borghesi (October 29, 1640 – April 13, 1708) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome.
Biography
Born in Città di Castello, he was initially a pupil of the painter Giovanni Battista Pacetti (called ...
after Cortona's death.
Guida metodica di Roma e suoi contorni
by Giuseppe Melchiorri, Rome (1836); page 421.
Influence
The corkscrew lantern of the church is the direct inspiration for the also spiralling spire of Vor Frelsers Kirke
The Church of Our Saviour ( da, Vor Frelsers Kirke; ) is a baroque church in Copenhagen, Denmark, most famous for the external spiral winding staircase that can be climbed to the top, offering extensive views over central Copenhagen. It is also no ...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
, Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
.
See also
* History of early modern period domes
Domes built in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries relied primarily on empirical techniques and oral traditions rather than the architectural treatises of the time, but the study of dome structures changed radically due to developments in mathemati ...
References
External links
Antonino Saggio, ''Interpretations of Borromini's masterpiece at the Sapienza. The reasons for doubles and other considerations,'' "Disegnare Idee e Immagini"
Street View
(The Church is the smaller "flower-like" dome in the center, between the massive Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone St ...
dome and Piazza Navona. It is located between Corso del Rinascimento and Via della Scrofa (east), closer to the latter street.)
*
*
*
*
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza , Art Atlas
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sant'ivo alla sapienza (Rome)
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1660
Ivo alla Sapienza
Baroque architecture in Rome
Centralized-plan churches in Italy
1660 establishments in Italy
Ivo Sapienza
17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Francesco Borromini buildings