Santa Maria del Suffragio is a 17th-century church in the center

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It lies on the

via Giulia The Via Giulia is a street of historical and architectural importance in Rome, Italy, which runs along the left (east) bank of the Tiber from ''Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti'', near Ponte Sisto, to ''Piazza dell'Oro''. It is about 1 kilometre lon ...

, in the rione Ponte. In 1592, the ''Confraternita del Suffragio'' ("Fraternity of those who succor the suffering") was a

purgatorial society Purgatorial societies are Roman Catholic Church associations or confraternities which aim to assist souls in purgatory reach heaven. The doctrine concerning purgatory (the term for the intermediate state in Roman Catholicism), the condition of the ...

established adjacent to the church of Saint Biagio della Pagnotta; their goal was to pray for the spirits of the dead and dying. Two years later, the group received a charter of approval from

Pope Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII (; ; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 January 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born in Fano, Papal States to a prominen ...

. In 1620, it was elevated to ''Arciconfraternita'' by

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

. Having outgrown their premises, the group acquired in 1607, part of an unfinished site that originally had been destined to be the Bramante-designed Palace of the Courts. In 1662, the architect

Carlo Rainaldi Carlo Rainaldi (4 May 1611 – 8 February 1691) was an Italian architect of the Baroque period. Biography Born in Rome, Rainaldi was one of the leading architects of 17th-century Rome, known for a certain grandeur in his designs. He worked at f ...

designed the church, which was completed by 1669, with interior decorations continuing till 1685. The interior has frescoes by

Cesare Mariani Cesare Mariani (January 13, 1826 – February 21, 1901) was an Italian painter and architect of the late-19th century, active in Rome and Ascoli Piceno. Early life and training He was born in Rome to Pietro and Maria Agnelletti; his father worke ...

(''Coronation of the Virgin''). The third chapel on the right has a ''Birth of Mary'' and an ''Adoration of the Magi'' by

Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (10 March 1654 – 8 September 1727), also known as simply Giuseppe Chiari, was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome. Biography Born in Rome, he was one of the main assistants, along wi ...

. The third chapel on the left once had the ''Passion of Christ'' frescoed on the walls by

Lanfranco Lanfranco (active in Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. ...

. The frescoes with the Eternal Father in Gloria and the Assumption in the choir are by

Giovanni Battista Beinaschi ''The Deploration of Abel'', Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (Italian painter and engraver active in the Mannerism">Mannerist and Baroque style. Life He was born in Turin. He first trained in the Piedmont, under a painter by the n ...

Sources

Romecity entry

External links

Maria del Suffragio, Santa Roman Catholic churches completed in 1685 1685 establishments in Italy Maria Suffragio 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy {{Lazio-RC-church-stub

See also

Sources

External links