Santa Maria in Trivio is a church in Rome. It is dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, and is located on Piazza dei Crociferi in rione Trevi. It is near the

Fountain of Trevi The Trevi Fountain ( it, Fontana di Trevi) is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini and several others. Standing high and wide, it is the ...

. In Mariano Vasi's 19th-century guidebook, the church is referred to as Santa Maria a Trevi. According to tradition, the church was founded by the Byzantine general

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean ter ...

in the 6th century. Allegedly, he found the church to expiate for deposing Pope Silverius in 537. Previously the church had been known as ''Santa Maria in Fornica''. This was recorded in an 11th-century inscription on the wall of the church. In 1571 the church was given to the Order of the Crociferi. Between 1573 and 1575 the architect Giacomo del Duca rebuilt the church, designing e.g. the innovative

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

above the entrance door. The crucifix in the chapel was decorated by

Giovanni Francesco Bolognese Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

. The altarpiece of ''St Camillo de Lellis'' was painted by Gasparo Serenari. The main altarpiece was painted by

Bartolommeo Morelli Bartolommeo Morelli (Bologna, c. 1560-Bologna, 1603) also called '' il Pianoro'', was an Italian painter from the baroque period, active mainly in quadratura and frescoes. He was a pupil of Francesco Albani in Bologna. His main work in Bologna wer ...

. Other altarpieces in side altars were by the studio of

Palma il Giovane Iacopo Negretti (1548/50 – 14 October 1628), best known as Jacopo or Giacomo Palma il Giovane or simply Palma Giovane ("Young Palma"), was an Italian painter from Venice and a notable exponent of the Venetian school. After Tintoretto's death ...

, Luigi Scaramuccia, and

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ear ...

. The ceiling was painted by Antonio Gherardi.Itinerario instruttivo di Roma, Volume 1, by Mariano Vasi, Rome, (1791), page 309.

References

* Rendina, Claudio (2000). ''Guida insolita ai misteri, ai segreti, alle leggende e alle curiosità delle Chiese di Roma''. Newton & Compton Editori. Maria Trivio Maria Trivio 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy {{italy-RC-church-stub