Santissima Trinità a Via Condotti or Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli is a church in Rome at the start of

via Condotti Via dei Condotti (named always ''Via Condotti'') is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio h ...

in the

Campo Marzio Campo Marzio () is the 4th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. IV. It belongs to the Municipio I and covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient Campus Martius. The logo of this rione is a silver crescent on a blue background. ...

district. It is one of the

national churches National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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, ...

History

The church and its adjoining convent were built by the Spanish

Trinitarians The Trinitarians, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Captives (; abbreviated OSsT), is a mendicant order of the Catholic Church for men founded in Cerfroid, outside Paris, in the late 12th century. From the very o ...

between 1741 and 1746 under

pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

. They were designed by the Portuguese architect Emanuele Rodriguez dos Santos, assisted by

Giuseppe Sardi Giuseppe Sardi (1680 – documented until 1768) was an italians, Italian architect active in Rome. He was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche which was then part of the Papal States. Known primarily for his church of Santa Maria del Rosario in ...

. It was on the site of the former palazzo Ruccellai, bought in 1733 for 25474 Roman scudi by Father Lorenzo of the Trinitarian Order, in the name of the provinces of Castiglia, Leone and Navarre. Shortly afterwards the foundation was placed under the protection of the Spanish crown. The church has a concave facade with statues of the order's two founders saint

John of Matha John of Matha, OSsT (1160–1213) was a French Catholic priest and cofounder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, initially dedicated to ransoming Christians who had been captured by marauders from North Africa. Background Between the eighth ...

and saint

Felix of Valois Felix of Valois, OSsT (; (April 16, 1127 – November 4, 1212) was a French Catholic former Cistercian hermit and a co-founder (with John of Matha) of the Trinitarian Order. Life Butler says that Felix was born in 1127. He was surnamed Valoi ...

and the coat of arms of

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

Interior

Its interior has a vestibule and then an elliptical plan with seven inter-communicating chapels (four to the right and three to the left), housing the original paintings placed in them in the 18th century. The high altarpiece of 'The Most Holy Trinity and the freeing of a slave' is by

Corrado Giaquinto Corrado Giaquinto (8 February 1703 – 18 April 1766) was an Italian Rococo painter. Early training and move to Rome He was born in Molfetta. As a boy he apprenticed with a modest local painter Saverio Porta, (c. 1667–1725), escaping the r ...

. Above it are two smaller works by

Antonio González Velázquez Antonio González Velázquez (1723–1793) was a Spanish late-Baroque painter. Biography Velázquez was born in Madrid into a family of artists; his father Pablo González Velázquez and brothers Alejandro González Velázquez, Alejandro and Lui ...

showing 'Abraham and the three angels' and 'Abraham and Sarah'. The main ceiling painting shows Saint John of Matha in glory (

Gregorio Guglielmi Gregorio Guglielmi (13 December 1714, Rome - 2 February 1773, Saint Petersburg) was an Italian-born fresco painter who worked primarily in Germany. Biography His artistic education concluded with lessons from Francesco Trevisani, but he was al ...

) and those in the side chapels are by

Andrea Casali Andrea Casali (17 November 1705Some sources (e.g. Bryan and Hobbes) erroneously claim a birthdate of 1720. – 7 September 1784) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period. He was also an art dealer in England. ''Angelica e Medoro'', Bemberg Fon ...

. The community had shrunk by 1880, when its superiors decided to turn the convent into a Dominican college for missionaries to the Far East.

Bibliography

* M. Armellini,
''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'', Roma 1891
p. 337 * C. Rendina, ''Le Chiese di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, p. 362 * M. Quercioli, ''Rione IV Campo Marzio'', in AA.VV, ''I rioni di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000, Vol. I, pp. 264–334 {{DEFAULTSORT:Santissima Trinita a Via Condotti National churches in Rome Baroque architecture in Rome Trinitarian Order Dominican churches in Italy Trinita