Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District ( Italian: ''La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia'') is a 12th-century

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

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 is in '' Borgo Santo Spirito'', a street which got its name from the church, placed in the southern part of

Rione A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed a ...

Borgo and has been connected since its foundation to the adjacent Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Sassia. The current holder of the ''titulus'' is

Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

Dominique Mamberti. It has been the official sanctuary of Divine Mercy since 1994.

History

The church stands on the site of King

Ine of Wessex Ine or Ini (died in or after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is now southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla of Wessex ...

's '' Schola Saxonum'', or "Saxon School", a charitable institution for West Saxon pilgrims. According to Roger of Wendover, Ine founded the Schola Saxonum in AD 727. It included a hostel and a chapel dedicated to Santa Maria. In mediaeval times a substantial number of pilgrims from Wessex, including fighting men, traveled the

Via Francigena The Via Francigena (), also known as Francisca or Romea, is an ancient road and Christian pilgrimage, pilgrimage route running from the City status in the United Kingdom#Cathedral towns, cathedral city of Canterbury in England, through France and ...

from Canterbury to Rome.Merkle, Benjamin R. (2009-11-02). ''The White Horse King: The Life of Alfred the Great'' (Kindle Locations 266-275 and 366-370). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Nashville Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Co. 2009) The hospice and church were gutted by fire in 817, were sacked by Muslim raiders in 846, and were again burned in 852. It was rebuilt in the 12th century and subsequently restored several times. In 1475

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

commissioned joining the church to the nearby Hospital of the Holy Spirit for foundlings (which

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

had built and whose history is given in wall-paintings in the church's sacristy) and given a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

. In 1538–1545, Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, or Baldassare Peruzzi, rebuilt the church after it had been damaged during the Sack of Rome. An organ, which survives, was added in 1547. In 1585–1590,

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V (; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death, in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order, where h ...

had the exterior restored, giving the church its present façade by Ottavio Mascherino, inspired by a design of Sangallo. This facade has two stories, with Corinthian

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

dividing the lower one into five sections, and the upper divided into three sections. In the upper middle section is a circular window, and above that is the coat-of-arms of Pope Sixtus V. The façade is crowned by a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. It is a typical example of

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

. In the stational procession for the first Sunday after the Octave of the Epiphany, instituted by Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), a procession carried the veil of Saint Veronica from

Saint Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the cit ...

, and the Pope celebrated Mass in this church. Indulgences were granted to those who took part, and money was distributed to the poor. The inscriptions found in Santo Spirito in Sassia, a valuable source illustrating the history of the church, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.V. Forcella, ''Iscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edifici di Roma, dal secolo XI fino al secolo XVI'' Volume VI (Roma: Fratelli Bencini, 1875), pp. 377-505. n Italian and Latin/ref>

Art and architecture

The church has a single nave, and ten apsidal chapels along the sides. The counter-facade has a ''Visitation'' (1545) by Marco Pino, and a ''Conversion of St. Paul'' begun by Francesco Salviati and completed by Francesco Rubiale. The first chapel to the right in the apse, has a fresco of the ''Pentecost'' by the Florentine Jacopo Zucchi and his brother. The second chapel has an ''Assumption'' by

Livio Agresti Livio Agresti (1508–1580), also called Ritius or Ricciutello, was an Italy, Italian painter of the late Renaissance or Mannerism, Mannerist period, active both in his native city of Forlì and in Rome, where he died. He was one of the members of ...

, who also painted the ''Trinity'' in the fourth chapel as well as frescoes in the third chapel. The fifth chapel has an ''Annunciation'' and an ''Ascent'' (1570) by Giuseppe Valeriano. The sacristy is decorated by stories of the ''Schola Saxonum'' by

Guidobaldo Abbatini Guido Ubaldo Abbatini (1600 – 1656) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and Usigni. Biography Guido Ubaldo Abbatini was a pupil of the painter Giuseppe Cesari and of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and later worked unde ...

. The apse is frescoed (1583) by both Jacopo and Francesco Zucchi. The fifth chapel on the left has a ''Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist'' by Marcello Venusti. The second and first chapels contain paintings by

Cesare Nebbia Cesare Nebbia (c.1536–c.1614) was an Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Orvieto. Biography Nebbia was born in Orvieto. He trained with Girolamo Muziano, with whom he helped complete a flurry of decoration that was added to the Cathe ...

, including a ''Coronation of the Virgin''.

Burials

* Burgred of Mercia

Cardinal-Deacons

Since the 1991 consistory of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, the church has been used as a Deaconry with a Cardinal assigned as its Cardinal Protector (a term created by Pope Paul VI in 1966). *

Fiorenzo Angelini Fiorenzo Angelini (1 August 1916 – 22 November 2014) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers in the Roman Curia, and was elevated ...

(28 June 1991 – 22 November 2014) * Dominique Mamberti (14 Feb 2015 – ''present'')

References

Sources

* Emilio Lavagnino, ''La chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia: e il mutare del gusto a Roma al tempo del Concilio di Trento'' (Rome: Banco di Santo Spirito, 1962). * Louise Smith Bross, ''The Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia: A Study in the Development of Art, Architecture and Patronage in Counter Reformation Rome'' hD thesis, University of Chicago, 1994 * Sivigliano Alloisi and Luisa Cardilli Alloisi, ''Santo Spirito in Saxia'' (Rome: Istituto nazionale di studi romani, Palombi Editori 2002). * Gianfranco Grieco and Jòzef Bart, ''Santo Spirito in Sassia'' (Gorle: Elledici: Editrice Velar, 2007). vailable in English {{Authority control 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1580 Spirito 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in Rome Divine Mercy (Catholic devotion) Churches of Rome (rione Borgo)

History

Art and architecture

Burials

Cardinal-Deacons

See also

References

Sources