Art sights in Rome
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A
Chiesa di San Luigi dei Francesi
Church to Rome’s French community since 1589, this baroque church boasts no less than three canvases by Caravaggio: La Vocazione di San Matteo (The Calling of Saint Matthew), Il Martiro di San Matteo (The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew) and San Matteo e l’Angelo (Saint Matthew and the Angel), together known as the St Matthew cycle. These were among Caravaggio’s earliest religious works, painted between 1600 and 1602, but they are inescapably his, featuring down-to-earth realism and stunning use of chiaroscuro (a three-dimensional effect created with contrasting highlights and dark shading). Before you leave the church, take a moment to enjoy Domenichino’s colourful 17th-c…
reviewed
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B
Chiesa di Sant’agostino
This early Renaissance church is a favourite of soon-to-be mums, who pop in to pay their respects to Jacopo Sansovino’s sculpture of the Virgin Mary, the Madonna del Parto (1521). The Madonna also features in Caravaggio’s Madonna dei Pellegrini (Madonna of the Pilgrims; 1604) in the Cappella Cavalletti. Although harmless to modern eyes, this painting caused uproar when it was unveiled in 1604, thanks to its depiction of Mary as barefoot and her two devoted pilgrims as filthy beggars. Painting almost a century before, Raphael provoked no such scandal with his fresco of Isaiah, visible on the third column in the nave.
reviewed
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C
Via Giulia
Designed by Bramante in 1508, Via Giulia is a picture-perfect road lined with colourful Renaissance palazzi and potted orange trees. At its southern end, the Fontana del Mascherone depicts a 17th-century hippy surprised by water spewing from his mouth. Just beyond it and spanning the road is the ivy-clad Arco Farnese, designed by Michelangelo as part of an ambitious, unfinished project to connect Palazzo Farnese with Villa Farnesina on the opposite side of the Tiber. Continuing north, on the left, in Via di Sant’Eligio, is Chiesa di Sant’Eligio degli Orefici, the 16th-century goldsmiths’ church designed by Raphael.
reviewed
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D
Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pace & Chiostro del Bramante
Tucked away in the backstreets near Piazza Navona, this small 15th-century church boasts an elaborate porticoed exterior and a minor Raphael fresco Sibille (Sibyls). Next door, the Chiostro del Bramante (Bramante Cloisters) is a masterpiece of Renaissance styling, its classic lines providing a marked counterpoint to the church’s undulating façade. The cloisters are now used to host art exhibitions and cultural events.
reviewed
