The Church of Saint Andrew on the Quirinal (, ) is a Roman Catholic titular church in Rome, Italy, built for the Jesuit seminary on the Quirinal Hill.

The church of Sant'Andrea, an important example of Roman Baroque architecture, was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini with Giovanni de'Rossi.

History

Bernini received the commission in 1658 and the church was constructed by 1661, although the interior decoration was not finished until 1670. The site previously accommodated a 16th-century church, Sant'Andrea a Montecavallo.

Commissioned by former Cardinal Camillo Francesco Maria Pamphili, with the approval of Pope Alexander VII, Sant'Andrea was the third Jesuit church constructed in Rome, after the Church of the Gesù and Sant'Ignazio. It was to serve the Jesuit novitiate, which was founded in 1566. Bernini considered the church one of his most perfect works; his son, Domenico, recalled that in his later years, Bernini spent hours sitting inside it, appreciating what he had achieved.

The French dramatist Victorien Sardou set the first act of his play La Tosca in the church.

It has served as the titular church of Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer since 2007.

Exterior

The main façade of the church faces onto the Via del Quirinale (formerly the Via Pia), as does Borromini's San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane further down the road. Unlike San Carlo, Sant’Andrea is set back from the street and the space outside the church is enclosed by low curved quadrant walls. An oval cylinder encases the dome, and large volutes transfer the lateral thrust. The main façade to the street has an aedicular pedimented frame at the center of which a semicircular porch with two Ionic columns marks the main entrance. Above the porch entablature is the heraldic coat of arms of the Pamphili patron.

Interior

left|thumb|175px|Main altar - Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (1668) by [[Guillaume Courtois.]]

Inside, the main entrance is located on the short axis of the church and directly faces the high altar. The oval form of the main congregational space of the church is defined by the wall, pilasters and entablature, which frame the side chapels, and the golden dome above. This dramatic visual narrative is sustained not only upwards through the space of the church but employs different artistic modes. Bernini combined painting, sculpture and architecture into a synthesis to create visually the idea of the apotheosis of St Andrew in this spiritual theater. He used a similar synthesis of artistic modes in his design of the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa in the Cornaro Chapel of Santa Maria della Vittoria. This synthesis has been referred to as the ‘unity of the visual arts’.

Chapels

left|thumb|Main altar - Martyrdom of Saint Andrew (1668) including dome, side chapels, and lantern

thumb|right|Floor map - Legend: (1) Main entrance, (2) Chapel of Saint Francis Xavier, (3) Chapel of the Passion, (4) Chapel Saint Stanislas Kostka, (5) Chapel of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, (6) Main altar, (7) Entrance to novitiate and access to the rooms of Saint Stanislas Kostka.

thumb|left|200px|Saint Andrew ascending to the sky on a cloud, by [[Antonio Raggi]]

First chapel on the right, the Chapel of St Francis Xavier houses three canvases by Baciccio and covers some older, deteriorated frescos.

List of Cardinal Priests

  • Adam Kozłowiecki (21 February 1998 – 28 September 2007)
  • Odilo Scherer (24 November 2007 – Present)

See also

  • List of works by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
  • Sant'Andrea delle Fratte and Sant'Andrea della Valle, two other major Sant'Andrea churches in Rome
  • 17th-century Western domes
  • List of Jesuit sites

Notes

References

  • "Beggar's Rome" - A self-directed virtual tour of S. Andrea al Quirinale and other Roman churches
  • Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Bluffton College
  • Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Great Buildings
  • Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, Virtual Reality Tour, Williams College
  • Diocese of Rome