Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Santa Maria sopra Minerva is a minor basilica church and one of the major churches of the Dominican order in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was built directly over () the ruins or foundations of a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, which had been erroneously ascribed to the Greco-Roman goddess Minerva the Gothic interior features arched vaulting that was painted blue with gilded stars and trimmed with brilliant red ribbing during a 19th-century Neo-Gothic restoration.

The church and adjoining convent served at various times throughout its history as the Dominican Order's headquarters. Today the headquarters have been re-established in their original location at the Roman convent of Santa Sabina. The titulus of was conferred upon Cardinal António Marto, on 28 June 2018.

History

thumb|273px|upright|Interior of church

In Roman times there were three temples in what is now the area surrounding the basilica and former convent buildings: the Minervium, built by Gnaeus Pompey in honour of the goddess Minerva about 50 BC, referred to as '; the Iseum dedicated to Isis, and the Serapeum dedicated to Serapis. Details of the temple to Minerva are not known but recent investigations indicate that a small round Minervium once stood a little further to the east on the Piazza of the Collegio Romano. There are other Roman survivals in the crypt.

The ruined temple is likely to have lasted until the reign of Pope Zachary (741-752), who finally Christianized the site, offering it to Basilian nuns from Constantinople who maintained an oratorium there dedicated to the "Virgin of Minervum". The structure he commissioned has disappeared.

In 1255 Pope Alexander IV established a community of "converted women" (former prostitutes) on the site. A decade later this community was transferred to the Roman Church of San Pancrazio thereby allowing the Dominicans to establish a convent of friars and a studium conventuale there. The Friars were on site beginning in 1266 but took official possession of the Church in 1275. Aldobrandino Cavalcanti (1279), vicarius Urbis or vicar for Pope Gregory X, and an associate of Thomas Aquinas ratified the donation of Santa Maria sopra Minerva to the Dominicans of Santa Sabina by the sisters of S. Maria in Campo Marzio. The ensemble of buildings that formed around the church and convent came to be known as the insula sapientae or insula dominicana (island of wisdom or Dominican island).

The Dominicans began building the present Gothic church in 1280 modelling it on their church in Florence Santa Maria Novella. Architectural plans were probably drawn up during the pontificate of Nicholas III by two Dominican friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi. With the help of funds contributed by Boniface VIII and the faithful the side aisles were completed in the 14th century.

In 1453 church interior construction was finally completed when Cardinal Juan Torquemada ordered that the main nave be covered by a vault that reduced the overall projected height of the church. The Sacristy of the Church served as the meeting hall for the fourteen cardinals (out of nineteen) who attended the Conclave, which began on 1 March 1431. The dormitory of the friars in the Convent to the immediate north of the Church, served as the living quarters for the cardinals and their refectory and kitchen. On 3 March they elected Cardinal Gabriele Condulmaro, who took the name Eugenius IV. A second Conclave was held at the Minerva, on 4–6 March 1447, following the death of Pope Eugenius, once again in the midst of disturbances involving the Orsini supporters of Pope Eugenius and his enemies the Colonna. Eighteen cardinals (out of a total of twenty-six) were present and elected Cardinal Tommaso Parentucelli da Sarzana as Pope Nicholas V.

The Minerva has been a titular church since 1557, and a minor basilica since 1566. The church's first titular cardinal was Michele Ghislieri who became Pope Pius V in 1566. He raised the church to the level of minor basilica in that same year.

In the 16th century Giuliano da Sangallo made changes in the choir area, and in 1600 Carlo Maderno enlarged the apse, added Baroque decorations and created the present façade with its pilastered tripartite division in Renaissance style.

The inscriptions found in S. Maria sopra Minerva have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.

Convent and Studium

thumb|Cloister of the Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva

In 1288 the theology component of the provincial curriculum for the education of the friars was relocated from the studium provinciale at the Roman basilica of Santa Sabina to the studium conventuale at Santa Maria sopra Minerva which was redesignated as a studium particularis theologiae. At various times in its history this studium served as a studium generale for the Roman province of the Order.

College of Saint Thomas

thumb|The painted ceiling of the nave.

The late 16th century saw the studium at Santa Maria sopra Minerva undergo transformation. Thomas Aquinas, who had been canonized in 1323 by Pope John XXII, was proclaimed the fifth Latin Doctor of the Church by Pius V in 1567. In his honor, in 1577 the Spanish Dominican Msgr. Juan Solano, O.P., former bishop of Cusco, Peru, funded the reorganization of the studium at the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva on the model of the College of St. Gregory at Valladolid in his native Spain. The result of Solano's initiative, which underwent structural change shortly before Solano's death in 1580, was the College of Saint Thomas () at Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The college occupied several existing convent structures, and new construction was required. At that time the convent underwent considerable reconstruction to accommodate the college and the cloister was redesigned so that side chapels could be added to the church's northern flank. A detail from the Nolli Map of 1748 gives some idea of the disposition of buildings when the Minerva convent housed the College of St. Thomas.

Offices of the Inquisition

On 14 September 1628, by papal decree, the convent of Minerva was designated as the seat of the Congregation of the Holy Office. It thus became the place where the tribunal of the Roman Inquisition set up by Paul III in 1542 held the Secret Congregation meetings during which the sentences were read out. It was in a room of the Minerva Convent on 22 June 1633 that the father of modern astronomy Galileo Galilei, after being tried for heresy, abjured his scientific theses, i.e. those of the Copernican theory. The Order gained control of the convent once again in 1815, only for it to be expropriated by the Italian government in 1870.

In 1873 the Collegium Divi Thomæ de Urbe was forced to leave the Minerva for good, eventually being relocated at the convent of Saints Dominic and Sixtus in 1932 and being transformed into the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in 1963.

The Dominicans eventually were allowed to return to the Minerva and part of the convent.

Interior

Among several important works of art in the church are Michelangelo's statue Cristo della Minerva (1521) and the late 15th-century (1488–93) cycle of frescos in the Carafa Chapel by Filippino Lippi. The basilica also houses many funerary monuments including the tombs of Doctor of the Church Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), who was a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic; the Dominican friar Blessed Fra Angelico (c. 1395–1455); and ornate monuments to the Medici popes: Leo X (born Giovanni de Medici, c. 1475–1521) and Clement VII (born Giulio de Medici, c. 1478–1534), designed by Baccio Bandinelli.

Carafa Chapel

thumb|Carafa chapel in 2010

The Carafa Chapel is the second chapel in the right transept. It was inaugurated in 1493, and is also known as the Chapel of St Thomas Aquinas. It contains late 15th-century frescoes (1488–1493) by Filippino Lippi. The decoration was commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa. At the main altar are two Marian scenes. In the center is both an Annunciation and St Thomas Aquinas (who was a Dominican priest) presenting Cardinal Carafa to the Blessed Virgin. Atop is an Assumption of Mary with the apostles in the flanks observing in amazement. At right-hand wall, the fresco depicts the Glory of St Thomas. The left wall depicts events highlighting the scholasticism and miracles of St Thomas. The relics of St Thomas Aquinas were kept in this chapel until 1511, when they were moved to Naples. Designed by Pirro Ligorio in 1559, the tomb of Gian Pietro Carafa, who became Pope Paul IV in 1555, is also in the chapel.

Cappella Capranica

The chapel, located near the choir, is also known as the Chapel of the Rosary. The stucco ceiling was made in 1573 by Marcello Venusti. The chapel contains the tomb (circa 1470) of Cardinal Domenico Capranica by Andrea Bregno.

Michelangelo's Cristo della Minerva

thumb|[[Michelangelo's Christ the Redeemer near the altar]]

The Cristo della Minerva, also known as Christ the Redeemer or Christ Carrying the Cross, is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti, finished in 1521, located to the left of the main altar.

Cappella Aldobrandini

The Aldobrandini chapel was designed by Giacomo della Porta but it is Carlo Maderno that completed della Porta's project (after 1602). It was consecrated in 1611. The canvas depicting the Institution of the Eucharist and dated from 1594 is by Federico Fiori. The monument to the parents of Pope Clement VIII, Salvestro Aldobrandini and Luisa Dati, is by Giacomo della Porta. The first Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament to be approved by the Holy See was established in this chapel, with St. Ignatius of Loyola as one of its earliest members. This chapel contains the Federico Barocci altarpiece depicting the Communion of the Apostles.

Cappella Raymond of Penyafort

The chapel dedicated to Raymond of Penyafort houses the tomb of Cardinal Juan Díaz de Coca, by Andrea Bregno. The ceiling fresco Jesus Christ as a Judge, between two angels is by Melozzo da Forlì.

Other major artworks

Annunciation (1485), by Antoniazzo Romano - shows Cardinal Juan de Torquemada OP presenting girls who received a dowry by his Guild of the Annunciation to the Virgin. The cardinal is buried nearby.
The tombs of the Popes Leo X and Clement VII by Baccio Bandinelli (1541) in the book is quite similar to Bernini's design for the base for the obelisk. The curious placement of the obelisk through the body of the elephant is identical.

The sturdy appearance of the structure earned it the popular nickname of "Porcino" ("Piggy") for a while. The name for the structure eventually changed to Pulcino, the Italian for a small or little "chick". This may have been a reference to the comparatively short height of the obelisk or, an obscure reference to the major charity of the Dominicans to assist young women needing dowries, who made a procession in the courtyard every year. The latter were once depicted in a local painting as three tiny figures with the Virgin Mary presenting purses to them.

Cultural references

The elephant and obelisk monument and the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva feature in the novel 'The Tomb of Alexander' by Sean Hemingway. In the novel it is claimed that a secret passageway beneath the church leads to a chamber beneath the elephant monument which contains the body of Alexander the Great, placed there in the 17th century by Pope Alexander VII. This is entirely a work of fiction and the theory is unproven.

Dalí's painting 'Les Elephants' includes two elephants with long spindly legs that appear to be carrying obelisks; on closer inspection, the obelisks are floating. Dalí also utilizes this motif in Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944) and The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1946). See Monica Bowen's blog Alberti's Window.

Gallery

[File:Cloister september-2023.jpg|thumb|Cloister of the Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva]

File:SantaMariaSopraMinerva-MonumentoFunebreBernini04-SteO153.JPG|Tomb of Giovanni Vigevano by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1618–1620

File:SantaMariaSopraMinerva-MonumentoFunebreBernini03-SteO153.JPG|Memorial to Maria Raggi by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1647–1653

File:SantaMariaSopraMinerva-TombaBeatoAngelico02-SteO153.JPG|Tomb of Fra Angelico, by Isaia da Pisa, 1455

File:Roma-santamariasopraminerva01.jpg|Cristo della Minerva by Michelangelo, 1519–1520

File:High altar Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.jpg|High Altar

File:Santa Maria sopra minerva Rome main vault.jpg|Vault

File:Santa Maria sopra Minerva navata laterale.jpg|Basilica interior

File:Benozzo Gozzoli cat01.jpg|Madonna and Child Giving Blessings by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1449

File:Our Lady of the Rosary - Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Rome).jpg|Icon of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, crowned by the Vatican Chapter in 1640 as authorized by Pope Urban VIII

</gallery>

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Silvia Koci Montanari, Le Chiese papali a Roma: sulle tracce dei sepolcri dei Papi (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), pp. 243 ff.
Giancarlo Palmerio and Gabriella Villetti, Storia edilizia di S. Maria sopra Minerva in Roma, 1275-1870 (Roma: Viella, 1989).
Gianfranco Spagnesi, Antonio da Sangallo il giovane: la vita e l'opera (Roma: Centro di studi per la storia dell'architettura, 1986), pp. 109–115 (tombs of Leo X and Clement VII).

External links

Santa Maria sopra Minerva: official site
"Beggar's Rome" - A self-directed virtual tour of S. Maria sopra Minerva and other Roman churches
June Hager, "Santa Maria sopra Minerva"
Woodcut elephant that inspired Bernini