San Francesco a Ripa
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San Francesco a Ripa is a church in Rome.
The origins of this church are related to Franciscan convent existing in the Trastevere quarter of Rome since the 10th or the 12th centuries. This had an annexed 1231 church dedicated to Saint Blaise (San Biagio). In 1229 this convent hosted St. Francis in one of his several voyages to Rome. This church was decorated with the (now lost) St Francis cycle by Pietro Cavallini. This cycle probably served as prototype for the famous Legend of St Francis frescoes, ascribed to Giotto di Bondone, in the Upper Basilica of St Francis in Assisi.
In the 17th century the church was rebuilt and entitled to the saint, the Ripa ("shore") referring to the near Tiber river.
The construction was begun in 1603 by Onorio Longhi, starting from the apse. The facade was finished in 1681-1701 with design by Mattia de Rossi. From 1873 to 1943 the church was used as barracks by the Bersaglieri.
The interior of the church has three naves with four chapels each. The most important chapel is the Paluzzi-Albertoni chapel, containing the statue of the Blessed Ludovica Albertoni (1671-1675), a late Baroque masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Notable also is the copy alleged portrait of St. Francis by the friar Margaritone d'Arezzo: if confirmed, it would be the first true portrait of the history of Italian arts (the original is in the Pinacoteca Vaticana). The church houses also, in the cell where the saint lived, a black stone he had used as a cushion. In the garden of the convent is an orange tree, which according to the tradition was planted by the same Francis.
Tha square in front of the church has one Ionian column erected by Pope Pius IX, taken from the ruins of Veii.
[edit] References
- Federico Gizzi, Le chiese barocche di Roma
