Santi Domenico e Sisto

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Santi Domenico e Sisto, with the two lower statues of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Peter of Verona by Carlo Maderno, and two upper statues of St Dominic and St Sixtus by Marcantonio Canini.

Santi Domenico e Sisto to the left, and the nearby Santa Caterina a Magnanapoli to the right.

Santi Domenico e Sisto is a titular^[1] church in Rome. It is located on Largo Angelicum on the Quirinal Hill, and is devoted to Saint Dominic and Saint Sixtus.

1 History
2 Chapels
3 See also
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The first church at the site was called Santa Maria a Magnanapoli, and was built sometime before 1000. It belonged to the Dominican nuns, who still serve this church, at the Convent of San Sisto at the Baths of Caracalla.

The present church was built at the order of Pope Pius V, a Dominican himself, with construction work on the church commencing in 1569 (and on the convent in 1575). The original plan may have been the work of Giacomo della Porta, though the long construction period (work was only completed in 1663) meant several other architects were involved - the lower part was designed by Nicola Torriani, and the upper part by Torriani or Vincenzo della Greca. della Greca definitely constructed the Baroque travertine façade in 1646, with his brother Felice, though the double staircase from 1654 is attributed to Orazio Torriani. Bernini designed the high altar, the first chapel on the south side, the altar of this chapel and the sculpture group Noli me tangere for this chapel in 1649 (though did not carve the sculpture - this was done by a pupil, Antonio Raggi).

The ceiling painting of the Apotheosis of St Dominic was produced in 1674 by Domenico Maria Canuti, with trompe l'oeil framing by Enrico Haffner.

The church now functions as the church to the adjacent Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), celebrates St Thomas's festival, and closes during the university's summer break, apart from the feast of St Dominic on 7 August. Other than those two festivals, visits need to be arranged by prior appointment.

[edit] Chapels

The altarpiece in the third chapel on the south side, by Pier Francesco Mola, depicts St Dominic's Vision.
In the second chapel on the north side is Francesco Allegrini's 1532 The Mystical Marriage of St Catherine.
In the third chapel on the north side is the 1460 Madonna and Child by Benozzo Gozzoli, a pupil of Fra Angelico.