Santi Luca e Martina

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The church of Santi Luca e Martina with the remains of the Roman Forum
The church of Santi Luca e Martina with the remains of the Roman Forum

Santi Luca e Martina is a church standing amid the ruins of the Roman forum.

The church was initially dedicated to Saint Martina, martyred in 228 AD during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus. In 625 Pope Honorius I commissioned construction of the church. It was restored first in 1256 during the reign of Pope Alexander IV. It was not later till the church was also consecrated to the apostle Saint Luke, when the church was entrusted to the patronage of the painter's guild or Accademia di San Luca. The guild began refurbishment of the church in 1634-1635 under Ottaviano Mascherino and Pietro da Cortona[1]. As was common during such reconstructions in Rome, buried remains were found, these were attributed to the martyred Saint Martina, hence aiding in the raising of funds to shelter the relics with a church. This included 6,000 scudi by of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, one of the main patrons of the painter's guild [2]. Private monuments in the church were often privately endowed; this was true for Cortona's and the painter Garzoni's monument.

Cortona's facade is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture. The horizantally convex front contrasts with the vertical emphasis of the columns, and sketches the edges of a circle for this centrally planned church.

The pinnacles of the dome have evangelists sculpted by Filippo della Valle, Camillo Rusconi, and Giovanni Battista Maini. To the right of the entrance is the monument to Carlo Pio Balestra (1776) by Tommaso Righi and a Monument to Giovanna Garzoni by Mattia De Rossi.

In sacristy is an Ecstasy of Saint Francis by Tommaso Salini, and on the right transept a Martyrdom of San Lazzaro by Lazzaro Baldi (also buried here). The main altarpiece Saint Luke painting the Madonna was painted by Antiveduto Grammatica, and is a copy of the original by Raphael found now in art collection of the Accademia. In the left transept is an Assumption and Saint Sebastian by Sebastiano Conca. Here also is found the tomb of Pietro da Cortona. The lower church has an altar to San Martina completed by Giovanni Artusi ( il Pescina) following designs by Cortona.

Coordinates: 41°53′35.4″N, 12°29′6.3″E

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ Romecity.it entry
  2. ^ Connors, Joseph (1998). "Pietro da Cortona 1597-1669". Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 57: pp. 318–321. doi:10.2307/991350.