Santa Maria del Priorato Church

Santa Maria del Priorat is a church in Rome. She's Priory of the Sovereign Order of Malta and is the only building in which Giovanni Battista Piranesi has acted as an architect; He is buried in the church.

Location

The church is located in the ( non-public ) Park the seat of the Grand Master of Malta on the Aventine, in the XII. Roman rione Ripa almost immediately on the Tiber in the height of the bridge Ponte Sublicio.

History and Architectural History

The church was completely renovated in 1765 by Piranesi on behalf of the Order of Malta. The seat of the Grand Master of the Maltese was at that time not yet in Rome, only the Grand Priory of Rome of the order was settled here after the church was named. The client was Cardinal Giovanni Battista Rezzonico, at that time Grand Prior of the Order of Malta and the nephew of Pope Clement XIII. Piranesi not only designed the facade and interior of the church, and the Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, to which is the access to the church, was designed and built in the figure of an ancient burial ground program. Likewise, during this work, the well-known so-called Holy keyhole was created; allows the view through a portico exactly on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Piranesi, though trained as an architect, but until then more famous for his Vedutenstiche to a double challenge faced: The place had, and in particular the Order of Malta a dual role in religious and secular - military terms. The arms of the victorious Roman generals were cleaned in antiquity on the Aventine. The military and religious moment went here on one another. Piranesi chose a mediating way, recognizable by the large central stucco decoration of the ceiling of the church.

Appearance

The facade of the church is the earliest dawning of classicism in Rome. She is initially modeled after an ancient temple front; each of a pair of broad pilasters carry a flat triangular pediment. The pilasters are continuous fluted and fitted with composite capitals. The central part of the facade is dominated by the round window above the portal. Grundmann sees here a reminiscence of a so-called Striegel sarcophagus, instead of the window the medallion of the deceased were in ancient times been attached here. More classicizing elements are the all-round meander frieze and the candelabra each to the sides of the portal.

Affairs

The basic structure of the church is a hall building with barrel vaults and a semicircular apse, the arcades open between the pillars, fluted pilasters which are prefixed with composite capitals, in blind niches.

The interior is decorated in a classical white. Above the cornice break through windows and niches the vault, provided on the left side, with windows on the right side had to be omitted because of the subsequent development of the site in the southeast it. The windows and niches are prefixed provided with garlands of flowers round medallions of various apostles.

The unusual, designed by Piranesi high altar is a globe dar. He is free in the apse and is illuminated from behind it apse windows.

Theme of the ceiling stucco church is the - mentioned above - dual function of the Order and the Church in military and religious. Thus, the Plaster work includes both military and Christian elements. As a metaphor for Christian martyrdom Piranesi elected branches of palm trees, possibly based on Borromini.

Visit opportunities

The church is how the entire grounds of the Order of Malta, normally inaccessible. There is the opportunity to am to turn to the city palace of Malta in Via Condotti, 68, a card must be brought.