The
Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Saint Mary of the Angels) is a church situated in the plain at the foot of the hill of
Assisi- Churches :* The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is a World Heritage Site. The Franciscan monastery, il Sacro Convento, and the lower and upper church of St Francis were begun immediately after his canonization in 1228, and completed in 1253...
, Italy, in the
frazioneA frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
of
Santa Maria degli AngeliSanta Maria degli Angeli is a frazione of the comune of Assisi in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. It stands at an elevation of 218 metres above sea level. At the time of the Istat census of 2001 it had 6665 inhabitants, and is located c. 4 km south from Assisi...
.
The basilica was constructed in the Mannerist style between 1569 and 1679 enclosing the 9th century little church, the
PorziuncolaPorziuncola, also called Portiuncula or Porzioncula, Porciúncula is a small church located within the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the frazione of Santa Maria degli Angeli, situated about from Assisi, Umbria...
, the most sacred place for the Franciscans. It was here that the young
Francis of AssisiSaint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
understood his vocation and renounced the world in order to live in poverty among the poor and thus started the Franciscan movement.
History
After the death of Saint Francis in 1226, the friars built several small huts around the Porziuncola. In 1230 a refectory and some adjacent buildings were added. In the course of time little porticoes and accommodations for the friars were added around the Porziuncola. Some foundations of these were discovered during excavations under the floor of the present basilica between 1967 and 1969.
As vast numbers pilgrims came flocking to Assisi to receive the “Pardon of Assisi”, the small space of the Porziuncola became completely inadequate to house all these pilgrims. The necessity grew to build a church incorporating the Porziuncola. The buildings around the shrine were taken down by order of
Pope Pius VPope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
(1566-1572), except the Chapel of the Transito, the cell in which St. Francis had died. Construction of the basilica started on 25 March 1569.
This majestic church, the seventh largest Christian church, was designed in a bold Mannerist style, which prefigured the
Baroque styleBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
, by two famous architects,
Galeazzo AlessiGaleazzo Alessi was an Italian architect from Perugia, known throughout Europe for his distinctive style based on his enthusiasm for ancient architecture. He studied drawing for civil and military architecture under the direction of Giovanni Battista Caporali.For a number of years he lived in Genoa...
and Vignola. The work progressed slowly, due to constant lack of money, as the building was financed with donations. The noteworthy dome, resting on an octagonal drum with eight windows and cornices, was finished in 1667. Construction of the church was finally completed in 1679. In 1684 a bell tower was added. It was originally intended to have a twin tower, but the second was never built.
On 15 March 1832 the central
naveIn Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, a part of a lateral aisle and the choir collapsed during a violent earthquake. The dome escaped destruction, but was left with a wide crack. The
apseIn architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
and the side chapels were left standing. Reconstruction of the basilica started in 1836 by the architect
Luigi PolettiLuigi Poletti was an Italian neoclassical architect.-Biography:He was born in Modena.He studied under Raffaele Stern, and directed the reconstruction of Basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura...
and it was finished in 1840. He remodeled the façade in a
neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style. Between 1924 and 1930 this façade was given back its original pre-Baroque style by Cesare Bazzani (Rome, 5 March1873 – Rome, 30 March 1939). The gold-plated statue of the
Madonna degli Angeli ("Madonna of the Angels") by the sculptor Colasanti, was put on top of the façade in 1930.
On 11 April 1909, the church was raised by pope Pius X to the status of "patriarchal basilica and papal chapel"
Description
The
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
has a rectangular ground plan, divided into a central nave and two lateral aisles, flanked by ten side chapels, with at the far end a
transeptFor the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
, and a long choir in a semi-circular apse, protruding from the ground plan. The Porziuncola is situated directly under the dome. The church is 126 meters long, 65 meters large and the dome is 75 meters high.
The interior is simple and yet elegant, with only a few decorations, in stark contrast with the decorations of the side chapels. The nave and the aisles were rebuilt in neoclassical Doric style by Luigi Poletti. The apse holds the precious wooden choir, carved by Franciscan brothers starting in 1689, the papal
cathedraA cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
(with bas-reliefs by E. Manfrini) and the papal altar. The Chapel of the Transito, the cell in which St. Francis died, is still preserved. It is situated under the bay of the choir, against the right columns of the dome.
The side chapels were decorated by great artists from several periods, including
Antonio CircignaniAntonio Circignani was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period and early Baroque. Born in Pomarance, he is known also as Antonio Pomarancio. He was the son of the painter Niccolò Circignani, and with his father, who died in 1588, he worked in Rome...
(all paintings in the Chapel of St Anne, 1602-1603),
Francesco AppianiFrancesco Appiani was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and Perugia. He was a pupil of Domenico Simonetti. Among his works, are a Death of San Domenico painted for San Sisto Vecchio, and for works in both Perugia and Assisi. He also painted lunettes for a church...
, (Chapels of St. Anthony and St. Peter in Chains, 1756–1760),
Ventura SalimbeniVentura di Archangelo Salimbeni was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker and among the last representatives of a style influenced by the earlier Sienese School of Quattrocento-Renaissance....
(Chapel of the Removal of the Lord, 1602).
The Porziuncola
The
chiesetta (little church) of Porziuncola (Italian for "Little portion") is the most sacred place for
FranciscanMost Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s. Francis was given this little church, dating from the 9th century, by the
BenedictineBenedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monks.
The church is exquisitely decorated by artists from different periods. Above the entrance is the fresco by
Johann Friedrich OverbeckJohann Friedrich Overbeck , was a German painter and member of the Nazarene movement. He also made four etchings.-Biography:...
(1829) depicting St. Francis receiving from the Christ and the Virgin the indulgence, known as the “Pardon of Assisi”. The side wall on the right side shows fragments of two frescoes by an unknown
UmbriaUmbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
n artists. The austere interior is decorated in a simple Gothic style with frescoes from the 14th and the 15th century. The most outstanding work is the six-part fresco in the apse of this little church, painted by Ilario da Viterbo (1393). At the back, above the entrance, is a fresco depicting the
Crucifixion by Pietro Perugino.
The Transito
The Cappella del Transito is the small room where St. Francis died on 3 October 1226. It was a little hut serving as a primitive infirmary for the sick. It is decorated at the outside by the fresco of the
The transito by Domenico Bruschi (1886). On the inside, above the small altar, is the rope of St. Francis. Behind the altar, there is a glazed terracotta statue of St. Francis by
Andrea della RobbiaAndrea della Robbia was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, especially in ceramics. He was the son of Marco della Robbia. Andrea della Robbia's uncle, Luca della Robbia, popularized the use of glazed terra-cotta for sculpture...
(c. 1490). On the walls there is a fresco by Giovanni Spagna (1520), depicting the earliest followers of St. Francis, with their names above each portrait (Ruffino, Leone, Masseo and Egidio).
The crypt
A new crypt was constructed behind the altar between 1965 and 1970. During the excavations foundations of the original little huts, surrounding the Porziuncola, were exposed. The crypt’s altar rests on a massive, multiple-branched tree trunk, sculpted by Francesco Prosperi. Behind the altar stands an enameled, terracotta, bas-relief tabernacle by
Andrea della RobbiaAndrea della Robbia was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, especially in ceramics. He was the son of Marco della Robbia. Andrea della Robbia's uncle, Luca della Robbia, popularized the use of glazed terra-cotta for sculpture...
, expressing with an extreme finesse the emotions of the figures. The upper portion section includes
St Francis receiving the Stigmata, the
Coronation of Mary (with the angel musicians),
St Jerome the Penitent; the lower has the
The Annunciation, the
Nativity and the
Adoration by the Magi.
The Rose Garden and the Rose Chapel
One enters the rose garden via the sacristy. It is the last remains of the ancient wood in which St Francis and his friars lived. Here he talked to the
turtle doveThe European Turtle Dove , also known as Turtle Dove, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes the doves and pigeons.-Distribution & Status:...
s, inviting them to praise the Lord. Doves have been nesting since times immemorial in the hands of the statue of St. Francis in this rose garden.
According to tradition (already attested at the end of the 13th century), one night St. Francis, feeling the temptation to abandon his way of life, rolled naked in the bramble thorns in an attempt to overcome doubt and temptation. In contact with his body, the bramble bushes turned into
dog roseRosa canina is a variable scrambling rose species native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia....
s without thorns. Since then, the dog rose cultivar
Rosa canina assisiensis has been grown in the garden.
From the rose garden, one enters the Rose Chapel. This was the cell where St. Francis rested and spent the rest of the night in prayer and penance. Here St. Francis also met Saint Anthony of Padua. After his death a chapel was built in the 13th century, enlarged in the 15th century by St.
Bernardine of SienaSaint Bernardino of Siena, O.F.M., was an Italian priest, Franciscan missionary, and is a Catholic saint.-Early life:...
. It was decorated between 1506 and 1516 with a series of frescoes by several painters, among which the Umbrian
Tiberio d'AssisiTiberio d'Assisi was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active in the early 16th century. He painted in the style of Pietro Perugino. He is also known as Tiberio Diatelevi or Tiberio di Assisi...
, depicting the early Franciscan community and the first saints of the order, the miracle of the roses and the concession of the indulgence
Museum
The little friary houses the museum of the Porziuncola with many religious objects, archaeological finds, and a noteworthy collection of paintings:
- the Crucifix by Giunta Pisano
Giunta Pisano was an Italian painter. He is the earliest Italian painter whose name is found inscribed on an extant work. He is best known for his crucifixes.He is said to have exercised his art from 1202 to 1236...
(1236)
- a wooden painting portrait of St. Francis by the (anonymous) Maestro di San Francesco (13th century); the body of the deceased saint was placed on this painting.
- a painting on wood of St. Francis attributed to Cimabue
Cimabue , also known as Bencivieni di Pepo or in modern Italian, Benvenuto di Giuseppe, was an Italian painter and creator of mosaics from Florence....
- a Madonna with Child by the Sienese painter Sano di Pietro
Sano di Pietro was an early Italian Renaissance painter and miniaturist from Siena.No works by Sano are known before 1443; he apprenticed under Sassetta and Giovanni di Paolo...
(14th century)
- a terracotta by Andrea della Robbia
Andrea della Robbia was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, especially in ceramics. He was the son of Marco della Robbia. Andrea della Robbia's uncle, Luca della Robbia, popularized the use of glazed terra-cotta for sculpture...
(c. 1490) with in the top from left to right :"St. Francis receives the Stigmata", "Coronation of Mary" and "St. Jerome the penitent"; bottom, from left to right : "the Annunciation", "the Nativity", and "the Adoration of the Magi".
- St. Francis and St. Clare by Cesare Sermei and his workshop.
- the Madonna of the Milk, a polychromed terracotta sculpture (end 14th, early 15th c.)
- many frescoes of uncertain attribution.
See also
- Roman Catholic Marian churches
Throughout history, Roman Catholics have built churches to venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today, a large number of Roman Catholic churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin exist on all continents...
- Los Angeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- city indirectly named after this church
External links