BASILICA S. SEBASTIANO
First half of the fourth century as Basilica
Apostolorum, the place where, according to tradition, the bodies of Sts.
Peter and Paul had been transferred to in 258, at the time of the persecution
of Valerian (253/260)
The bodies of Sts. Peter and Paul would
have been returned to their tombs only with the construction of their
basilicas, except for the two heads preserved in St. John Lateran
It is not attributed to Constantine
(306/337) by the Liber Pontificalis (the earliest history book about the
popes) as other circiformi basilicas (circus shaped churches) were and
the attribution to Maxentius (306/312), who had his residence-villa complex
nearby, has been suggested
Various renovations throughout the
fifteenth century
Rebuilt 1608/13 using only the nave of the
circus shaped early basilica for Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese
(1577/1633) by Flaminio Ponzio (1560/1613) and
Jan Van Santen aka Giovanni Vasanzio
(1550/1621), who continued the work after the death of Ponzio and complied with
its directives
Giovanni Vasanzio designed the FAÇADE
and the wooden ceiling
It was a privileged place of prayer for
saints like Bridget and her daughter Catherine of Sweden, Charles Borromeo and
Philip Neri who inserted it in the Seven Churches Itinerary for pilgrims in the
sixteenth century
1611 designed by Jan Van Santen aka Giovanni Vasanzio and executed by Vittorio Ronconi with the help of Annibale Durante, Flemish as Vasanzio, for gilding and
coloring
It includes the coat
of arms of the Borghese family
The ceiling was restored by Pope Gregory
XVI Cappellari (1831/46) of whom the coat
of arms was added
FLOOR
Redone in 1957 in Verona marble
“Marble bust of Salvator Mundi” 1679/80 last
masterpiece of the life of Gian Lorenzo Bernini
(1598/1680)
It went missing already at the end of the
seventeenth century and it was found by accident only in August 2001 in the
convent adjacent to the Albani Chapel, where he was hidden and believed to be a
work by Francesco Papaleo
It was one of the very few works he did for
himself with no commission. Others were “The Truth” now at the Borghese Gallery
and the “Bust of Costanza Bonarelli” now at the Bargello Museum in Florence
“Tomb
of Altobello de Ense of Montecorvino” who died in 1615 by an unknown artist
This doctor was very active during the
plague epidemics and he wanted to be buried here, perhaps for the traditional
role of defender of the plague carried by St. Sebastian
1625/27 for Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria
“Tomb of Cardinal G.B. Francesco Maria
Gabrielli” about 1700/20 by an unknown artist, from S. Bernardo alle Terme
Inside the chapel there are the following relics:
Spine
of the Crown - A finger, a tooth and part of a rib of St. Peter - A tooth of
St. Paul - A bone and an arm of St. Andrew - Part of the head and an arm of St.
Fabian - The heads of Popes Sts. Callistus and Stephen - A cup of lead with
ashes and bones of St. Fabian - An arm of St. Roch - Part of the head of Sts.
Nereus, Achilleus, Avenisto, Valentine and Lucina martyrs - The arrow and the
column of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian - The
stone of “Quo Vadis?” with footprints believed to be of Christ
2nd ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
Dedicated to St. Frances of Rome
3rd ALTAR ON THE RIGHT
“St. Jerome Penitent” 1613 by Archita Ricci (active
1599/1619)
Dedicated to Pope St. Fabian (236/250)
carried out 1706/12 for Clement XI Albani (1700/21) by Alessandro
Specchi (1668/1729) and Filippo Barigioni
(about 1680/1753) from the design of their master Carlo
Fontana (1634/1714) or maybe of Carlo Maratta
(1625/1713)
Bronze and wrought iron railing made in
1714
Above the altar “Statue
of St. Fabian with angel” 1712 and “Putti”
by the Sicilian Francesco Papaleo (about 1642/1718)
Below “Reliquary head of St. Fabian” by Filippo Barigioni
On the right “St. Fabian baptizes Philip the Arab” (244/249)
about 1712 Pier Leone Ghezzi (1674/1755)
On the left “St.
Fabian elected Pope” about 1710 by Giuseppe Passeri
(1654/1714)
In the pendentives “Four
medallions in stucco” with saints buried in the catacombs: Cecilia, Soter,
Lucilla and Balbina
“Early Christian sarcophagus with Christ at
the center between Sts. Peter and Paul, on the right Raising of Lazarus and on
the left Capture of St. Peter”
Four antique columns of green Thessalian
marble frame the tempera on wall “Crucifixion”
1609/14 by Innocenzo Tacconi (active in Rome 1607/25) a pupil of Annibale
Carracci. He achieves an amazing neo-fifteenth century composition away from
the canons of the nascent Baroque altarpiece
On the sides “Busts
of Sts. Peter and Paul” 1608 by Nicolas Cordier
(1567/1612)
On the right under the organ “St. Sebastian”
1618 by Pietro Sigismondi from Lucca
“Apparition of the Immaculate Conception to
Sts. Jerome and Anthony” 1857 by the “purist” painter Cesare
Fracassini (1838/68) from Orvieto, who still shows here the influence of
Tommaso Minardi of whom he was a pupil of
3rd ALTAR ON THE LEFT
“St.
Francis receiving the Stigmata” maybe by Girolamo
Muziano (1532/92) covering remains of frescoes by Archita Ricci
2nd ALTAR ON THE LEFT
Dedicated to St. Charles Borromeo, defender
of Milan from the plague
“St. Charles Borromeo adores the sacred
nail” by Archita Ricci
1672 by Ciro Ferri
(1634/89) for Cardinal Francesco Barberini, who succeeded Cardinal Scipione
Borghese as commendatory abbot of the basilica
It is aligned with the saint's burial in
the catacombs
“Recumbent figure of St. Sebastian” 1671/72
masterpiece by Giuseppe Giorgetti, brother of
Antonio Giorgetti, maybe designed by Gian Lorenzo
Bernini or, perhaps more likely, by Ciro Ferri
“This was his only masterpiece of great
beauty that is another version of the type of Maderno's St. Cecilia, a statue
derived from the Dying Slave by Michelangelo and imbued with an exquisite
Hellenistic taste” (Rudolf Wittkower)
FURTHER ON IN THE LEFT WALL
“Inscription of the poem by Pope Damasus
(366/384) in honor of the martyr Eutichius” engraved by Furius Dyonisius
Philocalus, the only damasian inscription survived without fractures
“Much of the luck of Damasus' epigrams is
due to the beauty of the letters, designed by Furius Dyonisius Philocalus,
calligrapher of the Pope-poet. He created for these large sheets a particular
font, derived from the classic square capital, which is distinguished from all
other adopted by Christians for the high quality and careful preparation that
preceded the writing of texts, arranged with great regularity and symmetry.
Philocalus adopted different solutions to ensure that each of the lines would
finish at the same point, such as as links, entries of small letters inside or
alongside other letters, or the raising of T to save space” (Danilo Mazzoleni)
Above the inscription “White marble
tabernacle” of the second half of the fifteenth century by an unknown artist
ROOM ORIGINALLY USED AS A SACRISTY
Frescoes on the ceiling “Lord and saints”
and on a wall “Virgin with Sts. Sebastian and Lucina” first half of seventeenth
century by Marco Tullio Montagna (1594/1649)
from Velletri, student of Federico Zuccari
“Wooden Crucifix” late fifteenth century by
an unknown artist. According to tradition it spoke to St. Philip Neri
Mausoleum
of Lot's Sarcophagus
So called for the sarcophagus presenting
different stages of working and a vivid polychromy
Platonia
Also known as the mausoleum of Quirino in
which the Platoma was erroneously believed to be located. It was the large
marble slab with the praise to the Apostles written by Pope Damasus (366/384).
We only know it from medieval transcripts
Domus Petri
So called for a graffiti etched into the
plaster. There are faded paintings
Mausoleum of the Urani
349, according to an inscription found
here, while the name comes from another inscription with the word Uraniorum
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