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Santi Quattro Coronati Preliminary Research |
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written
by Eliana Hechter / 07.12.2004 |
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Site Location |
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Address: Via dei Santi Quatrro Coronati 20
The basilica is perched atop Coelian Hill, just outside the city wall on Line A.
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Site History |
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June Hager presents an outstanding summary of historical and general information about Santi Quattro Coronati (see link). I cannot improve upon it, but will summarize it here.
Pope Melchiades first constructed the fortified convent in the fourth century, dedicating it to four soldiers who received the crown of martyrdom (284-305). As the story goes (and it goes different ways according to different sources), five Pannonian sculptors refused to sculpt a statue of Aesculapius, a pagan god, and the four soldiers - Severus, Severinus, Victorinus, and Carpophorus - declined to worship it when the statue was finished by other artists. For centuries, it served as the Pope’s headquarters. Pope Leo IV (847-855) assembled the relics of the nine saints while expanding and embellishing the original basilica. Santi Quattro Cornonati was burned and destroyed by Normans in 1084, and then rebuilt under Pope Paschal II in the twelfth century. Throughout its long history of renovation, which ranged from the early 1400s to the 1930s, Martin V, King Henry of Portugal, Giovanni Carcia Mellini, and Antonio Munoz all contributed.
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Elements of Interest |
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Santi Quattro Coronati has made its way onto many lists - World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, Best Churches, Best Mosaics - and has been named by many to be the most secluded spot in Rome. The chapel of St. Sylvester recounts the conversion of Constantine through frescoes painted in 1246. (To obtain entry to the chapel, ring for the key at the monastery.) The cloister, built by famous Roman stonecutter Pietro de Maria, is the image of Roman style peacefulness, with a green garden and carved stone fountain.
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Analyze Image |
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| Santi Quattro Coronati |
| Interior View |
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This picture highlights the isled interior leading to the apse, which is decorated by frescoes painted by San Giovanni (1630) depicting the history of the Quattro Coronati. The chapel includes a matroneum, or women's gallery, which is missing in the picture. Also missing are the older, less resplendent portions of the site.
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Site Questions |
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What is the relationship between the cloister and the Vatican?
How does a nun get assigned to the Quattro Coronati? Is it a plum assignment?
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