Santa Maria della Pace is a Catholic church in Rome, Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. The building lies in rione Ponte. It is part of a conventual structure that includes the Chiostro del Bramante formerly home to Canons Regular of the Lateran and later the Order of Preachers. The monastery is now used for secular purposes while the church has become one of Rome's national churches, devoted to the people of Chile.
History
The current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of Sant'Andrea de Aquarizariis in 1482, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. The church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary to commemorate a miraculous bleeding of a Madonna image there in 1480. The author of the original design is not known, though Baccio Pontelli has been proposed.
In 1656–67 Pope Alexander VII Chigi commissioned Pietro da Cortona to enlarge the tiny Piazza della Pace in front of the 15th-century church of Santa Maria, to accommodate the carriages of its wealthy parishioners.
Several houses had to be demolished. This also involved the design of a new Baroque facade complete with semicircular portico. The newly formed piazza, focused on the church facade even in its architectural detailing, had the additional benefits of facilitating the turning of coaches which had become so fashionable with the Roman nobility of the time and creating an ingenious unified ensemble of the church in its urban setting. The play of concave and convex forms at varying scales in and around the predominant main facade masks the neighboring buildings, extends the apparent breadth of the facade and so increases the visual impact on the spectator physically confined by the small trapezoidal piazza. The monumental effect of the plasticity of forms, spatial layering and chiaroscuro lighting effects belies the actual scale of this urban intervention.
The inscription around the portico frieze is taken from Psalm 72: SUSCIPIANT MONTES PACEM POPULO ET COLLES IUSTITIAM ("The mountains shall bring peace to the people; and the hills, justice"). This reference to the 'mountains' of the coat of arms of Alexander VII's Chigi family is presumably an allusion to the benefits of his papal reign. Oak leaf motifs, another Chigi family emblem, can also be found on the facade. On the upper facade, Cortona had the curved travertine panels cut to make grained matching patterns, in an unusual use of this particular material.
Interior
The interior, which can be reached from the original fifteenth-century door, has a short nave with cruciform vaulting and a tribune surmounted by a cupola. Cortona articulated the interior of the dome with hexagonal coffering and a series of ribs radiating from the lantern. This is an early example of combining these two forms of dome decoration and was employed by Gianlorenzo Bernini in his later churches at Ariccia and Castelgandolfo.
Carlo Maderno designed the high altar (1614) to enframe the venerable icon of the Madonna and Child.
Chigi Chapel
Raphael began to fresco the Sibyls receiving angelic instruction (1514) above the arch of the Chigi Chapel, the first altar to the right upon entering, commissioned by Agostino Chigi, the papal banker. The Deposition over the altar is by Cosimo Fancelli.
Cesi Chapel
The second chapel on the right, the Cesi Chapel, was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, and has a very fine Renaissance decoration on the external arch by Simone Mosca, as well as two small frescoes, the Creation of Eve and the Original Sin by Rosso Fiorentino.
Ponzetti Chapel
The first chapel on the left (Ponzetti Chapel) holds the noteworthy Renaissance fresco "Madonna with Saints" by Baldassarre Peruzzi, who is better known as an architect. The second chapel has marble taken from the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.
The tribune has paintings by Carlo Maratta, Peruzzi, Orazio Gentileschi, Francesco Albani and others.
Bramante Cloister
A main feature of the church and monastery complex is the Bramante cloister. Built in 1500–1504 for Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, it was the first work by Donato Bramante in the city. It has two levels: the first is articulated by shallow pilasters set against an arcade; the second also has pilasters/piers that are vertically continuous with the lower story, but with columns within each bay.
In the present day, the cloister has an exhibition space and a coffee bar on the upper level.
Cardinal Priests
The Church of Santa Maria della Pace was designated as a titulus for a Cardinal-Priest on 13 April 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. The holders of the title were: