Santa Maria Maggiore

Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the four main patriarchal and pilgrimage basilicas with the Porta Santa. It stands on the Esquiline, another of the historical seven hills of Rome, and this is the first church in the West to have been dedicated to the Madonna. It was built first in 352, after the miracle of the snow. In 352 a patrician, named John, and his wife, who both wanted a child, saw the Madonna in a dream. The Madonna told them that their desire was answered and that they should build a church on the site where they would, the next morning, find snow. When they told Pope Liberius of their dream he said that he had dreamed the same dream. In the morning of the 5 th of August the area of the Esquiline Hill was covered with snow (it is very hot in Rome in August).

The present church is the one built under Pope Sixtus III (432-440) to celebrate the Council of Ephesus (431), which proclaimed the Holy Motherhood of the Virgin Mary. In front of it stands a column taken from the Basilica of Maxentius in the Forum which was dedicated to the Madonna in the XVII century. The facade was renovated by F. Fuga in 1743, in late Baroque style, in the portico, on the left, is the Porta Santa.

It is the interior of the church which is really worth seeing; the majestic beauty of its classic architecture was improved by the adornments added later. Of the original building, we still see the 36 columns of Greek marble taken from the temple of Juno, on the Aventine; and above the columns is a series of mosaics from the fifth century, 36 pictures representing events from the Old Testament. They are extremely well preserved, showing a strong classical inspiration and were certainly copied from old miniatures, from old illuminated stories of The Bible. They form, with the ones on the triumphal arch and the decoration of the apse the real glory of Santa Maria Maggiore. The Cosmatesque floor, the finest in that style in our churches, was added in the thirteenth century and the wooden ceiling, gracefully designed by Antonio da Sangallo, an eminent Renaissance architect, was built at the end of the 15th century. The ceiling was gilded with the first gold Columbus brought from America to Europe. That gold was donated by King Ferdinand of Aragon, of Spain, to the Borgia Pope Alexander VI. Over the papal altar is a huge canopy, probably inspired by Bernini's canopy in St. Peter's, but it certainly is not the finest feature of this church; it was designed by Fuga, the same architect responsible for the 18th century facade. In the lowered part, in front of the papal altar, and in front of the crypt, where are kept the relics of the Holy Cradle, is the kneeling statue of Pope Pius IX, the Pope who declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in 1854.

Above the altar are the other fifth century mosaics, which complete the series of the ones in the central nave and depict events from the life of Mary and the childhood of Christ, still referring to the Council of Ephesus: they show less classical influence. The story begins at the top, on the left, with the Annunciation, where the Virgin Mary is unusually represented seated and spinning. The mosaics on the apse are by Torriti, 13th century, strongly influenced by Byzantine art, but the figures lack the absolute flatness of Byzantine style and there is a touch of life in the colourful groups of the angels. The Triumph of Mary and the Coronation are the climax of the other mosaics in this church.

The two large chapels on either side of the High Altar form the transept of the church. The one on the left was built by Pope Paul V Borghese. The Borghese chapel is known as the richest private chapel in the churches of Rome. At the main altar is a 13th century icon of the Madonna, held by a glory of angels. The frame is encrusted with precious and semi precious stones and there is a large display of most valuable marbles all around. Above the altar is the relief with the miracle of the snow, This chapel was decorated in the seventeenth century by the generations which had sponsored the gewgaws of the Baroque style, but without the ostentation of the extreme Baroque. The paintings are by Cavalier d' Arpino and Guido Reni; notice the St. Francis under the arch to the left. In the crypt of the chapel are buried several members of the Borghese family, also Paoline Bonaparte. Opposite is the chapel of the Holy Sacrament, built by Domenico Fontana under Pope Sixtus V, in 1585; its gilded bronze, rich ciborium is by L. Scalzo, and it stands over the remains of the 13th century chapel, where the relics of Jesu's Crib were originally kept.

Before leaving the Church we stop for a look at the tomb of Bernini; the founder of the most adorned and elaborate of artistic styles was given a most humble grave, just a simple marble slab with his name on it. He received the honour of resting in this important basilica, which is one of the finest churches in the world, where you find the best examples of the main styles of the last fifteen hundred years. Here, without much effort and with the knowledge of a few essential elements of style, you can enjoy reading the history of the art of fifteen centuries and see how architecture can tell the human story. This classic basilica has first class examples of mediaeval art in the mosaics and the floor, the Renaissance ceiling by Sangallo and the Baroque adornment of the Borghese chapel. All, except the canopy, fit together quite harmoniously.

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