Lenten Station Churches of Rome - - SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY: SANT’AGOSTINO

Coming from the busy streets near Piazza Navona, we find ourselves a quiet square before the graceful façade of today’s station. Originally the liturgy of today was celebrated in the church of St. Tryphon. This was an older church which once stood near here but was demolished to make room for the adjacent Augustinian convent, which was later confiscated by the Italian government after the invasion of Rome in 1870. The church of St. Augustine, under the patronage of the great pastor and author of the fourth and fifth centuries, dates back to the medieval period, with the first church begun in 1296 and construction continuing over the following two centuries, finishing in 1446. Soon after, this was almost completely rebuilt as the present structure, beginning in 1479 and completed in 1483. While the exterior appearance still asserts the Renaissance origins of this church, the interior modifications began almost as soon as it was completed. The pillars of the nave were covered with frescoes in the mid-sixteenth century; the high altar, a work of Bernini, was constructed in 1626-28. A more general renovation took place in 1750 and again in 1860. Through all of these changes the interior has maintained its order and proportions, reminding us of the age in which it was built when the new intellectual ideas of the Renaissance were spreading throughout Europe.

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Directions: Take bus 46, 64, 571, or 916 from the stop down the hill, across the Tiber, and in front of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini (Acciaioli) to the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele/Navona stop; walk down the Corso to Piazza Pantaleo and then turn left and walk north through Piazza Navona. After exiting the end of the piazza turn right and pass under the arch; the church is to your left in the small square.

The church has works by Caravaggio, Raphael, and Sansovino—and lies just off Piazza Navona—yet sadly sees few visitors

Sant'Agostino in Campo Marzio
Piazza di Sant'Agostino 80 (at the north end of Via della Scrofa, just northeast of Piazza Navona).
tel. +39-06-6880-1962
Open daily 7:30am–12:30pm and 4–6:30pm

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Caravaggio's Madonna del Loreto (1604–06).Around the corner from San Luigi dei Francesi is another stop on the Caravaggio tour, the early Renaissance church of San Agostino.

The first altar on the left inside contains Caravaggio's almost Mannerist Madonna del Loreto, with pair of dirty-footed pilgrims kneeling before the willowy, velvet-robed Virgin who's carrying a ridiculously oversized (if marvelously lifelike) Christ child.

The picture's beautiful, but a bit weird, and though it's obviously meant to be some sort of adoration of the shepherds, the dirty-footed figures, and the way the man is propping a pole in the crook of his arm, make it look for all the world like an "Adoration of the Janitors." 'Course, that may be just me.

Against the entrance wall is a shrine to the Madonna del Parto, a pregnant Virgin Mary (carved by Jacopo Sansovino in 1521) surrounded by thousands of votive offerings sent in supplication, especially by women who want to ensure a safe childbirth.

The second chapel on the left was designed by Bernini. The third pillar on the right side has a fresco by Raphael of Isaiah showing the influence of Michelangelo on the young painter.

Tips

Planning your day: The church only takes 15–20 minutes.
Mass: You can attend services at Sant'Agostino Monday to Saturdays at 8am and 6:30pm; Sundays at 8am, 10am, noon, and 6:30pm

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