Rome in the Footsteps of an XVIIIth Century Traveller

You may wish to see an introductory page to this section or pages on Roman, Medieval or Renaissance Sulmona first.

(left/centre) S. Maria dell'Incoronata, the church of the historical cemetery of Sulmona outside the walls of the town; it was rebuilt in 1718 at the initiative of the Mazzara family who placed their coat of arms above the entrance; (right) S. Maria di Montevergine, another nearby small church

Solmona was once much more populous; but the earthquake of 1706, which destroyed great part of it impressed the remainder with marks of devastation and ruin which it has never recovered.
Keppel Richard Craven - Excursions in the Abruzzi and northern provinces of Naples - 1838
The history of Solmona is a tissue of evils, war, famine, plague, and earthquake; and, that it now exists at all, is a matter of wonder. In 1455 and 1456 it was nearly destroyed by earthquake, and on the 3rd of November, 1706, fell almost entirely from the same cause, numbers of its inhabitants being killed.Edward Lear - Illustrated Excursions in Italy - 1846
Architecture in Naples. A specifically Neapolitan group carried architectural design over into the style usually associated with the term "barocchetto".
Rudolf Wittkower - Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750
The first churches to be rebuilt/repaired were the smallest ones; overall their design and that of most churches of Sulmona can be classified as barocchetto (see S. Francesco a Settecamini in Rome, a small church along Via Tiburtina).

S. Francesco della Scarpa: (left) façade; (right) fake dome

Whenever possible the old façades and their Gothic portals were rebuilt as they were before the earthquake. S. Francesco della Scarpa in origin was a very large church, but its apsidal section entirely collapsed and the reconstructed building was much smaller. In order to minimize this fact it was decorated with a fake dome, something which had become very fashionable after Jesuit Father Andrea Pozzo brought this technique to perfection in 1685 at S. Ignazio in Rome.

Façade of SS. Annunziata; a detail of its portal is shown in the image used as background for this page; the adjoining palace retains its Renaissance features

The façade of SS. Annunziata which for its central location was considered the most important church of Sulmona was entirely rebuilt in 1710 by Norberto Cicco, a master mason and sculptor from Pescocostanzo, a small town near Sulmona which flourished in the XVIIth century when Cosimo Fanzago (1591-1678), the leading architect in Naples worked there. Although Abruzzo was dependent on Naples for its artistic developments, the design of the façade shows some similarities with that of S. Maria in Campitelli, a High Baroque church by Carlo Rainaldi.

SS. Annunziata: (left) dome and bell tower; (right) interior

The bell tower was built in the second half of the XVIth century and the damage caused by the earthquake could be repaired; it is the most remarkable feature of the skyline of Sulmona (see a view of the town by Edward Lear). The new church has the only dome of Sulmona. The interior is marked by a high main nave.

SS. Annunziata: Cappella della Vergine

The chapel is the only part of the church which was not entirely damaged by the earthquake. It was designed in 1620 with the rich marble decoration which was in fashion in Rome at the time (see a page showing some Roman chapels).

SS. Annunziata: (left) stucco altar; (right) 1749 organ (see some gilded organs in Rome)

During the XVIIth century the making of stucco statues and reliefs was greatly improved. In particular Gian Lorenzo Bernini utilized this lightweight material to design angels and other flying subjects which were executed by his assistants, e.g. at S. Andrea al Quirinale. At Palermo, Giacomo Serpotta (1656-1732), brought to excellency this technique in a series of oratories. The interior of SS. Annunziata is a fine example of well maintained stucco decoration.

S. Chiara: (left) seen from Piazza Maggiore; (right) from behind

The nunnery was founded in the XIIIth century in an area which was outside the walls of the town. The earthquake of 1706 had a major impact on the nunnery and its church and in 1711 it was decided to entirely rebuild them in the style which was in fashion at the time. The church is the final point of the Easter Day Ceremony known as La Madonna che Scappa (The Fleeing Madonna). Its cloister houses the Diocesan Museum of Sulmona (see some of its exhibits).

(left/centre) Bishop's Palace with an inscription celebrating Pope Clement XI who financed its construction; (right) portal of the nunnery of S. Chiara

The bishop's palace was once attached to the Cathedral; but, having been destroyed by the earthquake, it has been replaced by a large modern edifice, just facing it, the exterior appearance of which assimilates it to an extensive manufactory or magazine. Craven
The original project of 1709 included the construction of a new cathedral, but in 1715 it was decided to build only the Bishop's Palace and a seminary next to it and in the same style.

Edward Lear: Abbazia del Santo Spirito di Sulmona

Below the solitary hermitage is the Monastery of S. Spirito di Solmona, founded by Pope Celestino V., but now used as a poor-house for the three Abruzzi. It is a picturesque edifice, some distance from the high-road; and its tall Campanile is seen all over the Pianura of Solmona. Lear
The immediate vicinity of Solmona offers but one object worthy of notice, in one of those overgrown edifices which the wealthy ostentation of monastic institutions, rather than their devotion, raised in honour of their founder. (..) It is just below the ermitage of S. Pietro Celestino, and to commemorate those virtues which obtained for him a place in the catalogue of saints, that the order which was founded under the name he assumed as supreme pontiff (that of Celestinus) established one of the largest monasteries, not only in this kingdom, but perhaps in all Europe. The community had existed ever since his time, and spread itself into other countries but this convent was its cradle and, having received considerable damage from repeated earthquakes, it was rebuilt, by the voluntary contributions of the various branches subject to the same rule in all parts of the Catholic world, in a style of magnificence which must have raised it nearly to the level of Monte Cassino itself. (..) The French government suppressed it, and for a long while it remained totally unoccupied; but an experiment has recently been attempted to render it of some public utility, by placing within its precincts a small portion of the juvenile paupers who inhabit the Seraglio, or Casa di Poveri, in Naples, and instruct them in the humbler mechanical professions. The appearance of the boys spoke unfavourably of either the air or diet of the institution; but in other respects it appeared well managed, though on so restricted a proportion as to form a singular contrast to the dimensions of their abode. Craven

Museum of Sulmona: 1598 stalls from Abbazia di S. Spirito

The architecture bears the character of solidity rather than that of elegance: the court, an inner cloister, double corridors ranging round the principal quadrangle, magazines, refectories, dormitories, stables, cellars, kitchens, in fine, all the necessary and supernumerary appendages of an overgrown community, being laid out on a scale which can only be justly qualified by the term gigantic. The ornamental marbles, as well as the paintings which adorned the church, have not been removed. Among the former are four remarkable columns of verd antique, which the taste of the year 1718 (the epoch of the restoration of the building,) has barbarously disfigured by giving them a twisted or spiral form. Among the paintings the only very fine work is one by Mengs. Craven
In 1868 the whole complex was turned into a prison which led to making many changes to its facilities and to removing its works of art to the Museum of Sulmona. In 1998 it was acquired by the Ministry for Cultural Affairs and some parts of it can be visited.

Museum of Sulmona: from Abbazia di S. Spirito: (left) Sebastiano Conca: Apotheosis of S. Pietro Celestino (1750); (right) Anton Raphael Mengs: St. Benedict

Sebastiano Conca after Maratta's death held a position of unequalled eminence. (..) His work is clearly in the tradition of Maratta, but not without a difference: the balanced symmetrical composition belies the Baroque paraphernalia, an indication of the growing academic mentality. (..) Anton Raphael Mengs. A mediocre talent, but enthusiastically supported by Winckelmann, the intellectual father of Neo-classicism, he was hailed by the whole of Europe as the re-discoverer of a lost truth. (..) He saw salvation in a denial of Baroque and Rococo painterly traditions and pleaded for an unconditional return to principles of design. Wittkower
The fact that the Abbey could afford to commission paintings to two leading painters of Rome, who both had been "Princes" of Accademia di S. Luca, the guild of the Roman artists, testifies to its wealth.

Churches outside the walls: (left) S. Francesco di Paola; (right) portal of S. Antonio

The curved lines of the façade of S. Francesco di Paola are typical of many small Roman churches of the early XVIIIth century, e.g. S. Maria in Monticelli.
S. Antonio was redesigned in the XXth century but it retains a portal with an inscription which indicates that the church was reconsecrated in 1740 and that this was done with the financial help of the Mazzara family.
Pescina, on the eastern side of Lake Fucino, advances a claim to having given birth to the celebrated Cardinal Mazzarini, whose family was supposed to have emigrated hither from Mazzara, in Sicily. Craven

Go to:
Introductory page to this section
Alba Fucens
Amatrice
Amiternum
Antrodoco
Atri - the Town
Atri - the Cathedral
Avezzano
Borgocollefegato and the Cicolano
Carsoli
Celano
Chieti
Chieti - Roman memories
Cittaducale
Lanciano
L'Aquila - the Vale
L'Aquila - Historical outline
L'Aquila - S. Maria di Collemaggio
L'Aquila - S. Bernardino
L'Aquila - Other churches
L'Aquila - Other monuments
Leonessa - The Town
Leonessa - The Churches
Luco and Trasacco
Montereale
Penne
Pescara
S. Benedetto dei Marsi and Pescina
Roman Sulmona
Medieval Sulmona
Renaissance Sulmona
Easter Day Ceremony (La Madonna che scappa - The Fleeing Madonna)
Tagliacozzo
Teramo
Appendix - Other excerpts and illustrations from Lear's book covering minor towns and sites