SANTA MARIA DELL'ASSUNZIONE

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Title	SANTA MARIA DELL'ASSUNZIONE
View	Context view, showing location of the church opposite to what was the Chigi Palace, in the center of Arrica
Notes	religious
Work Type	church relief painting
Style/Period	Baroque: High Baroque
Creator Name	Bernini, Gian Lorenzo
Creator Nationality	Italian
School of Creator	Baroque
Date.Creator Birth	1598
Date.Creator Death	1680
Major Design Aspects	based on the Pantheon
Elements & Spatial Types	dome: no pendentives colonnade portico putti angel scroll flower garlands
Climate Type	Mediterranean
Country	Italy
City	Rome
State/Province	Lazio
Alternate Place Names	Piazza della Repubblica
Architectural Material	stone, stucco
Structural System	bearing masonry
Patron	Pope Alexander VII
Dates	1662-1664
Century	17C
Photographer	Scott Gilchrist, Archivision Inc.
Subject Information	Commissioned in 1662 by the Chigi Pope, Alexander V11, Santa Maria dell'Assunzione was one of the three churches totally designed by Bernini - that is the architecture, sculpture and painting. It was to be built across the street from one of the Chigi palaces in Ariccia and thus have a pleasing facade. The church comprises the simple geometric forms of a cylinder crowned by a hemispherical dome with a broad lantern. A classical arched portico in front is balanced by the sacristy which juts out at the rear but is not visible from the interior. Also at the rear are two bell-towers which are all but obscured except for their tops as one approached the church. Bernini's model for Santa Maria dell'Assunzione was the Pantheon in Rome which he greatly admired and on which he had been working since 1657 in order to restore it. Bernini framed the church in Arricia with two symmetrical palace facades the lateral walls of which curve around the body of the church, there by creating a harmonious facade for Santa Maria dell'Assunzione especially as viewed from the Chigi palace across the street. The interior also shows its relation to the Pantheon. There are three chapels of equal size on each side while the entrance and high-altar bays are fractionally larger. This resolves the inherent problem of directional axis in a centralized design. On entrance the viewer's eye is immediately drawn to the main altar of the church. On the cornice, stucco putti and angels sit on scrolls holding flower garlands which join each rib around the base of the dome. According to legend jubilant angels scattered flowers on the day after the Virgin's Assumption. The fresco on the wall of the high altar, painted by Gugliemo Cortese, also attests to this miraculous happening. The stucco angels just above the high altar hold a crown awaiting the Virgin's assent into the heavenly zone of the church (i.e. the dome). Thus the fresco below and the angels above participate in this miraculous event. Here Bernini uses both ribs (medieval) and coffers (Classical as in the Pantheon) to decorate the dome. It was an idea first developed by Pietro da Cortona but it was Bernini who classicized it. The ribs act as the active carriers while the coffers diminish in size towards the lantern suggesting an evenly distributed thrust for the weight of the dome. First used by Bernini in San Tomasco in Castelgandolfo in 1658 this unique combination of ribs and coffers was used next in Santa Maria dell'Assunzina (1662-64) as well as in San Andrea al Quirinale, Rome (1658-70). The design influenced architects from 1660 onwards in Italy as well as the rest of Europe. The lucid architecture, using Classical language, the life-like sculpture and the frescoed image are all conjoined through the masterful design of Bernini to create a stirring religious experience focused on the Assumption of the Virgin to whom the church is dedicated. Research by Marlene-Philion Jacques (BA in Art History) for Archivision
Credit Line	Archivision Inc. (all images copyright Scott Gilchrist / Archivision.com)
Collection Title	Archivision (architecture, urban design, gardens, landscapes and public art)
Collection information	Collection administered by the Visual Resources manager, Architecture Library, (402) 472-1193

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