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Church of Santa Francesca Romana
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 Mostly represented styles: Baroque - Rococò - Neoclassic
The Church of Santa Francesca Romana is a church of seventeenth-century origin, but which has undergone many modifications throughout its history.
HISTORY
The first version of the church was built at the beginning of the seventeenth century to serve the inhabitants of some farms in that area and who until then had to reach the rather distant Basilica of San Babila.
A few years later (1628-1629) Cardinal Federico Borromeo granted the order of the Discalced Augustinians to build a convent and a new church on the land adjacent to the small church (which was first transformed into an elementary school and then into the sacristy).
Due to economic difficulties, the construction of the new church, whose design is attributed to Gerolamo Quadrio, took almost sixty years, from 1662 to 1720.
The new church originally had a square plan on which the rectangular presbytery was grafted.
In 1727 the large high altar in polychrome and inlaid marble was inaugurated. On that occasion the large wooden statue of the Black Madonna of Montserrat (Catalan sanctuary in the Pyrenees, among the most beloved in Christianity) was placed in the niche in the center of it. It too from the eighteenth century, it was brought to Milan around 1720 by the Augustinian Ignazio da San Domenico, confessor of Prince Charles III.
In 1787 the church became a parish church, as part of the reforms desired by the Austrian government.
With the arrival of the French in 1796, the church was reduced to a warehouse and the adjacent convent was suppressed and transformed into the seat of the School of Veterinary Medicine.
In 1892, the current neoclassical-neorenaissance façade and the bell tower were completed.
The current interior decorations were created almost entirely by Luigi Morgari in the period from 1916 to 1932.
Between 1932 and 1933 the main altar was moved back about ten metres and two small naves were built on the sides of the presbytery and, on the right of it, also a sort of very long right transept.
The church took on its current appearance only in 1968, when a left transept was also built and the right one was shortened.
STRUCTURE
The current church has a complex structure, which reflects the numerous modifications made over time.
The facade in neorenaissance-neoclassical style is sober and linear and divided into two and a half orders, as the upper order rests on a sort of high plinth. The facade is divided horizontally by frames and marked vertically by composite pilasters. There is a single central door. Inside a small triangular tympanum immediately above there is a bas-relief from the late nineteenth century depicting the Madonna of Montserrat. A second arched tympanum is then found higher up, in the intermediate order.
The upper order includes a rectangular window in the center, flanked by two niches containing the statues of St. Francesca Romana and St. Rosalia (patron saint of Palermo but also co-patron saint, since always, of this church), also from the late nineteenth century.
The interior has a single nave in the front part, with three naves in the back part. The front part is divided irregularly, with a shorter entrance span with a barrel vault, a large intermediate span covered by a large dome and a third span equal to the first. This is the part corresponding to the first version of the church.
The back part includes the central nave, divided into two spans with a barrel vault with lunettes and the two lateral semi-naves.
Note that the two parts of the church are divided by what was originally the triumphal arch of the presbytery, arch that is therefore richly decorated with stucco: at the top there is a Christ on the cross on a fanciful frame with cherubs in bas-relief and at the sides there are two angels resting on volutes.
Note that the two arms of the transept have simple flat ceilings and this clashes quite a bit with the rest of the church.
Vertically, the interior is marked by pilasters with Corinthian capitals, while along the entire perimeter of the church a composite and very protruding cornice divides the vertical surfaces from the ceiling. Only in the choir it is reduced.
The interior of the church is rich in monochrome stucco decorations: garlands, cherub heads, volutes and relief frames, present in particular along the lines of contact between the various surfaces and in correspondence with the windows.
The latter, although not small in size (note the large ellipsoidal windows under the dome) are placed only in the upper part, and this makes the church not very well lit.
The dome cap in the nave is entirely occupied by a large fresco depicting the Glory of Santa Francesca Romana painted by Luigi Morgari in 1916 and restored in 2010. The scene is represented in the form of a backdrop against a sky furrowed by clouds. The allegories of the four cardinal virtues are depicted in the pendentives.
The main chapels are four, two on each side of the large central span of the front part. They all have the same structure: shallow and barrel-vaulted, with the back wall occupied by a large late Baroque altar in polychrome marble and depictions of saints (made by Luigi Morgari) on the side walls. In accordance with the fashions of the time, dark colors such as black and burgundy predominate in the altars.
The first chapel on the left is dedicated to Saint Francesca Romana. The large niche in the center of the retable is occupied by a wooden statue made in 1940 by Christian Delago and depicting the saint and her angel. On the walls are Saint Anthony the Abbot and Saint Francis of Assisi.
The second chapel on the left is dedicated to Saint Augustine. The altarpiece from the early seventeenth century is attributed to Guglielmo Caccia, known as Moncalvo, and depicts the Madonna of the Belt with Saints Augustine and Monica. On the side walls are Saint Rosalia and Saint Agnes.
The first chapel on the right is dedicated to the Pietà. The altarpiece depicts Saint Francesca Romana and Saint Charles adoring Jesus taken down from the cross. The painting was made by Carlo Doccu in 1615. The base of the altar includes a case containing relics. On the walls are again Saint Francesca Romana and Saint Charles Borromeo.
The second chapel on the right is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Here, too, the altarpiece is by Luigi Morgari, who painted it in 1920. It depicts the Apparition of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Mary Aloque. On the walls are Saint Monica and Saint Luigi Gonzaga.
The presbytery is slightly raised compared to the rest of the church and is characterized by a black and white marble checkerboard floor. The vaulted ceiling is entirely occupied by a fresco by Luigi Morgari depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven contemplated by Saint Francesca Romana and Saint Rosalia.
The choir retains, at least in part, the original wooden furnishings in Baroque style, with the insignia of Saint Augustine on the prior's seat.
The monumental high altar in polychrome and inlaid marble, currently set back in the choir, dates back to the beginning of the eighteenth century and was financed by King Charles VI in fulfillment of a vow made to Our Lady of Montserrat for the liberation from the siege of Barcelona. Here too, black and wine red predominate. At the top of the altar, two large wooden angels support the Augustinian symbols, namely the flaming heart, the cross and the ampoule with the holy oil. Note that originally, in place of the two angels, there were two double-headed eagles, the emblem of the Habsburgs.
The altar houses a large niche in which there is a large wooden statue (author unknown) of the Virgin of Montserrat as represented in the Baroque era, namely richly dressed and with various ornaments. The Virgin is seated on a throne and holds the Child Jesus in her lap who blesses the world.
The church houses numerous canvases of various sizes.
Finally, noteworthy are the large eighteenth-century wardrobes in the sacristy, which in the numerous drawers still preserve, on strips of paper glued to the internal walls, the names of the Augustinian friars who used them over two centuries ago.
If you are interested in a guided tour of this monument send an email!
Categories: Churches / Religious buildings
Via Alvise Cadamosto, 5, Milano MI |
Further pictures of the Church of Santa Francesca Romana in the section Photography |