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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.
S. Lorenzo fuori le mura (Book 3) (Day 3)

In this page:
The plate by Giuseppe Vasi
Today's view
Bestiary
Column of S. Lorenzo
Short lasted victory

The Plate (No. 47-ii)

S. Lorenzo fuori le mura

S. Lorenzo fuori le mura (outside the walls) occupies a spot where Constantine founded a church on the burial place of St. Lawrence. The church was entirely rebuilt by Pope Honorius III (Cencio Savelli) and restored by Pope Innocentius X (although Pope Alexander VII took the credit for it by adding his six mountains plus the star outside the church). It is one of the seven basilicas visited by the pilgrims. The view is taken from the green dot in the small late XIXth century map here below. In the description below the plate Vasi made reference to: 1) Basilica di S. Lorenzo; 2) Monastery adjoining the Basilica; 3) Via Tiburtina (leading to Tivoli). The small map shows also 4) Porta S. Lorenzo.

Small ViewSmall View

Today

The Church today

During the pontificate of Pope Pius IX in 1864-70 the church underwent alterations: a new column was erected and the symbols of Alexander VII dismantled. A large cemetery (il Verano) was built behind and around the church. Pius IX elected to be buried in the crypt of the church. The church was bombed in July 1943 and reopened in 1949 for worship after careful restoration of the façade and the south nave. The porch is a fine XIIIth century work by Andrea Vassalletto who made use of ancient columns.
You may wish to see the basilica as it appeared in a 1588 Guide to Rome.

S. Lorenzo

The Bestiary

The Bestiary

S. Lorenzo has retained most of its original medieval look. In particular representations of animals in the decoration of the porch (top left) or as gargoyles (top right) or presiding over the entrance (lower right) or in the pavement (lower left), where a mosaic shows the heraldic symbols of Honorius III.
The frog and the lizard shown in the image here below, were thought by J. J. Winckelmann in the XVIIIth century to be the "signature" of two classical sculptors: Batrax (frog) and Saurus (lizard).

Saurus and Batrax

Winckelmann underestimated the skill of the XIIIth century stone-cutters who added the missing parts to some of the ancient columns used in the nave and in the porch.

The Column of S. Lorenzo

Column of S. Lorenzo

Pius IX had a penchant for erecting columns (see Piazza di Spagna). Here a statue of St. Lawrence crowns the column. As customary in the representation of martyrs he is shown with a reminder of how he was tortured and killed. Thus he walks around with the grill.

Short lasted Victory

Monument for the battle in Mentana

In 1867 an attempt to reverse the papal government failed. The internal rebellion of Trastevere was put down and Garibaldi was defeated at Mentana, north of Rome by papal (French armed) troops. By 1867 it was clear to everyone that the demise of the State of the Church was inevitable, nevertheless Pius IX wanted to celebrate that victory. A large monument showing St. Peter giving a sword to a medieval knight was completed in early 1870. A few months later, on September 20, Italian troops entered Rome near Porta Pia. On the back of the flag the last coat of arms of the Pope as sovereign of Rome: on the small columns around the monument the lion of Pius IX's coat of arms. The monument is now inside the Verano cemetery.

Excerpts from Giuseppe Vasi 1761 Itinerary related to this page:


Basilica di s. Lorenzo fuori delle mura
Nel campo Verano, ove fu sepolto il santo Diacono, si osserva questa santa Basilica in un sito basso e arenoso. Il suo Fondatore si crede essere stato il Gran Costantino, e poi da varj Pontefici fu ristaurata, e ornata di marmi e di pitture. Si osservano le bellissime colonne di marmo striate, e specialmente quelle nel coro, ed in mezzo il ciborio con 4. colonne di porfido, sotto cui riposa il corpo del s. Titolare con quello di s. Stefano protomartire: esistono in mezzo della nave i pulpiti marmorei, chiamati dagli antichi ambones su i quali leggevansi al popolo li Evangelj e l'Epistole nelle Messe solenni, e da piede sonovi due sepolcri alla gotica con bassirilievi di marmo. Il quadro nel primo altare a destra con alcuni santi, che vengono seppelliti è di Emilio Sottino; la s. Ciriaca nell'altra cappella, che pure seppellisce altri santi Martiri, è di Emilio Savonanzio, ed il quadro nel terzo altare è del suddetto Sottino; le pitture a fresco furono però fatte da Domenico Rainaldi. L'altare sotterraneo, che sta a destra della tribuna è molto celebre per essere il primo, che fosse privilegiato; appresso a questo corrisponde il cimiterio di s. Ciriaca, in cui seppelliva i corpi de' ss. Martiri: Il s. Lorenzo, che distribuisce i tesori della Chiesa a' poveri, e la decollazione di s. Gio. Batista sono di Gio. Serodine d'Ancona, e la ss. Vergine del sudd. Sottino; le pitture però a fresco sono di Gio. Antonio, e Gio. Francesco allievi del Vanni, e li due depositi presso al cimiterio sono di Franc. Fiammingo, col disegno però di Pietro da Cort. Si nota, che in questa chiesa Onor. III. coronò il Conte Auxerre, e Jole sua moglie per Imperatori di Costantinopoli.

Next plate in Book 3: Basilica di S. Maria Maggiore
You have completed Book 3. Move to Day 4!