Enjoy reading my blog throughout my 7 weeks in Roma this summer! Ciao!

Monday, June 2, 2008

Sant'Agnese in Agone


When you enter Piazza Navona from Corsia Agonale, which you would if you were coming from the Pantheon, you are immediately met by an overwhelming building. This is the Sant'Agnese in Agone church. The name comes from St. Agnes, a young, virgin martyr. It was built in 1657. It is said that St. Agnes was forced to renounce her faith, naked and was killed on this site and burried in the catacombs along Via Nomentana.

The concave facade of the building was done by Rainaldi but mostly planned by Borromini. I did not know it earlier but after I researched this building I found out something interesting about the Fountain of Four Rivers. It is said that Bernini, who created the fountain, had one of the personifications hold his hand, seeming to protect himself from the facade of the Sant'Agnese in Agone. This is thought to be because of a tense relationship between the two men, but can't be proven because the fountain was completed before the facade of the building. The statue of St. Agnes, that resides on the facade of the building, is there to reassure the stability of the church.

On the interior of Sant'Agnese in Agone there is a dome covered in frescoes painted by Ciro Ferri, Sebastiano Corbellini, and Il Baciccia in the late 17th century. There is also the body of Pope Innocent X, who had the church enlarged, lays in a crypt to the left of the alter.


EyeWitness Guide. pg. 121

"Sant'Agnese in Agone." Wikia. 27 Feb 2007. 2 Jun 2008. http://romanchurches.wikia.com/wiki/Sant'Agnese_in_Agone.

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