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| Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso | |
|---|---|
| Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso(in English) S. Laurentii in Damaso(in Latin) | |
 Entrance to the Basilica, incorporated into the side façade of thePalazzo della Cancelleria. | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| 41°53′48.74″N12°28′19.23″E / 41.8968722°N 12.4720083°E /41.8968722; 12.4720083 | |
| Location | Piazza della Cancelleria 1,Rome |
| Country | Italy |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Tradition | Roman Rite |
| Website | sanlorenzoindamaso |
| History | |
| Status | Titular church,minor basilica |
| Dedication | Saint Lawrence |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Groundbreaking | 15th century |
| Completed | 18th century |
| Administration | |
| District | Lazio |
| Province | Rome |
| Clergy | |
| Cardinal protector | Antonio Maria Rouco Varela |
TheMinor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Damaso (Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Damaso) or simplySan Lorenzo in Damaso is a parish andtitular church in centralRome,Italy that is dedicated toSt. Lawrence,deacon andmartyr. It is incorporated into thePalazzo della Cancelleria, which enjoysthe extraterritoriality of the Holy See.
Archaeological evidence suggests the site, like those of manychurches in Rome, may have formerly housed a pagan temple. The first documentary evidence of a church at this site is the reference in the synod ofPope Symmachus of AD 499 of aTitulus Damasi. According to tradition, in the AD 380s a basilica church was erected byPope Damasus I in his own residence. This church is one of many inRome dedicated toSt. Lawrence, including the more ancient and then extra-urbanBasilica di San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura, that was rebuilt by the samePope Damasus I. The original basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso was demolished by CardinalRaffaele Riario, a nephew ofPope Sixtus IV who commissioned the imposingRenaissance-stylePalazzo della Cancelleria (1489–1513). The palace was built of spolia and stone from nearby ancient Roman buildings, including theColosseum, and enveloped the new basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso under the right wing; the entrance is located at Number 1, Piazza della Cancelleria, on the right flank of the façade.
The architect of the basilica, like that of the Palace of the Chancellery, is unknown. The design of the Palace has been attributed toFrancesco di Giorgio Martini andBaccio Pontelli, whileFilippo Titi suggestsDonato Bramante and other authors have citedGiuliano da Sangallo andAndrea Bregno.[1] Titi also independently attributed reconstruction of the basilica to Bramante. The last restoration was necessary after a fire damaged the basilica in 1944.
The inscriptions in the basilica are valuable illustrations of the history of theRoman Catholic Church, and were collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.[2]
TheCardinal Priest of theTitulus S. Laurentii in Damaso isAntonio Rouco Varela, former Archbishop ofMadrid,Spain.
The interior decoration was begun by commissions of the resident of the Palace,Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, in the late 16th century.Cavaliere d'Arpino painted the walls of the right counter-façade. The main altar hosts the painting ofSaints and Coronation of St. Mary byFederico Zuccari. Below the altar are the relics ofPope Eutychian andPope Damasus I. To the left of the altar is a copy of a statue ofSt. Hippolytus of Rome; the original is a restored antique statue in theVatican Library. Tradition holds thatSt. Lawrence instigated the conversion ofSt. Hippolytus to the Catholic Faith. This copy was commissioned for the basilica by CardinalPietro Ottoboni.Vignola designed the portal. Immediately to the right of the entrance is thememorial to Alessandro Valtrini, a minister ofPope Urban VIII, thatGian Lorenzo Bernini designed in 1639. The second vestibule has statues ofSt. Francis Xavier andSt. Charles Borromeo byStefano Maderno.
To the right of the entrance is a chapel designed byNicola Salvi and commissioned by CardinalTommaso Ruffo in the late 18th century. The ceiling is frescoed withGlory of San Nicola byCorrado Giaquinto, and the altarpiece ofVirgin with Sts.Philip Neri and Nicolò was painted bySebastiano Conca. To the left of the entrance is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, which was commissioned by Cardinal Ottoboni and frescoed byAndrea Casali. The altarpiece is theLast Supper byVincenzo Berrettini.[3]
Inside the basilica, the first chapel to the right of the nave has a 19th-century monument to PrinceCamillo Massimi and his wife, byFilippo Gnaccarini andPietro Tenerani, respectively.
The second chapel to the right has the tomb ofPellegrino Rossi, the last minister of thePapal States underBl. Pope Pius IX, byPietro Tenerani. His murder in 1848 in the adjacent Palace was one of the events that led to the ensconcement of the Pope in theVatican City and the annexation of thePapal States to theKingdom of Italy.
The first chapel to the left has the tomb and funerary monument of CardinalLudovico Trevisan, Patriarch of Aquileia, with a recumbent statue byPaolo Romano.
The second chapel to the left contains the tomb ofFra Annibal Caro (1566) byGiovanni Antonio Dosio.
A chapel near the sacristy has an altarpiece depicting theMadonna delle Gioie byNicolò Circignani, denominated "il Pomarancio", and two silver statues ofSt. Lawrence andSt. Damaso byCiro Ferri.[4]
A further chapel is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of the Agonizing Jesus, and contains a portrait ofPope Leo XIII proclaiming the statutes of the Pious Union of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the chapel's 19th century architectVincenzo De Rossi Re. The founding of this fraternity was celebrated in the basilica in 1883.
The Chapel of the Santissima Concezione was completed and frescoed (1635-8) by a youngPietro da Cortona. Other works include the monument of Cardinal Trevisan (1505).
Media related toSan Lorenzo in Damaso at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio | Landmarks of Rome San Lorenzo in Damaso | Succeeded by San Lorenzo in Lucina |
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