A Hidden Chapel

After a year and half in Rome it is becoming less and less frequent that I discover new sites that are truly worth seeing, but it still happens more regularly than I would expect. In general the things I have not found are a bit away from the center of town and not right under my nose, but last week I discovered something in a building I have walked past hundreds of times.

The church San Girolamo della Carita sits just off the magnificent Piazza Farnese down Via di Monserrato, which I walk down every time I go to Pierluigi. Just off the piazza that street is very narrow and one would hardly notice this church's facade because there is not enough space to step back and take the whole thing in. I, like everyone else, simply walked past it without a second thought. One day I decided to poke around and see if the church held anything of interest.

The facade, not the best angle (or light) but shows the narrow street and why people pass it by so easily.



I was shot down in my first attempt, the church has very limited hours, Sunday mornings from 10-12 with mass at 11:30, so it's really only open from 10:00-11:30 from visitors. An hour and a half a week? Really? There are a few others churches in Rome with similar hours and I still have no idea what they use the churches for the rest of the time. Between that first try and my next visit I did a little research and discovered that the church houses the Cappella Spada designed by Borromini. Thinking I has seen all his works in Rome, I was excited to find another, albeit on a smaller scale.

I made my way to the church last Sunday and got there around 11, giving myself enough time before mass started to have a look around. The Cappella Spada is the back left corner and is immediately recognizable by the railing in the front. Instead of a typical balustrade dividing the chapel from the rest of the church there are two angels holding a length of stretched fabric between them. However, despite the look of the drapery and the way it sits in folds at the angels feet, it is entirely marble.



I originally thought the entire chapel was completed by Borromini, but, like so many things in Rome, it took years to complete and Borromini was deceased (well, committed suicide) before the completion of the chapel. It was finished, the railing was actually the last piece of the puzzle, by a student of Bernini, which must have caused Borromini to roll over in his grave. While it may not have been in his original design, the railing is the most notable feature of the chapel.



The different types of marble, all reds and earthy tones, give the chapel a very warm feeling.