The Seven Penitential Psalms. Part One.

Roman Text is taken from The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.
Volume 4. Septuagesima.

Bold Italic Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Deutsch: Hl. Augustinus in betrachtendem Gebet.

Four of the Penitential Psalms
were well known to Saint Augustine of Hippo.

Artist: Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510).

Date: Circa 1480.

Current location: Florence, Italy.

Notes: Deutsch: Auftraggeber: wahrscheinlich aus der Familie der Vespucci (Wappen).

Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Permission: [1].

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Penitential Psalms, or Psalms of Confession, so named in Cassiodorus's commentary of the 6th-Century A.D., are Psalms 6, 32, 38, 50, 102, 130, and 143 (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142 in the Septuagint numbering).

Note: The Septuagint numbering system has been used throughout this Series of Articles.

Psalm 6.      Domine ne in furore tuo (Pro octava).
Psalm 31.    Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates.
Psalm 37.    Domine ne in furore tuo (In rememorationem de sabbato).
Psalm 50.    Miserere mei Deus.
Psalm 101.  Domine exaudi orationem meam et clamor meus ad te veniat.
Psalm 129.  De profundis clamavi.
Psalm 142.  Domine exaudi orationem meam auribus percipe obsecrationem meam.

A Setting by Lassus of Psalm 129,
"De profundis clamavi ad te Domine", 

("Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord").

Psalm 129 is one of the Seven Penitential Psalms.

Available on YouTube on
http://youtu.be/luLLO3c3LlE.

THE SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS.

Part One.

David, struck down by sickness, asks pardon of God, and beseeches Him to heal the wounds of his Soul.

Psalm 6.

Domine ne in furore tuo arguas me:
* neque in ira tua corripias me.

Miserere mei, Domine, quoniam infirmus sum:
* sana me Domine, quoniam conturbata sunt ossa mea.

Et anima mea turbata est valde:
* sed tu Domine usquequo ?

Convertere, Domine, et eripe animam mean:
* salvum me fac propter misericordiam tuam.

Quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui:
* in inferno autem quis confitebitur tibi ?

Laboravi in gemitu meo, lavabo per singulas noctes lectum meum:
* lacrymis meis stratum meum rigabo.

Turbatus est a furore oculus meus:
* inveteravi inter omnes inimicos meos.

Discedite a me, omnes qui operamini iniquitatem:
* quoniam exaudivet Dominus vocem fletus mei.

Exaudivet Dominus deprecationem meam:
* Dominus orationem meam suscepit.

Erubescant et conturbentur vehementer omnes inimici mei:
* convertantur et erubescant valde velociter.


O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy indignation,
nor chastise me in Thy wrath.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

And my Soul is troubled exceedingly:
But Thou, O Lord, how long ?

Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my Soul:
O save me, for Thy mercy's sake.

For there is no-one in death that is mindful of Thee:
And who shall confess to Thee in Hell ?

I have laboured in my groanings, every night I will wash my bed:
I will water my couch with my tears.

My eye is troubled through indignation:
I have grown old among all mine enemies.

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity:
For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.

The Lord hath heard my supplication:
The Lord hath received my Prayer.

Let all mine enemies be ashamed and be very much troubled:
Let them be turned back, and be ashamed very speedily.


The Seven Penitential Psalms are expressive of sorrow for sin. Four were known as 'Penitential Psalms' by Saint Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th-Century. Psalm 50 (Miserere) was recited at the close of daily Morning Service in the Primitive Church.

Translations of the Penitential Psalms were undertaken by some of the greatest poets in Renaissance England, including Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Sir Philip Sidney. Before the Suppression of the Minor Orders and Tonsure, in 1972, by Pope Paul VI, the Seven Penitential Psalms were assigned to new Clerics after having been Tonsured.

Orlande de Lassus'

"Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales".

This is a Setting of Psalm 6, "Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me",

("O Lord, do not reprove me in Thy wrath, nor in Thy anger chastise me").

Psalm 6 is the first of the Seven Penitential Psalms.

Available on YouTube on

http://youtu.be/-0cILFy2sW4.

Perhaps the most famous musical setting of all the Seven Penitential Psalms is by Orlande de Lassus, with his Psalmi Davidis poenitentiales of 1584. There are also fine settings by Andrea Gabrieli and by Giovanni Croce. The Croce pieces are unique in being settings of Italian sonnet-form translations of the Psalms by Francesco Bembo. These were widely distributed. They were translated into English and published in London as Musica Sacra and were even translated (back) into Latin and published in Nürnberg as Septem Psalmi poenitentiales.

William Byrd set all Seven Psalms in English versions for three voices in his Songs of Sundrie Natures (1589). Settings of individual Penitential Psalms have been written by many composers. Well-known settings of the Miserere (Psalm 50) include those by Gregorio Allegri and Josquin des Prez. Settings of the De profundis (Psalm 129) include two in the Renaissance era by Josquin.


PART TWO FOLLOWS.

Altar Of Saint Anne. Ottobeuren Abbey.

Altar of Saint Anne,

Ottobeuren Abbey,

Ottobeuren, Germany.

Photo: 18 April 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Lenten Station At The Basilica Of Saint Laurence's-In-Damaso. Tuesday Of The Fourth Week In Lent.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.
Violet Vestments.

Basilica of San Lorenzo-in-Damaso,

Rome, Italy.

One of the Lenten Stational Churches.

(Google Images)

(encyclopedia.mitrasites.com)

The Nave,

Basilica of Saint Laurence's-in-Damaso,

Rome, Italy.

Photo: http://www.abcroma.com/Monumento.asp?N=48

The Lenten Station is at the Church built in the 4th-Century by Pope Saint Damasus in honour of the celebrated Deacon, the Martyr, Saint Laurence. This Sanctuary, in the 5th-Century, was one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome. The Palace adjoining contained the archives of the Church in Saint Damasus' time; it is now the Pontifical Cancellaria.

The Epistle carries us to Sinai. God had seen, with indignation, His people prostrated at the foot of the golden calf: He announced to Moses His intention of destroying this ungrateful race. Moses prayed and his prayer appeased the Divine anger. He descended from the mountain, chastised the idolaters and brought the Israelites to repentance. Let us do Penance and God will hear our Prayers, since we are, henceforth, part of the people of God.

The Gospel introduces us into the Temple, where Jesus is accused by His perfidious enemies. He confounds them by appealing to the authority of Moses, but fails to change their hearts. Rejected by Jerusalem, He will found a new people, the Church, which spreads over the whole world and will soon have the joy of seeing increased numbers of her children at the Paschal festivities. Let us rejoice that we are members of this Church.

The prayer of Moses, upon the idolatry of his people (Epistle), has been interpreted as an allusion to the Schism that occurred in Rome on the election of Pope Damasus. This act of rebellion was like that which was evoked by the opposition that Our Lord encountered on the Feast of Tabernacles (Gospel).

The entrance door 
of San Lorenzo in Damaso,
Rome, Italy,
incorporated into the 

Palazzo della Cancelleria.

Photo: September 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

San Lorenzo in Damaso (Saint Lawrence in the House of Damasus) is a Basilica Church in Rome, one of several dedicated to the Roman Deacon and Martyr, Saint Lawrence. Known since antiquity (Synod of Pope Symmachus, 499 A.D.) as "Titulus Damasi", according to tradition, San Lorenzo-in-Damaso was built by Pope Damasus I in his own house, in the 380s A.D.

Pope Damasus is known to have been raised in the service of the Basilica of Saint Lawrence-outside-the-Walls in Rome, and, following the death of Pope Liberius, he succeeded to the Papacy amidst factional violence. A group of Damasus' supporters, previously loyal to his opponent, Felix, attacked and killed rivals loyal to Liberius' Deacon, Ursinus, in a riot that required the intervention of the Emperor, Valentinian I, to quell.

Pope Saint Damasus I 

(Pope from 366 A.D. - 384 A.D.)

Source: http://centros5.pntic.mec.es/ies.carreno.

miranda/juan/index.htm#1646-1657

Artist: Juan Carreño de Miranda (1614–1685).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Donato Bramante rebuilt the church in the 15th-Century, by order of Cardinal Raffaele Riario, within the restoration works of the neighbouring Palazzo della Cancelleria. The last restoration was necessary after a fire that damaged the basilica in 1944.

Immediately to the right of the entrance is the memorial of Alessandro Valtrini, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1639.

The first Chapel, to the right, houses a "Virgin with Saints Filippo Neri and Nicolò" by Sebastiano Conca, while the Ceiling is frescoed with "Eternity appears to San Nicola" by Corrado Giaquinto. The first Chapel, to the left, has a "Last Supper" by Vincenzo Berrettini.

Façade of the Palazzo della Cancelleria,
Rome, Italy.

The smaller door is the entrance to the 
Minor Basilica of San Lorenzo-in-Damaso.

Photo: January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the first Nave to the left, are statues of Saints Francesco Saverio and Carlo Borromeo by Stefano Maderno. In the right Nave, there is a monument to Gabriella di Savoia Massimo by Pietro Tenerani. The Presbytery, modified by Bernini, is the "Altarpiece of Saints" and "Coronation of Mary" by Federico Zuccari. 

In the Nave, to the left of the Presbytery, is the Chapel of the Santissima Concezione, completed and frescoed (1635-1638) by Pietro da Cortona. Other works include the monument of Cardinal Trevisan (1505), the Madonna delle Gioie, attributed to Nicolò Circignani, and the monument of Annibal Caro (1566), by Giovanni Antonio Dosio.

The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Laurentii-in-Damaso is Antonio Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid.

Compline. Night Prayer.

Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,

unless otherwise stated.

Compline (/ˈkɒmplɪn/ kom-plin; also Complin, Night Prayer, Prayers at the End of the Day) is the final Church Service (or Office) of the day in the Christian tradition of Canonical Hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin "completorium", as Compline is the completion of the working day.

The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th-Century by St. Benedict in his Rule (Regula Benedicti; hereafter, RB), in Chapters 16, 17, 18, and 42, and he even uses the verb "complere" to signify Compline: "Omnes ergo in unum positi compleant" ("All having assembled in one place, let them say Compline"); "et exuentes a completorio" ("and, after going out from Compline...") (RB, Chap. 42).

Image:

CARMELITE MONKS

Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and certain other Christian denominations with Liturgical traditions, prescribe Compline Services. Compline tends to be a Contemplative Office that emphasises spiritual peace.

In many Monasteries it is the custom to begin the "Great Silence" after Compline, during which the whole Community, including guests, observes silence throughout the night until the Morning Service, the next day.

Monastic Compline.

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/0qIaCwcr8R0.

Baldassare Galuppi. Italian Composer. Mass For Saint Mark’s. 1766.

The following Paragraph is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Baldassare Galuppi (1706–1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano, in the Venetian Republic. He achieved international success, spending periods of his career in London and Saint Petersburg, but his main base remained Venice, where he held a succession of leading appointments.

This Article is taken from ATRIUM MUSICOLOGICUM

Baldassare Galuppi

by a Venetuan artist,

bearing the date 1751.

Source: Sotheby's.

Author: Venetian School of the 1750s.

(Wikimedia Commons)

When, on the strength of his fame throughout Europe, Empress Catherine II of Russia (Catherine the Great) invited Baldassare Galuppi to her court in Saint Petersburg, the composer was most reluctant to make the long journey and only changed his mind after Venetian diplomats got round the problem by assuring him that his acceptance would not involve forfeiting either his position as maestro di cappella at Saint Mark’s, Venice, or the regular payment of his salary between 1765 and 1768, provided that he supplied a Gloria and a Credo for the Christmas Mass (one of the most elaborate Services in the Church Calendar) each year during his absence.

It was traditional at Saint Mark’s to adapt the form of the Mass itself to the requirements of worship, but also to conditions more peripheral to the performance: The Kyrie had to be composed by the First Organist, the Gloria and Credo by the maestro di cappella, the Sanctus and Agnus Dei were ideally replaced by a motet and an instrumental composition, while the Proper of the Mass was still intoned in Plainsong according to the Patriarchal Rite.

The fact that the composition of the Kyrie was entrusted to the First Organist shows just how important the role was; the post was viewed not simply as one carrying performance responsibilities, but as an apprenticeship for a possible future appointment as maestro di cappella, which was precisely the course of events in the career of Ferdinando Giuseppe Bertoni.

The Kyrie was, however, considered to be a Section of relatively minor importance, so its preparation was often more hasty and, naturally, the various manuscript sources that preserve such pieces have become separated from those in which the other two Movements of the Ordinary are to be found. The manuscripts of the 1766 and 1767 Christmas Masses are still extant, conserved in Genoa. Galuppi must have provided for the 1765 celebration before leaving for Russia, and by 1768 he was back in Venice. The advantages of his prestigious new post are emphasized on the frontispiece of the Mass:

First Master and Director of all the Music for Her Imperial Majesty the Empress of/all the Russias, etc. etc. and First Master of the Ducal Chapel/of Saint Mark’s in Venice.

Shortly before Christmas 1766, the cappella ducale [musicians in the pay of the Duke] had undergone a substantial reform. Usually attributed to Galuppi, this was in all probability (as has been noted on several previous occasions) the work of Gaetano Latilla, the Assistant Maestro. The musical bodies were completely restructured, leading to many of the musicians being pensioned off. To the twenty-four remaining singers, distributed equally among the four conventional Sections, the following instruments were added: a pair of flutes, oboes, horns and trumpets, a solo violin, twelve rank and file violins, six violas, four cellos and four violoni, or bass viols. The institutionally most important posts were held by Latilla (Assistant Maestro but in overall charge during Galuppi’s absence) and the organists Bertoni (first organ), Alvise Tavelli (second organ), and Alessandro Maccari and Domenico Bettoni, who played the organs in the palchetti.

The autograph manuscript shows the Mass structured in the two Movements, Gloria and Credo. The division of these two Prayers is wholly conventional, the Gloria much more expansive than the Credo, where the greater conciseness brings with a gain in textual clarity suited to the importance attributed by Catholic tradition to this major declaration of Faith.

The Gloria has a freer structure, with the Text divided theatrically into ten short Verses, varied in character. The ‘Gloria’, the ‘Gratias agimus tibi’ and the ‘Suscipe’ are all Choral, each with a different tempo marking, the first being Andante spiritoso, the second Largo, the third Allegro. The remaining seven Sections feature solo parts, the soloists almost always specified by name in the manuscript, Pacchierotti and Rolfi were allocated the ‘Domine Deus’ and ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu’, Santi the ‘Qui tollis’, Pacchierotti the ‘Qui sedes’, Rolfi and De Mezzo the ‘Quoniam’.

The manuscript of the Christmas Mass is a rich source of information for anyone interested in the exact deployment of individual performers at Saint Mark’s. As already noted, the twenty-four Choristers and thirty-five Instrumentalists occupied the spaces beside the First and Second Organs, where they must have been uncomfortably cramped. The two palchetti, temporary wooden structures placed above the Sansovino galleries, provided additional space. Removed in 1952, they accommodated an organ and organist, a cello and violone, which meant that the four groups of these instruments could be distributed among the four musical locations to provide an indispensable wholeness suited to the realisation of the continuo.

An examination of the original parts, dating from the second half of the 18th-Century and still preserved in Saint Mark’s archives, yields confirmation of the arrangement. The cello and violone parts carry the added annotation ‘organo I’, ‘organo II’ and ‘palchetto’. There cannot have been more than one or two singers in each palchetto, as it would have been impossible to fit more more than four or five musicians (not forgetting the bulky instruments) into a space which, being just below the Vaulted Roof, had very limited headroom.

The most logical arrangement for the Gloria would have been to place Latilla, Bertoni, Cozzini and Santi (the manuscript expressly states that these last two were altos) in the Chantry of the First Organ, naturally along with a substantial part of the Orchestra and Choir; Tavelli, a cello and a violone plus the rest of the Orchestra and Choir in the Chantry of the Second Organ; Bertoni, De Mazzo (bass), a cello and a violone in the palchetto on the left side; and Pacchierotti (male soprano), Rolfi (alto), Maccari, a cello and a violone in the palchetto on the right side (in line with the Second Organ, within sight of the Chantry of the first), alternating the contributions of the soloists housed in each of these fou chantries.

As we can now see, there was ample scope here for flexibility, the solos (‘Laudamus te’, ‘Domine Fili’, ‘Qui sedes’) and ensemble pieces (e.g. ‘Domine Deus’) being framed by those calling for the customary tutti, resulting in a thrilling theatricality to which all the performers were well accustomed. Among them, Gaspare Pachierotti is certainly the most interesting. Born in Fabriano in 1740, he was on the threshold of a great career as a soprano; he was not only to perform in the most important theatres in Italy and abroad but, lending even greater prominence to his technical and interpretative gifts, would achieve equally well-deserved fame as a teacher.

The other names mentioned are those of the bass Pietro De Mezzo, also well known as a teacher of etiquette in the Venetian ospedali: the alto Pasquale Cozzini (who also in 1766 sang the role of Amasi in Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi’s Sesoseri at San Salvatore); and the alto Pietro Santi (who took the part of Farnaspe in Antonio Mazzoni’s Adriano in Siria at the San Samuele in 1760 and that of Olinto in Antonio Gaetano Pampani’s Demetrio at the San Benedetto in 1760). That Galuppi’s claim to having an expert knowledge of voices was fully justified is confirmed here by the choice of parts he allocated to Pacchierotti, who sang the ‘Domine Deus’ (with Francesco Rolfi) and the ‘Qui sedes’, the Sections which are far and away the most passionate, though the term may seem disrespectful in a Liturgical context) in the whole Mass.

Franco Rossi (2003).

Dixit Dominus.

Psalm 110 for Choir in G Minor.

Composer: Baldassare Galuppi

(1706-1785).

Available on YouTube at

http://youtu.be/2G9t1m47zTw

Altar Of Saint Benedict And Saint Scholastica. Ottobeuren Abbey.

Altar of Saint Benedict

and Saint Scholastica,

Ottobeuren Abbey,

Ottobeuren, Germany.

Photo: 17 April 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Lenten Station At The Basilica Of The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs (Santi Quattro Coronati). Monday Of The Fourth Week In Lent.

Roman Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.

The first Courtyard, with the Guard Tower, 

of the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati 

(The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs),
Rome, Italy.

Photo: November 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Station is on Mount Caelius, in a Church erected in the 7th-Century in honour of four Officers of the Roman Army, who, having refused to adore a statue of Aesculapius, received the crown of martyrdom. These were the "Four Crowned Ones", whose relics are venerated in this Sanctuary, together with the head of the martyr, Saint Sebastian, an Officer of the Army of Diocletian. It was one of the twenty-five Parish Churches of Rome in the 5th-Century.

The Epistle relates to us the famous judgement of Solomon. One of the two women who appealed to his justice, having suffocated her child, whilst asleep, was jealous of her rival, whose son was living. She represents the Synagogue, whose rulers, by their indifference, had stifled religious life in Israel and who were jealous of the Gentiles, to whom the Church had given life through Baptism and Penance. Penitents and Catechumens prepared themselves for Baptism and Penance during Lent. Let us also prepare ourselves for our Easter confession.

The Wisdom of Solomon, admired by the whole world, is a figure of the wisdom of the true Solomon, whose doctrine comes to regenerate the world. The Gospel of today establishes another superiority of Jesus over His royal ancestor: Solomon had built a Temple rich beyond compare. Jesus, speaking of His own body, throws this challenge to His enemies: "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise It up." He rises, indeed, the third day after His death. From the Church, His mystical Body, He drives out the unworthy, as He had driven out the sellers from the Temple, and receives into it all those who believe in Him.

Let us make ourselves pleasing to God in body and in Soul by the religious observance of the holy practices of Lent.

The Internal Courtyard

of the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati

(The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs),

Rome, Italy.

Photo: September 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

Santi Quattro Coronati is an ancient Basilica in Rome. The original Church dates back to the 4th- or 5th-Century, and is devoted to four anonymous Saints and Martyrs. The complex of the Basilica, with its two courtyards, the fortified Cardinal Palace with the Saint Sylvester Chapel, and the Monastery, with its cosmatesque Cloister, is built in a silent and green part of Rome, between the Colosseum and San Giovanni in Laterano.

"Santi Quattro Coronati" means the Four Holy Crowned Ones [i.e. martyrs], and refers to the fact that the Saints' names are not known, and therefore referred to with their number, and that they were martyrs, since the crown, together with the branches of palm, is an ancient symbol of martyrdom.

According to the Passion of Saint Sebastian, the four Saints were soldiers who refused to sacrifice to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian (284 A.D. - 305 A.D.). The bodies of the martyrs were buried in the cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro, on the fourth mile of via Labicana, by Pope Miltiades and Saint Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the Church). Pope Miltiades decided that the martyrs should be venerated with the names of Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronianus and Castorius. The bodies of the martyrs are kept in four ancient sarcophagi in the Crypt. According to a lapid, dated 1123, the head of one of the four martyrs is buried in Santa Maria in Cosmedin.

Tradition holds the first Church was begun by Pope Miltiades in the 4th-Century on the North side of the Caelian Hill. One of the first Churches of Rome, it bore the Titulus "Aemilianae", from the name of the foundress, who probably owned the elaborate Roman villa, whose structure is evident under the Church. The Church was completed the end of the 6th-Century and, because of its proximity to the mediaeval Papal residence of the Lateran Palace, it became prominent in its day.

The first renovations occurred under Pope Leo IV (847 A.D. - 855 A.D.), who built the Crypt under the Nave, added Side Aisles, enclosed the Courtyard before the facade, and built the Bell-Tower and the Chapels of Saint Barbara and Saint Nicholas. The Basilica, Carolingian in style, was 95 metres long and 50 metres wide.

Interior of The Basilica of 
The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs, 
Rome, Italy.

Photo: May 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

This Church, however, was burned to the ground by Robert Guiscard's troops during the Norman Sack of Rome (1084). Instead of rebuilding the original Basilica to scale, Pope Paschal II built a smaller Basilica with a two Courtyards, one in front of the other; the first corresponding to the original 9th-Century Courtyard, while the second was sited over the initial part of the Nave. The two Aisles were included in the Cardinal Palace and in the Benedictine Monastery, founded by Pope Paschal II. The original Apse of the Basilica, however, was preserved, and seems over-sized for the new Church, whose Nave was divided into three parts by means of Columns. The new Church was consecrated on 20 January 1116. In 1338, it was a possession of Sassovivo Abbey.

Italiano: Abbazia di Sassovivo, 
Foligno, Perugia, Umbria, Italy.

English: Sassovivo Abbey, Perugia, Italy. 

This Abbey owned the Basilica of 
The Four Holy Crowned Martyrs in 1338.

Photo: September 2007.

Source: File:Vista abbazia.JPG.

Author: Mac9->cantalamessa Cantalamessa

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the 13th-Century, a Cosmatesque Cloister was added. Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework, typical of Mediaeval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of Church floors, but was also used to decorate Church walls, pulpits, and Bishop's thrones. The name derives from the Cosmati, the leading family workshop of marble craftsmen in Rome, who created such geometrical decorations. The style spread across Europe, where it was used in the most prestigious Churches; the High Altar of Westminster Abbey, for example, is decorated with a Cosmatesque marble floor.

The Cardinal Palace was enlarged by Cardinal Stefano Conti, a nephew of Pope Innocent III. Cardinal Conti also transformed the Palace into a fortress, to shelter Popes in the Lateran during the conflict with the Hohenstaufen emperors. In 1247, the Chapel of Saint Sylvester, on the ground floor of the fortress, was consecrated; it contains frescoes depicting the stories of Pope Silvester I and Emperor Constantine I. Painted in the backdrop of political struggles between Pope Innocent IV and the freshly-excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, the frescoes are meant to underscore the desired Sovereignty of the Church (Pope Silvester I) over the Empire (Emperor Constantine).

Cosmatesque screen, 
Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, 
Rome, Italy.

Photo: September 2005.

Source: http://flickr.com/photos/antmoose/42276311/

Author: Anthony Majanlahti

Permission: CC-BY.

(Wikimedia Commons)

When the Popes moved to Avignon (14th-Century), the Cardinal Palace fell into ruin. Thus, upon the return of the Popes to Rome, with Pope Martin V, a restoration was necessary. However, when the Papal Residence moved from the Lateran to the Vatican Palace, this Basilica lost importance. In 1564, Pope Pius IV entrusted the Basilica and the buildings to the Augustinians, who still serve it.

The interest, in the history of this complex, renewed in 1913, thanks to the work of the Fine Arts Superintendent Antonio Muñoz. Once the building became an orphanage, the Augustinian Nuns put a revolving drum by its entrance, which was used as a deposit "box" for unwanted babies.

The Apse contains the frescoes (1630) by Giovanni da San Giovanni of the four patron martyr Saints. The Altarpiece on the left nave, of San Sebastiano curato da Lucina e Irene, was painted by Giovanni Baglione. The second Courtyard holds the entrance to the Oratorio di San Silvestro, with frescoes of Mediaeval origin, as well as others by Raffaellino da Reggio.

Pope Pius IV 
(Pope from 1559 - 1565) 
entrusted the Basilica to the Augustinians.

Source: English Wikipedia.

Santi Quattro Coronati belongs to the Titular Churches of Rome from at least the end of the 6th-Century. Among the previous Titulars are: Pope Leo IV (847 A.D.), King Henry of Portugal, who, in 1580, donated the magnificent wooden Ceiling, and Pope Benedict XV (1914). The full list is known only from the Pontificate of Gregory VII (1073-85).

In 2002, art historian, Andreina Draghi, discovered an amazing display of frescoes, dating back to the 13th-Century, while restoring the Gothic Hall of the Monastery. Most of the scenes were well preserved under a thick layer of plaster, and represented the Twelve Months, the Liberal Arts, the Four Seasons and the Zodiac. The image of King Solomon, a pious judge, painted on the Northern wall led scholars to argue the room was meant to be a Hall of Justice. Plaster was possibly laid after the 1348 Black Death for hygienic reasons, or, perhaps in the 15th-Century, when the Camaldolese left the Monastery.