7. The Church of St. Agnes in Agone

 

The name of this church is unrelated to the ‘agony’ of St Agnes the martyr: 'in agone' was the ancient name of Piazza Navona (Piazza in agone) and meant instead, from the Greek, ‘in the site of the competitions’, because Piazza Navona was built on the ruins of an ancient Roman stadium on the Greek model with one flat end, and was used for footraces. From ‘in agone’, popular use and pronunciation changed the name into ‘Navona’, but other parts of the area kept the original name.

 

Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers is situated in front of the church. It is often said that Bernini sculpted the figure of the "Nile" covering his eyes as if he thought the facade designed by his rival Borromini could crumble atop him. This story, like many urban legends, persists because it has a ring of authenticity, despite the fact that Bernini's fountain predates the facade by some years. (I have more details on this fountain at the link above.)

Saint Agnes:

Agnes is depicted in art with a lamb, as the Latin word for lamb, "agnus", sounds like her name. The name "Agnes" is actually derived from the feminine Greek adjective hagnē (ἁγνή) meaning "chaste, pure, sacred".

 

According to tradition, Saint Agnes of Rome was a member of the Roman nobility born in 291 CE and raised in an early Catholic family. She suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve or thirteen during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, on 21 January 304 CE. Agnes was a beautiful young girl of wealthy family and therefore had many suitors of high rank. Details of her story are unreliable, but legend holds that a young man, slighted by her resolute devotion to religious purity, submitted her name to the authorities as a follower of Christianity.

 

The Prefect Sempronius condemned Agnes to be dragged naked through the streets to a brothel. Various versions of the legend give different methods of escape from this predicament. In one, as she prayed, her hair grew and covered her body. It was also said that all of the men who attempted to rape her were immediately struck blind. In another the son of the prefect is struck dead, but revived after she prayed for him, causing her release. There is then a trial from which Sempronius excuses himself, and another figure presides, sentencing her to death.

 

When led out to die she was tied to a stake but the bundle of wood would not burn or the flames parted away from her, whereupon the officer in charge of the troops drew his sword and beheaded her, or in some other texts, stabbed her in the throat. It is also said that her blood poured to the stadium floor where other Christians soaked it up with cloths.

 

Agnes was buried beside the Via Nomentana in Rome. A few days after her death, her foster-sister, Saint Emerentiana, was found praying by her tomb; she claimed to be the daughter of Agnes' wet nurse and was stoned to death after refusing to leave the place and reprimanding the pagans for killing her foster sister.  Emerentiana was also later canonized. The daughter of Constantine I, Saint Constance, was also said to have been cured of leprosy after praying at Agnes' tomb. She and Emerentiana appear in the scenes from the life of Agnes on the 14th.C. Royal Gold Cup in the British Museum.

 

Agnes is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape survivors, virgins and the Children of Mary. I don't know how she finds the time.

 

History of the church: (Warning ... too much detail follows ... please skip.)

 

The building of the church was begun in 1652 at the instigation of Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, is to the left of this church. The church was to be effectively a family chapel annexed to their residence (for example, an opening was formed in the dome so the family could participate in the religious services from their palace).

 

The first designs for a centralised Greek Cross church were prepared by the Pamphili family architect, Girolamo Rainaldi, and his son Carlo Rainaldi in 1652. They reorientated the main entrance to the church from the Via Santa Maria dell’Anima, a street set one urban block away from the piazza, to the Piazza Navona, a large urban space that Innocent was transforming into a showcase associated with his family. It had been the intention to build the new church over the old church which would become the crypt; this meant the new church was to be raised well above piazza level, but this idea was abandoned once construction started.

 

Harsh criticism was made of the design, including the steps down to the piazza which were thought to project excessively, so Carlo Rainaldi planned a concave facade so that the steps would not be so intrusive. The idea of the twin towers framing a central dome may stem from Bernini's bell towers on the facade of Saint Peter's basilica. Nonetheless, Rainaldi's design of a concave facade and a central dome framed by twin towers was influential on subsequent church design in Northern Europe. In 1653, the Rainaldis were replaced by Borromini.

 

Borromini had to work with the Rainaldi ground plan but made adjustments; on the interior for instance, he positioned columns towards the edges of the dome piers which had the effect of creating a broad base to the dome pendentives instead of the pointed base which was the usual Roman solution. His drawings show that on the façade to Piazza Navona, he designed curved steps descending to the piazza, the convex curvature of which play against the concave curvature of the façade to form an oval landing in front of the main entrance. His façade was to have eight columns and a broken pediment over the entrance. He designed the flanking towers as single storey, above which there was to be a complex arrangement of columns and convex bays with balustrades.

 

By the time of Innocent's death in 1655, the façade had reached the top of the lower order. Innocent's nephew, Camillo Pamphili, failed to take interest in the church and Borromini became disheartened, eventually leading to his resignation in 1657.

 

Carlo Rainaldi was reappointed and made a number of modifications to Borromini's design including an additional storey to the flanking towers and simplifying their uppermost parts. On the death of Camillo, his wife Olympia (Aldobrandini), commissioned Bernini to take over. He was responsible for the straightforward pediment above the main entrance and for the emphatic entablature in the interior.

 

In 1668, Olympia's son, Camillo, took over responsibility for the church. He reinstated Carlo Rainaldi as architect and engaged Ciro Ferri to create frescoes for the interior of the dome. Further decorations were added; there were large scale sculptures and polychrome marble effects. None of these are likely to have been intended by Borromini.