Sant' Antonio Abate

(13th century, remodelled in 1654)


This is first documented in a diploma of the Emperor Frederick I in 1163 and was recorded as a parish church in 1285. 

The church seems to have been rebuilt in the 15th century when a community of canons that belonged to the French hospitaller Ordre de Saint Antoine was established here.  They acquired adjacent properties for their priory.  The cloister (to the right in the illustration above) was probably built at this time. 

A female confraternity known as the Compagnia della Sorelle Spedaliere was documented as looking after a hospital next to the church in the 15th century, and this was presumably founded by the French hospitallers.


A community of Olivetan monks moved here in 1624 when their monastery of San Secondo on the Isola Polvese became uninhabitable because of malaria.  They re-modelled the church in 1654.

  
Arms of the [Ordre de Saint Antoine ??]
(above the portal to the left above)
 Arms of the Olivetani
  (above the portal to the right above)   

In 1740, the Olivetans from Sant’ Antonio Abate (and those from Monte Morcino) moved to the new monastery of Montemorcino Nuovo.  This complex remained in their ownership until 1831, when it was ceded to the Camaldolesians of San Severo.  [When was it deconsecrated?]

Works Removed from the Church

Altarpiece of the Nativity (early 16th century)

The lay sisters of the Compagnia di Nostra Donna commissioned this altarpiece from Lo Spagna for their altar in the church.  However, he completed only the central panel, and the sisters commissioned the lunette and predella from Mariano di Ser Austerio in 1510. 

The Olivetans took the altarpiece to Montemorcino Nuovo in 1740 and it subsequently passed to the Accademia di Belle Arti.

  • The main panel, which depicts the Nativity, was given to the Joseph Marie de Gérando, a French administrator in Rome, and his heirs subsequently sold it to the Louvre, Paris.
  • The lunette and predella panels  are now in the deposit of the Galleria Nazionale.

Madonna and Child with saints (1524)

This altarpiece, which is signed by Sinibaldo Ibi and dated, was commissioned for San Secondo.  It moved with the Olivetans to Sant’ Antonio Abate in 1624 and to Montemorcino Nuovo in 1740.  Agostino Tofanelli  moved it to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, but it was returned to Montemorcino Nuovo in 1815.  When Montemorcino Nuovo passed to the University in 1822, the altarpiece was sent to the Olivetans’ mother house, Santa Francesca Romana, Rome.

Altarpiece of the Olivetans (1533)

The inscription records that Andrea di Narduccio gave this altarpiece to “the brothers” (i.e. the Olivetan monks of San Secondo, Isole Polvese del Trasimeno) in 1533.  It is attributed to Bernardino di Mariotto. 

When the monks abandoned San Secondo in 1624, they brought the altarpiece with them to Sant' Antonio Abate.  It was recorded here in the 19th century and passed (with the rest of the complex) to the Camaldolesians of San Severo in 1831.  It was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now in the deposit there.

Blessed Bernard Ptolomei receiving Olivetan Rule (ca. 1675)

This altarpiece  by Giovanni Andrea Carlone (called il Genovese) depicts the Blessed Bernard Ptolomei receiving the habit and rule of the Olivetans from the Bishop of Arezzo, an event that happened in 1329 at the behest of Pope John XXII.  The altarpiece was originally in the sacristy.  [Where is it now?]

Return to Walk VI.