Santa Maria in Campis (12th century)


The church was built beside the Roman Via Flaminia next to the site of the necropolis of the Roman city (see the detour to Walk I).  Although most of the grave goods found here (some of which are exhibited in the Museo Archeologico) date to the 1st - 3rd centuries AD, it seems to have continued in use in the early Christian period.   It was, for example, believed to have been the site of the burial of the martyred SS Carpophorus and Abbondius in the 4th century.  (A sarcophagus that was believed to have housed their relics was in the church for any centuries before being moved to Palazzo Trinci, where it was destroyed in the bombardment of 1944).  The necropolis is now the site of the city cemetery.

The church was referred to as Santa Maria de Fulginea in a document dated 1138, and as Santa Maria de Campis in another dated 1188.  (Campis is the Latin word for a plain or level field).  It was originally under the authority of the bishop and acquired the status of a collegiata: by 1373, it had a prior and two canons.

In 1373, after a ceremony attended by the Trinci lords, the church and canonica passed to the quasi-Cistercian Congregation of Corpus Christi.  This congregation had been initiated at Gualdo tadino in 1328 under the auspices of Bishop Andrea Vincioli of Nocera Umbra and had a particular veneration for the Eucharistic blood of Christ.  A small group of mostly Umbrian monasteries joined the congregation, but it did not receive papal approval until 1393.

In fact, Pope Boniface IX gave his approval after a visit to Santa Maria in Campis in 1392.  He had heard about a venerated immage of the Madonna and Child here (see below) and wished to see it.  The visit obviously went well because he not only recognised the congregation but also moved its headquarters to Santa Maria in Campis and granted indulgences for those visiting the church.  For a period thereafter, the church became known as Santa Maria Maggiore.

At the same time, he placed it under the jurisdiction of the Camaldolesian Abbazia di San Salvatore di Monte Acuto, Umbertide.  The cohesion of the group was not particularly strong and two of the monasteries,  Santa Maria in Campis and San Fiorenzo, Perugia, transfered to the jurisdiction of the Cistercian Abbazia di San Galgano in 1395.  In 1404, the monks assumed responsibility for the nuns of Santa Maria di Betlem, whose nunnery was next to a small church and hospice that they owned in the city. 

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII transferred Santa Maria in Campis to the Olivetan order and the Congregation of Corpus Christi came to an end.  In 1672, the monks gave their church and hospice in the city to the nuns of the adjacent Santa Maria di Betlem so that they could use the site for their new church.

The Olivetans remained at Santa Maria in Campis until 1818 and returned in 1903.  In 1983, the complex passed to the Observant Franciscans and in 2001 to the Vocationist Fathers.

Exterior



The central part of the facade belongs to the original nucleus, corresponding to the barrel-vaulted nave within.  

  • The arms of Pope Boniface IX above the side entrance record his visit to Foligno in 1392.   The finance for the construction of the left aisle of the church presumably followed his granting of indulgences during that visit. 







  • The right aisle was added at an unknown date. 
  • The date 1669 is inscribed at the base of the left-hand column of the central portal.

The church was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1832.  The apse and the campanile to the left of it were rebuilt in 1849-50.  This campanile caused major damage in the Cappella di Santa Marta (see below): it was demolished, and the present campanile was built to the right of the apse in 1959.

Interior


The church has suffered over time, not least in the earthquake of 1832.   The unsympathetic rebuilding of the apse and campanile in 1849-50 caused further damage, as did other modifications made to the chapels in the left aisle (see below).  A restoration in the 1950s recovered as much as possible of the original interior. 

The church was originally in the form of a Latin cross, with a single nave.  As mentioned above, the aisles were later additions.  The apse, the left transept and the left apsidal chapels were destroyed in the earthquake of 1832: the present apse, which was rebuilt in 1849, is much more shallow than the original one.

Left Aisle

Water stoup (1449)

The marble water stoup to the right of the side entrace has its date inscribed at the base.

Frescoes

The frescoes that have been recovered here include:

  • Madonna and Child with SS Peter and Paul (15th century), with smaller figures of St Bernard (the founder of the Cistercians) and the Blesses Peter Crisci to the sides;
  • St Antony Abbot (1483), which has the date and the name of the donor, Nonfro di Paolo inscribed along the bottom; and
  • St Roch (1497), which s dated by inscription (on the pilaster between the entrances to the 1st chapel.
     

Cappella della Navicella

The merchant di Pietro di Cola della Casse commissioned this chapel (the 1st on the left), in 1452.  The frescoes (1454-60), which are usually attributed at least in part to Pierantonio Mezzastris include:

  • the Crucifixion with the Virgin and SS John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene on the altar wall (to the right of the entrances);





  • the Navicella (or Christ walking on the water) on the left wall, which was based on Giotto’s celebrated fresco (ca. 1310) in the atrium of old St Peter’s, Rome: and


  • the Annunciation and SS Lucy and Helen on the back wall. 

Second Chapel

The frescoes in this chapel, which are attributed to Giovanni di Corraduccio, called Mazzaforte, depict:

  • the Crucifixion with the Virgin and her ladies and SS John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene, on the right wall;

  • the Madonna and Child with St Stephen, on the back wall; and
  • St Antony Abbot and scenes from his life, on the left wall. 









Left Transept

The organ was installed on the back wall in the 19th century.

Ciborium (15th century)

This marble ciborium on the left wall was recomposed from fragments in the early 20th century.





Madonna and Child with saints (1507)

This fresco to the right of the ciborium, which is dated by inscription, depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Francis and Antony of Padua, with a figure of St Antony Abbot to the right of it.

Cappella di Santa Marta

Bishop Paolo Trinci built this chapel (the outer apsidal chapel on the left) in 1330 at the base of the campanile.  He also endowed it with considerable property, presumably to finance Masses to be said for his soul.  Trincia and Corrado Trinci renovated it in 1373.

According to the historian Ludovico Jacobili, the fresco of the Crucifixion on the back wall was signed by Nicolò di Liberatore, l’ Alunno and dated 1458: any such signature has since disappeared but the attribution is confirmed on stylistic grounds. 



The contemporary frescoes on the left wall depict: 

  • the Annunciation (in the upper register); and 
  • scenes from the life of St Thomas on the sidewalls (probably not wholly the work of Nicolò di Liberatore).





The chapel was closed in the 17th century and subsequently forgotten.  The frescoes were rediscovered in 1901 and recognised, despite their ruinous condition, as partly the work of the young Nicolò di Liberatore in 1911.  The campanile was finally demolished in 1949 to facilitate the restoration of the chapel and its frescoes.

A fresco fragment from the Crucifixion, which depicts head of a grieving man (probably St John the Evangelist), is now in the Museo Capitolare e Diocesano.

Right Wall

Frescoes (mostly 5th century)

These depict (starting at the end furthest from the entrance):

  • a fragment of the Crucifixion (14th century), above the entrance to the sacristy;

  • Madonna della Misercordia with SS Catherine of Alexandria and Roch, the surviving part of a larger work;

  • frescoes in a lunette that depict:

    • the Annunciation;

    • the Lamb of God and St Michael (to the sides of the window);

    • the Crucifixion with the Virgin and SS Joh the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene; and

    • the Madonna and Child enthroned.

Monument to Pietro Lodam (died 1449)

This monument, which cuts into the fresco of the Crucifixion, commemorates Pietro Lodam, Abot of San Giovanni in Peneclaria, Ancona.  It was presumably moved here when that abbey was demolished in the 16th century to make way for a fortress.

Sacristy

The door on the right furthest from the counter-facade leads to the sacristy.

Madonna and Child (14th century)

This heavily repainted panel seems to e the venerated image recorded in connection with the visit made by Pope Boniface IX in 1392. 





Cloister


The door on the right nearest to the counter-facade leads to the cloister. 

  • The arms of the Congregation of Corpus Chisti (two angels holding Eucharistic chalice) are on the architrave.
  • The arms of the Olivetans (a cross above three hills), dated 1703, are on the back wall, among a collection of architectural fragments.

Scenes from the life of Blessed Bernardo Tolomei (1963)

These 14 scenes illustrate the life of Bernardo Tolomei (died 1348), the founder of the Olivetans.


Return to Walk III.