According to a legend, the place where the church stands today, was the location of the martyrdom of a youthful virgin Agnes. The name of the church, Sant’Agnese in Agone (St. Agnes in Agony) relates not to this particular agony, as could be supposed, but to a Greek name for stadium – agon, since in ancient times the Stadium of Domitian (Stadio di Domiziano), was located here. The cult of the martyr became popular in the IV century, of which proof is provided by a cemetery basilica, located outside the city walls, near the place of her burial, funded by the daughter of Emperor Constantine the Great – Constantina (the remains of this basilica are the mausoleum of Constance – Church of Santa Constanza). Agnes was remembered a century later, which is testified to by the writings of the Christian poet Prudentius, who describes her fate, or more appropriately her martyr’s death. Brought by her tormentors to a place, which during the reign of Domitian was the stadium’s pleasure house, a place which was often found near stadiums, amphitheaters or circuses, Agnes resisted the men in a miraculous way, as her body was covered with her hair, hiding her nudity.

The legend, which enjoyed great popularity and was fueled by the Church, which more and more intensely spread the cult of the martyrs, survived for many centuries. The proof of this was an oratory built in the place of the former stands, devoted to the saint, which rapidly became a destination for pilgrimages. In the XII century a small basilica was built in this location, of which the enterance was located at via dell’Anima, in the back of present-day Piazza Navona. In time the stands of the stadium became a foundation of grander and grander structures – on the southwestern side they were settled by the rich, on the northeastern by the poor. In the wealthy part the Umbria-born Pamphilj family built its palace, having gradually purchased subsequent land plots. The family’s greatest ennoblement came in 1634, when Giovanni Battista Pamphilj became cardinal and desired to have a palace worthy of his position (Palazzo Pamphilj). Works were greatly intensified ten years later, when the cardinal became pope, taking on the name of Innocent X. The square in front of the palace was properly arranged (Piazza Navona), while the next step was erecting a church which would tower over it and which was initially to be a papal chapel, then a mausoleum, designated for the earthly remains of the successor of St. Peter. In order to implement this idea and therefore, bring the family project of the “Pamphilj forum” to an end, it was necessary to remove monks from this holy place and tear down the old, Roman basilica devoted to St. Agnes. However, there was not too much space available, as was visible by the façade of the new church designed by Girolamo Rainaldi and his son Carlo – a narrow, flat, with a dome without a tambour, with small towers at the base and with high stairs. The interior was central and based on the form of a Greek cross. The pope was against the design of his favored architect to such a degree, that he no longer desired his services. Supervision over the construction was turned over to another one of Innocent’s trusted architects, Francesco Borromini, who - shunned and unappreciated for years – was finally able (as it seemed) to display all of his talent. The structure which was already in an advanced stage of construction, was completely changed. The architect stretched the façade to the adjacent buildings, moved back its front in relation to the square and gave it a slightly hollow form. In this way it was possible to “show off” the heightened towers flanking the façade, creating a splendid, majestic, slightly wavy structure. If that was not enough – Borromini raised the dome, setting it on an imposing tambour. After the death of Innocent X in 1655, his supervision over the works was rescinded and he was even accused of construction negligence. The son of Girolamo - Carlo Rainaldi  was charged with continuing the works and he introduced his own changes and improvements, for example in the towers, which thanks to him lost the finesse which was planned by Borromini. Since then, the church was continually altered by subsequent architects who gradually moved away from the initial sense of Borromini’s façade, including by his greatest rival - Gian Lorenzo Bernini, until 1672, when the unfinished church was consecrated.

From the perspective of Piazza Navona, the church is an imposing structure indeed. Its external form indicates a monumental house of God, while the interior surprises with a relatively small, orthogonal cubature. However, it strikes, with the refinement and finesse of the marble decorations, it is elegant and well-thought-out in every detail. On the other hand, St. Agnes seems lost in this refined Baroque theatre of decorations – it takes us a while to notice her. It would be in vain to search for her image in the main altar. What we would find there is a convex relief (very fashionable at the time) from 1688, depicting two holy families of – Christ and John the Baptist. Its author is Domenico Guidi. Why was the initial dedication of the church so woefully ignored? For the decision-makers of the time, it seems that Agnes was undeserving of such a honorable place – she along with another saint - Sebastian, was placed in a side altar (Ercole Ferrata, 1660). Both the figures were artfully made and placed in more splendid chapels, such as other relief altars found here, devoted to saints Cecilia, Emerentiana, Alexius and Eustace. These structures were created by various artists, and their completion stretched all the way to the XVIII century.   The exceptionally composed architectural space, which is supplemented by sculptures and reliefs set in multi-colored, marble frames, is underlined by – as was fit for Baroque – painting. In the dome we will notice a heavenly gathering welcoming the newly arrived St. Agnes. The dome pendentives are also worth noting, made by an outstanding Baroque painter - Baciccio. They depict, of course with the aid of an allegory, cardinal virtues, which today seem almost completely forgotten and unknown, but in the past played an important role – at least in the artistic dimension. And so we have a woman holding a mirror, who is a personification of Prudence, seeing both the past and the future. Then there is Justice wielding a sword and scales, Courage with a helmet and a lance and finally Temperance, equipped with reins on which she is holding human urges. Looking at this beautiful Baroque church, it is often forgotten that it was created with the thought of creating a mausoleum for Pope Innocent X. Nowhere will we find his sarcophagus either. It is not until we look up, that we see his figure as if emerging from the balcony in a gesture of blessing, greeting the onlooker. He is accompanied by two personifications – Religion and Justice. Taking into account the miserable way in which the pope’s life ended, it must be admitted that in the end his descendants made sure to provide him with a proper place of burial. The sarcophagus created in 1729 constitutes one of the most interesting examples of funerary sculpture of that time. The author of it, and of the two allegories of virtues which accompany it, is Giovanni Battista Maini, it would seem a second-rate artist, who here gave expression to his above-average skills, even if the concept itself was not his idea. Here is a stone pope who actively participates in the masses celebrated here, as well as music concerts, which had taken place here for ages – when the church was a private shrine of the Pamphilj family. They still take place today, since the interior is characterized by exceptional acoustics and just as exceptional organs, which also serve to accompany the choir, which has been employed by the pope’s descendants for centuries.

Why is the sarcophagus located in such an unusual place? The ideally symmetrical interior did not allow for it to be placed by one of the walls. Besides that, in time the idea of the mausoleum was abandoned in place of the idea of family representation. The cult of a deceased pope was the duty of the family, from which he came, while its enormity was proof of the family’s importance and significance. The concept of combining a church of religion with a church of music, which allowed the pope to assume a privileged place, seemed to best serve this purpose. Therefore, a theatrical interior was created with refined decorations carved in marble, with a podium which is the altar, with saints participating in the spectacle, and finally with the pope himself – the patron of the family and its most important representative. It contains a part of the drama of a theatrical spectacle as well as the Baroque love for music and art, which shows the Pamphilj family to the whole world. No pope prior to Innocent X has such a place of burial – even the greatest ones were buried in St. Peter’s Basilica (San Pietro in Vaticano) or in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, among other popes. The descendants of this pope, in this way, created something completely novel and original – they devoted a whole church to the posthumous cult of their representative. They would commission a similar interior once again at the Church of Sant’Andrea al Quirinale – the second representative location of the Pamphilj family.


Also see: category Virtual trip, Chiesa Sant'Agnese in Agone