Gesù e Maria, Baroque church on Via del Corso, Rome, Italy
Gesù e Maria is a Baroque church on Via del Corso with a travertine and brick facade by Carlo Rainaldi, completed in 1674. Its single portal is topped by a lunette pediment and a rectangular window, flanked by four Corinthian pilasters bearing the inscription Iesu et Mariae and crowned by a triangular pediment. Inside, a barrel-vaulted nave with three chapels per side measures 27 metres long and about 15 wide.
The Discalced Augustinians bought the site in 1615 and laid the first stone on 3 April 1633; Carlo Buzio's first campaign was finished by late 1635, and the church was inaugurated on 17 January 1636. Carlo Rainaldi completed the facade and the final section between 1671 and 1674, and the church was consecrated on 28 January 1675, as a plaque in the sacristy records.
The main altar displays a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin by Giacinto Brandi, while Giovanni Lanfranco created frescoes near the sacristy entrance. These artworks shape the interior and reflect the baroque artistic tradition that brought together different masters in this church.
The church stands on Via del Corso, facing San Giacomo in Augusta across the street; the entrance is the single portal beneath the semicircular pediment and green double door. Since the late 1980s Mass has been celebrated in the Tridentine rite, and since 1992 the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest has run the church, so visitors should dress and behave accordingly during services.
The interior houses statues of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist by Giuseppe Mazzuoli, positioned in carefully designed niches. These sculptures show the high-quality craftsmanship applied to decorating this place of worship.
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