St. Maria Maggiore, the Most Historic of Papal Basilicas

East and West in the Name of the Pope and the Greatest Artists of Renaissance and Baroque Rome

It is the only one of the four papal basilicas to have preserved its early Christian layout (the others were profoundly changed in subsequent eras). Governed by a cardinal or a bishop, the basilica’s honorary canon is the King of Spain. According to legend, Santa Maria Maggiore, dedicated to the Madonna, was built under Pope Liberius (352-366 AD). The Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to the pope and a patrician named Giovanni, asking for a basilica to be built in a miraculously indicated location. So, when an absurd snowfall whitened the Esquiline Hill on the morning of August 5th, Liberius traced the perimeter of the new basilica in the snow, which was then built with Giovanni’s money. That’s why on August 5th of every year, in memory of “Our Lady of the Snows,” the so-called “snowfall miracle” is commemorated. During the morning Mass and Vespers celebration, a cascade of white petals descends from the center of the ceiling, corresponding to the crypt of the manger.

In reality, it is probable that Pope Liberius’ church was the one dedicated to the “Creed” proclaimed at the Council of Nicaea, and that Santa Maria Maggiore, rebuilt by Pope Sixtus III (432-440), was dedicated to the Madonna at the time when the mother of Christ was proclaimed divine by the Council of Ephesus (431).

Mosaic Squares, Antonine Taveneaux

Santa Maria Maggiore is the first church in Rome to host depictions of biblical stories: forty-two mosaics enclosed in squares in the central nave (unfortunately, only 27 remain today). The same goes for the triumphal arch, where the mosaics are more hieratic and even depict events mentioned only in apocryphal gospels: for example, Jesus entering the city of Sotine during the flight to Egypt, where pagan idols fall to the ground and Aphrodisius greets the Child as Redeemer.

At the top of the arch is an empty throne with a cross. Next to it are Peter and Paul. Above them, a tetramorph (4 symbols related to the evangelists, widely used in the East, corresponding to the Old Testament vision of the prophet Ezekiel: Lion, Bull, Eagle, and Winged Man). Below is the inscription “Xystus episcopus plebi Dei” (Sisto bishop to the people of God). On the sides, the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Photo@Jacopo Torriti, transept with apse, Wolfgang Moroder

The basilica underwent significant interventions during the Middle Ages, starting with the Cosmatesque floor and a portico added to the facade (mid-13th century). This was followed by the mosaics on the facade (Filippo Rusulti) and those with a Byzantine flavor in the new transept with apse (the Coronation and the stories of Mary by Jacopo Torriti). Both artists, along with Pietro Cavallini, worked on the Upper Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi.

In the 1400s, the side aisles were covered. At the end of the century, under Pope Alexander VI, the coffered ceiling was made. Each carved element has gold leaf gilding, which, according to tradition, was made with the first gold from the Americas and donated by the King of Spain to the Church. In the same centuries, the bell tower was perfected, with its clock added much later, in the 1800s.

Photo@Perre Selim Huard, Sistine Chapel St Maria Maggiore

From the 1500s, there is the magnificent chapel of Pope Sixtus V (Domenico Fontana) and the Sforza Chapel, the latter designed by Michelangelo. Always at Santa Maria Maggiore, at the beginning of the following century, Pope Paul V Borghese chose to build his own chapel. The space, in the shape of a Greek cross, is the size of a small church. Among the precious polychrome marbles is the tomb of Clement VIII Aldobrandini. Artists such as Ippolito Buzio, Bernini, Stefano Maderno, and many others worked on the sculptural part; the visual aspect was handled by the Cavalier d’Arpino (project manager), Guido Reni, Passignano, and others. In the center of the chapel is a Byzantine Madonna, the “Salus Populi Romani,” to which Pope Francis is devoted, and where the current Pope occasionally goes to pray.

Photo@Nicholas Hartmann, Sistine Chapel Santa Maria Maggiore 

The last grand intervention on Santa Maria Maggiore was carried out by Ferdinando Fuga between 1741 and 1743 – during the pontificate of Benedict XIV – who rebuilt the facade by adding a portico and a loggia for blessings. Since then, the church has appeared as a beautiful woman hiding her face, made of ancient mosaics, behind a refined and mysterious mask.

Photo @Antoine Tavenaux, the remains Christ cradle

Finally, the church is absolutely worth visiting for two other incredible treasures: the remains of Jesus’ cradle placed in the reliquary by Luigi Valadier (main altar) and the sculpted nativity scene by Arnolfo di Cambio (end of the 13th century). The latter, commissioned by Pope Nicholas IV, was originally conceived as a relief.Completed in subsequent times, it is one of the first and most important artistic representations of the Nativity.

Photo @Stefano Bolognini, Nativity scene