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{{Infobox church
{{Refimprove|date=March 2016}}
| name = Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin
 
| native_name = Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin (Italian)
{{Infobox religious building
Santa Maria de Schola Graeca (Latin)
| building_name=Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin<br/><small>Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin {{in lang|it}}</small>
| image = Santa Maria in Cosmedin, August 2015.jpg
| caption =Medieval Restored medieval façade of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, with theoriginal bell tower.
| coordinates = {{coord|41|53|17|N|12|28|54|E|type:landmark_region:IT_scale:10000|display=it}}
| location= [[Rome]], Italy
| image_size = 270
| geo = {{coord|41|53|17|N|12|28|54|E|type:landmark_region:IT_scale:10000|display=inline,title}}
| mapframe-frame-width = 270
| religious_affiliation=[[Roman Catholic]]
| mapframe = yes
| rite= [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Greek-Melkite Rite]], [[Latin Rite]]
| mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a fullscreen view
| province=
| mapframe-zoom = 12
| district=
| mapframe-marker = religious-christian
| consecration_year=
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| status=[[Minor basilica]]
| location = Piazza della Bocca della Verità 18, [[Rome]]
| leadership=[[Msgr.]] Antonio Riccardo Menegaldo
| country = [[Italy]]
| website= [http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/?page_id=188&ID=889 Official Website]
| denomination = [[Roman Catholic]]
| architect=
| tradition = [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Greek-Melkite Rite]], [[Latin liturgical rites|Latin Rite]]
| architecture_type= [[Church (building)|Church]]
| dedication = [[Mary, mother of Jesus]]
| architecture_style=
| status = [[Minor basilica]],<br>[[titular church]]<br>[[national churches in Rome#National churches|national church]]
| specifications=yes
| cardinal protector = [[Msgr.]] Antonio Riccardo Menegaldo
| facade_direction= Northwest
| style = [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]]
| groundbreaking=
| architectural type = [[Church (building)|Church]]
| year_completed= 11th century
| groundbreaking = c. 550
| construction_cost=
| completed date = 1123
| capacity=
| length= = {{convert|40|m|ft}}
| width = {{convert|20|m|ft}}
| width_navewidth nave = {{convert|10|m|ft}}
| website = https://cosmedin.org/
| height_max=
| materials=
}}
The '''Basilica of Saint Mary in Cosmedin''' ({{lang-it|Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin}}; or[[Latin]]: Santa Maria ''de Schola Graeca'') is a [[minor basilica|minor basilican]] [[churches of Rome|church in]] [[Rome]], Italy, dedicated to the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]]. It is located in the [[rione]] (neighborhood) of [[ripa (rione of Rome)|Ripa]]. Constructed first in the sixth century as a ''[[diaconia]]'' (deaconry) in an area of the city populated by Greek immigrants, it celebrated Eastern rites and currently serves the [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite Greek Catholic]] community of Rome. The church was expanded in the eighth century and renovated in the twelfth century, when a [[campanile]] (bell tower) was added. A [[Baroque]] facade and interior refurbishment of 1718 were removed in 1894-99; the exterior was restored to twelfth-century form, while the architecture of the interior recalls the eighth century with twelfth-century furnishings. The [[narthex]] of the church contains the famous [[Bocca della Verità]] sculpture.
 
== HistoryEarly history ==
[[File:MariaCosmedinFacade.jpg|thumb|left|The 1718 Baroque façade]]
[[File:Rom, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Innenansicht 2.jpg|thumb|left|Interior of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.]]
[[File:Rom, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Decke der Basilika.jpg|thumb|left|The ceiling of the basilica]]
 
=== The site ===
According to Byzantine historian Andrew Ekonomou, the church was founded in the 6th century during the Byzantine rule of the city and was placed in the centre of the Greek community in Rome. The Greek part of the city was referred to as the 'Schola Graeca'. The church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who was greatly venerated as Theotokos (Mother of God) in contemporary Constantinople. The name 'Cosmedin' came from the Latinization of the Greek word κοσμίδιον (cosmidion) that derives from the Greek word κόσμος, which means pure or elegant.<ref> Andrew J. Ekonomou. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes. Lexington books, 2007</ref>
[[File:Rom, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Innenansicht 2.jpg|thumb|The interior of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, restored to the appearance of the 8th-century church.]]
The [[basilica]] of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is in an area of Rome along the Tiber River that once housed the [[Forum Boarium]], the ancient cattle market, and a complex of temples and shrines to [[Hercules]]. Archaeologists discovered a platform of ancient [[tufa]] under the [[crypt]] of the church, which they have tentatively identified as part of the [[Great Altar of Hercules|Great Altar of Unconquered Hercules]] (Latin: ''Herculis Invicti Ara Maxima''), possibly dating from the sixth century BCE.<ref>Filippo Coarelli, ''Il foro boario dalle origini alla fine della repubblica'' (Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 1992), vol. 2, 61–77.</ref> A later building on the site had a [[Colonnade|colonnaded]] [[loggia]], probably constructed in the fourth century CE. This is thought by some to have been a [[Cura Annonae|''statio annone'']], one of the government-run food distribution centers of ancient Rome,<ref>Andrew J. Ekonomou, ''Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes: Eastern Influences on Rome and the Papacy from Gregory the Great to Zacharias, A.D. 590–752'' (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007), 209; Richard Krautheimer, ''Rome: Profile of a City'', 312–1308 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980), 35.</ref> but other scholars believe it was one of the buildings dedicated to Hercules.<ref>Filippo Coarelli, ''Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide'', James J. Clauss and Daniel P. Harmon, trans., rev. ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014), n.p.</ref>
 
In the sixth and early seventh centuries CE, this area of Rome developed into a Greek quarter (''schola graeca''), a compound initially populated by Greek, Syrian, and Egyptian merchants and by functionaries of the imperial government in Constantinople during the [[Byzantine Papacy]] of 537–752, when the popes were approved by and subject to the Byzantine emperors. Several waves of eastern refugees added to the population as they fled from wars and persecution, the encroachment of [[Islam]], and the violence of the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|Iconoclastic Controversy]] in the Christian East. The quarter became an important economic sector of the city and was allowed to govern itself with little interference from Roman authorities.<ref>Krautheimer 1980, 60, 75–76, 89–90.</ref>
The church was built in the 8th century, during the [[Byzantine Papacy]], over the remains of the ''[[Temple of Hercules Pompeianus|Templum Herculis Pompeiani]]'' in the [[Forum Boarium]] and of the ''Statio annonae'', one of the [[Grain supply to the city of Rome|food distribution centres of ancient Rome]] (another is to be found at the [[Theatre of Balbus]]). A [[deacon]]ry was a place where charitable distributions were given to the poor, and it is appropriate that such an institution would have been built near or at a station of the Roman ''annona''.
 
=== The ''diaconia'' ===
An eighth century inscription in the church records that Eustathius, the last Byzantine duke of Rome (ca. 752-756) gave a gift of extensive properties to the church's ministry to the poor. The same inscription also mentions a donation by someone named Georgios and his brother David<ref> Andrew J. Ekonomou. Byzantine Rome and the Greek Popes. Lexington books, 2007</ref>
Around 550, a hall was built on the site, incorporating some of the loggia columns of the previous building in its west and north walls.<ref>Maria Fabricius Hansen, ''The Spolia Churches of Rome: Recycling Antiquity in the Middle Ages,'' Barbara J. Haveland, trans. (Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2015), 64, 168.</ref> This was identified as a ''[[diaconia]]'' (deaconry), an early Christian welfare center, where charitable distributions were given to the poor.<ref>Thomas F. X. Noble, ''The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal States, 680–825'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984), 231–33.</ref> The brick masonry of the building was not typical of Rome at this time but was common in [[Naples]] in the sixth century, suggesting the work was done by Greek or South Italian builders, perhaps immigrants residing in the ''schola graeca''. The hall itself was probably a gathering place and place of worship; two-story aisles on each side contained chambers on the ground floors, perhaps for the functions of the ''diaconia,'' and galleries above with six windows on each side, opening onto the main hall.<ref>Krautheimer 1980, 78.</ref>
 
''Diaconiae'' were funded by wealthy individuals. A mid-eighth century inscription displayed in the narthex records a gift of extensive properties to the church's ministry to the poor by Eustathius (or Eustachius), a Byzantine duke of Rome who had administered the territory of [[Ravenna]] for the papacy.<ref>Noble 1984, 105, 250.</ref> The same inscription also mentions a donation by a “''vir gloriossimus'' [most noble] Georgios” and his brother, David.<ref>Ekonomou 2007, 64n.5.</ref>
Since it was located near many Byzantine structures,{{according to whom|date=March 2016}} in 7th century this church was called ''de Schola Graeca'', and a close street is still called ''della Greca''. Greek monks escaping [[Byzantine iconoclasm|iconoclastic persecutions]] decorated the church around 782, when pope [[Adrian I]] promoted its reconstruction; the church was built with a [[nave]] and two aisles and a [[portico]]. Because of its beauty, the church received the adjective ''cosmedin'' (from Greek ''kosmidion''), ornate. A [[sacristy]] and an oratory dedicated to [[St. Nicholas]] were added in the 9th century, by order of [[Pope Nicholas I]], who also built a papal residence, but they were destroyed in the [[Sack of Rome (1084)]] by [[Robert Guiscard]]'s [[Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture|Norman]] troops.
 
== The eighth-century church ==
Santa Maria in Cosmedin was the [[titular church]] of Popes [[Pope Gelasius II|Gelasius II]] and [[Pope Celestine III|Celestine III]], as well as [[antipope]] [[Avignon Pope Benedict XIII|Benedict XIII]]. Among the former titular cardinal deacons of the church was [[Reginald Pole]], the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury.
[[Pope Adrian I|Pope Hadrian I]] (papacy 772–95) rebuilt and extended the ''diaconia'' around 780, demolishing a large ruined temple to make way for this construction.<ref>Richard Krautheimer, Wolfgang Frankl, and Spencer Corbett, ''Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae: The Early Christian Basilicas of Rome, IV to IX Cent.'' (Vatican City: Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, 1959), vol. 2, 279.</ref> The result was a basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary, at that time called ''Santa Maria'' ''de Schola Graeca'' or the ''ecclesia graecorum'' (Greek church) because of its location and a community of Greek monks there.
 
The church was built with a [[nave]] and two aisles, but it culminated at the east end with three full [[Apse|apses]], an eastern feature unusual for a Roman church, but one that had reached the West by the sixth century.<ref>Krautheimer, Frankl, and Corbett 1959, 306; Krautheimer 1980, 105.</ref> In the rebuilding, the tall columns from the structure that preceded the ''diaconia'' were retained and were visible (and still are) in the entrance wall and embedded in the side walls at the western end of the church.<ref>Hansen 2015, 168–70.</ref> In the center apse was an altar made from a Roman red granite basin, and the floor was a simple ''[[opus sectile]]'' pattern.<ref>''Guida d'Italia: Roma e dintorni,'' 6th ed. (Milan: Touring Club Italiano, 1965), 409.</ref> The nave was separated from the aisles by alternating groups of columns and piers; the unmatched columns were ''[[spolia]]'' (spoils) from older Roman buildings. Some scholars believe that the columns supported a [[Post and lintel|trabeation]] (lintel) at this time and not arches.<ref>Krautheimer, Frankl, and Corbett 1959, 296, 302.</ref> On the upper level of the outer walls, rows of [[clerestory]] windows repeated the motif of the arches in the ''diaconia'' that had opened into galleries.<ref>Krautheimer 1980, 105.</ref> By the ninth century, the church was known as Santa Maria in Cosmedin, probably the Latinization of κοσμίδιον (''kosmidion''), derived from the Greek word κόσμος, meaning "ornament, decoration."<ref>Ekonomou 2007, 42.</ref>
The inscriptions found in S. Maria in Cosmedin, a valuable source illustrating the history of the Basilica, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.<ref>V. Forcella, ''Inscrizioni delle chese e d' altre edifici di Roma, dal secolo XI fino al secolo XVI'' Volume IV (Roma: Fratelli Bencini, 1874), pp. 301-327. </ref>
[[File:Santa maria in cosmedin, interno, controfacciata, 01 con colonne del iv sec. e sarcofago del iii-iv secolo dalla base del campanile.jpg|thumb|Two columns from a Roman loggia incorporated into the entrance wall.]]
At the same time, Pope Hadrian had a [[crypt]] dug from the volcanic tufa slab under the east end of the church, possibly the [[podium]] of the Great Altar to Hercules.<ref>Hansen 2015, 172.</ref> It took the form of a miniature basilica with a small apse and altar and a nave and two aisles separated by columns, probably based on a prototype under [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|Old Saint Peter’s Basilica]].<ref>Charles B. McClendon, ''The Origins of Medieval Architecture: Building in Europe, A.D. 600–900'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 175.</ref> The six ''spolia'' columns were too tall for the crypt and had to be sunk several feet into the floor. Carved crosses on the columns may have been inset with bronze.<ref>Hansen 2015, 172–73.</ref> On the side walls were niches containing shelves for the display of relics given by Pope Hadrian to the church.<ref>McClendon 2005, 176.</ref>
 
A [[sacristy]] and an [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]] later dedicated to [[St. Nicholas|St. Nicholas of Bari]], as well as a series of rooms for a papal residence, were added on the south side of the church by [[Pope Nicholas I]] (papacy 858–67).<ref>Krautheimer, Frankl, and Corbett 1959, 279–80.</ref><ref>Giovanni Battista Giovenale, ''La Basilica di S. Maria in Cosmedin'' (Rome: Sansaini, 1927), 279, fig. 87.</ref> This area was burned in the [[Sack of Rome (1084)|sack of Rome]] by the [[Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture|Norman]] troops of [[Robert Guiscard]] in 1084.<ref>Daniela Gallavotti Cavallero, ed., ''Rione XII – Ripa – Parte II'' (Rome: Fratelli Palombi, 1978), 94.</ref>
A substantial restoration was accomplished in 1118–1124 under Alfanus, ''camerarius'' of [[Pope Callixtus II]]. After being acquired by [[Benedictine]]s and a period of decay, in 1718 the church was refurbished in the [[Baroque]] style, particularly by a new façade, by [[Giuseppe Sardi]].<ref>Nina A. Mallory, ''Roman Rococo Architecture from Clement XI to Benedict XIV (1700–1758)'' ( New York: Garland Publishing, 1977), p. 54.</ref> The Baroque additions, however, were removed in the restoration of 1894–1899, together with the coat-of-arms of [[Pope Clement XI]] who had sponsored Sardi's work.
 
== The twelfth-century renovation ==
== Architecture ==
In the early twelfth century, Pope [[Pope Gelasius II|Gelasius II]] (papacy 1118–19), who had served as [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal-deacon]] of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and his successor, Pope [[Pope Callixtus II|Callixtus II]] (papacy 1119–24), undertook a renovation of the church, probably in 1120–23.<ref>Kenneth John Conant, ''Carolingian and Romanesque Architecture, 800–1200'', The Pelican History of Art, 2nd ed. rev. (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1978), 372.</ref> Although the plan remained the same, many changes were carried out: the galleries at the west end, remaining from the ''diaconia'', were walled up, [[Fresco|frescoes]] were painted in the nave and apses, a new floor was laid in the nave, and many new church furnishings were added, including a [[Ciborium (architecture)|ciborium]], [[Cathedra|bishop's throne]], [[Paschal candle|Paschal candlestick]], and a ''schola cantorum'', a walled enclosure at the front of the nave for clergy and monks, containing the [[pulpit]] and [[lectern]]. At this time, the trabeation supposed by some scholars to have carried by the columns in the nave would have been changed to arches. A [[Bell tower|campanile]] was then built into the right side of the church and, finally, a two-story narthex (the lower floor was open to the street) and a [[portico]] were added.<ref>Krautheimer, Frankl, and Corbett 1959, 302.</ref>
[[File:Maria in Cosmedin-Alfanus.jpg|thumb|left|Tomb of Alfanus, ''vir probus'' (upright man), inside the church.]]
[[File:344 of 'Rome et ses monuments. Guide du voyageur catholique dans la capitale du monde chrétien ... Avec cinquante-et-un plans annotés' (11074145196).jpg|thumb|Plan of the church in 1866, showing three parallel apses.]]
[[File:Rom, Bocca della Verità.JPG|thumb|[[La Bocca della Verità]]]]
Callixtus II reconsecrated the church in May of 1123. A number of inscriptions state that the renovations were paid for by Alfanus, a wealthy [[Laity|layman]] or [[Clergy|cleric]] who served as [[Papal gentleman|papal chamberlain]] (Latin: ''camerarius'') to Callixtus. On the bishop's throne is carved "ALFANUS FIER TIBI FECIT VIRGO MARIA" (Alfanus had this made for you, Virgin Mary). The open narthex of the renovated church contains the tomb of Alfanus, partly decorated with a damaged mosaic depicting the Virgin Mary between Popes Gelasius II and Callixtus II. On the walls are several panels of inscriptions recording monetary gifts to the church.<ref>Anne Derbes, "Crusading Ideology and the Frescoes of S. Maria in Cosmedin," ''Art Bulletin'' 77 no.3 (September 1995): 462.</ref> The inscriptions found in Santa Maria in Cosmedin, a valuable source for the history of the Basilica, have been collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.<ref>Vincenzo Forcella, ''Inscrizioni delle chiese e d'altre edifici di Roma, dal secolo XI fino al secolo XVI'' (Rome: Fratelli Bencini, 1874), vol. 4, 301–27.</ref>
[[File:Rom, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Reliquien des Hl. Valentin von Terni.jpg|thumb|The alleged skull of [[St Valentine]]]]
 
There are three doors leading from the new narthex into the church. The center door is created of marble elements from older Roman buildings, with medieval carvings signed by a "Giovanni of Venice" (IOHANNIS DE VENETIA ME FECIT). Scholars differ on whether it is from the eleventh or twelfth century, so it is possible this was the door to the church before the narthex was added.<ref>Hansen 2015, 165, 168.</ref>
In the portico of the church, on the north side, can be found [[La Bocca della Verità]], an ancient sculpture thought to be a drain covering. A legend states that, if a person places his hand inside the mouth ("bocca") and then swears falsely, the mouth will close and sever the hand. There is no attested case of such an event taking place.
 
The nave floor in the renovated church was a creation of the [[Cosmati]] family, Roman architects, sculptors, and decorators, who specialized in pavements formed of slabs of marble and semi-precious stones set in gold and colored [[Mosaic|mosaics]], called [[Cosmatesque|''opus Alexandrinum'']]. Santa Maria in Cosmedin is thought to have a particularly beautiful floor with a large central disc of [[Porphyry (geology)|porphyry]], a costly purple stone highly prized by Roman emperors. The Cosmati also provided and decorated the bishop's throne and the pulpits and candlestick inside the ''schola cantorum''.<ref>Conant 1978, 368.</ref> The current ciborium, the canopy over the altar, was designed by Deodato of the Cosmati; it was installed in 1294 and is in a [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style not common in Rome.<ref>''Guida d'Italia: Roma e dintorni'' 1965, 409.</ref>
The church's bell tower is the tallest medieval belfry in Rome.
[[File:Santa Maria in Cosmedin Rome frescos 02.jpg|thumb|Remains of frescoes on the left side of the nave. The paintings between the windows are scenes from the lives of Daniel and Ezekiel.]]
At the time of Pope Callixtus's renovation, an extensive fresco cycle was painted on the nave walls and the arch leading to the altar area; the decoration probably extended to the three apses as well, but no traces remain in those areas. All the paintings were whitewashed about 1649–60 and were badly damaged. Only the uppermost row between the clerestory windows survives intact and depicts scenes from the lives of the prophets [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] and [[Ezekiel]], warning against the evils of [[idolatry]]; the subjects are very unusual in medieval art. The images are faint but were photographed and sketched during the nineteenth-century restoration. There are enough fragments to suggest that there were scenes from the [[New Testament]] on two lower rows of the nave wall<ref>Derbes 1995, 461, 463.</ref> and that the scene over the arch into the central apse showed Jesus enthroned amid a host of angels.<ref>Matilda Webb, ''The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome: A Comprehensive Guide'' (Brighton, UK: Sussex Academic Press, 2001), 177.</ref> Running along the very top of the nave wall is an undated [[frieze]] in which are painted [[Faun|fauns]]' heads and other ornaments in ancient Roman style.<ref>Krautheimer 1980, 186.</ref> The frescoes now in the three apses were painted in 1899 but based on styles and themes of twelfth-century church decoration.<ref>''Guida d'Italia: Roma e dintorni'' 1965, 409.</ref>
 
The campanile of Santa Maria in Cosmedin is a beautiful seven-story bell tower that has stood without repair or restoration since its twelfth-century construction. Drawings and engravings from later centuries show a [[superstructure]] above and behind the portico and narthex of the church, consisting of a wall with a small [[rose window]].<ref>Krautheimer, Frankl, and Corbett 1959, 303.</ref>
The current interior of S. Maria in Cosmedin has a nave with two aisles: these are divided by four pilasters and eighteen ancient columns. Built into the side walls, some of the old columns of the ''Statio Annonae'' are visible. Other fragments of the ancient building can be seen in the crypt. Paintings from the 8th-12th centuries, in three layers, are preserved in the upper part of the nave and in the triumphal arch. The church has a very fine [[Cosmatesque]] pavement. The ''[[Choir (architecture)|schola cantorum]]'' is from the 13th century, while the main altar is a red granite piece from 1123. The [[Easter candle|Easter candelabrum]] is also from the 13th century.
 
== Later history and restoration ==
The sacristy houses a precious 8th-century mosaic fragment brought here from the [[Old St. Peter's Basilica]]. Of the 18th-century restoration, the Crucifix Chapel and the Baptistry can be seen today.
[[File:MariaCosmedinFacade.jpg|thumb|The facade after the renovation of 1718 by architect Giuseppe Sardi.]]
[[Pope Eugenius IV]] (papacy 1431–47) gave Santa Maria in Cosmedin in 1435 to the Benedictine community of San Paolo; after the monks' departure in 1513, the church began to fall into disrepair.<ref>Mariano Armellini, ''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX'' (Rome: Tipografia Vaticana, 1891), n.p.</ref> In 1718, Cardinal Annibale Albani commissioned a new stucco facade and other refurbishments designed in the late Baroque style of the time by Giuseppe Sardi.<ref>Nina A. Mallory, "The Architecture of Giuseppe Sardi and the Attribution of the Facade of the Church of the Maddalena,' ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'' 26, no. 2 (May 1967): 83–87.</ref> This facade and all of the post-medieval changes to the church inside and out were removed in a restoration of 1894–99 by architect Giovanni Battista Giovenale.<ref>Giovenale 1927.</ref> The facade was returned to its early twelfth-century form, with a rebuilt portico and open narthex, and the interior was restored to its eighth-century design but with the retention of its twelfth-century decoration and furnishings.<ref>Krautheimer, Frankl, and Corbett 1959, 281–82.</ref> Only two sections of the interior - the Chapel of the Crucifix in the left apse and the baptistery - retain some furnishings from 1727.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Varisco |first=Alessio |date=2008 |title=La Basilica Santa Maria in Cosmedin |url=http://www.antropologiaartesacra.it/ALESSIO_VARISCO_ROMASantaMariaInCosmedin.html#_ftnref1 |access-date=November 4, 2023 |website=antropologiaartesacra}}</ref>
 
Santa Maria in Cosmedin was the [[titular church]] not only of Pope [[Pope Gelasius II|Gelasius II]] but also of [[Pope Celestine III|Celestine III]] (papacy 1191–98) and [[antipope]] [[Avignon Pope Benedict XIII|Benedict XIII]] (papacy 1394–1423). Among the former cardinal-priests of the church was [[Reginald Pole]] (1500–1558), the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury.<ref>Frederick George Lee, ''Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury: An Historical Sketch, with an Introductory Prologue and Practical Epilogue'' (London: J. C. Nimmo, 1888), 21.</ref>
In a side altar on the left of the church is kept the flower-crowned skull attributed to [[St Valentine]].
 
== Within the church ==
[[File:Età imperiale, chiusino a forma di mascherone di divinità fluviale, detta bocca della verità, collocata qui nel 1632.jpg|thumb|[[La Bocca della Verità]], the "mouth of truth."]]
In the open narthex of the church, on the north side, can be found the [[La Bocca della Verità|Bocca della Verità]] (Mouth of Truth), a massive ancient Roman marble mask thought to be a drain covering depicting the Greco-Roman god [[Oceanus]]; it was moved to the church in the twelfth century. A medieval legend states that if a person places a hand inside the mouth ("bocca") and then swears falsely, the mouth will close and sever the hand.<ref>Fabio Barry, "The Mouth of Truth and the Forum Boarium: Oceanus, Hercules, and Hadrian," ''Art Bulletin'' 93, no. 1 (March 2011): 7–37.</ref>
[[File:Epifania, frammento di mosaico dell'oratorio di Giovanni VII nell'antica basilica di san pietro in vaticano, 705-707 ca. 01.jpg|thumb|Mosaic fragment of an Adoration of the Magi (Epiphany) of c. 706, formerly in the chapel of Pope John VII in Old St. Peter's Basilica.]]
The sacristy houses an important mosaic fragment of an [[Adoration of the Magi]] from 706–07. It was once in the oratory of Pope John VII in Old Saint Peter's Basilica<ref>''Roma e dintorni'' 1965, 409.</ref> and was donated to the church in 1639 by order of Pope Urban VIII.<ref>Webb 2001, 177.</ref>
[[File:Santa Maria in Cosmedin (Rome) Skull of St. Valentini . Valentini.JPG|thumb|Reliquary of the alleged skull of St. Valentine.]]
Among the relics of several dozen saints in Santa Maria in Cosmedin, in a side altar on the north side is a flower-crowned skull alleged to be [[St Valentine|Saint Valentine]], a third-century Roman cleric martyred on February 14. There are, however, two other Valentines with commemorations on that day, so the specific identity is not certain.<ref>Agostino S. Amore, "S. Valentino di Roma o di Terni?" ''Antonianum'' '''41 (1'''966): 260–77.</ref>
 
==In popular culture==
A scene from the 1953 romantic comedy ''[[Roman Holiday]]'' was filmed in Santa Maria in Cosmedin. In the scene, Joe (played by [[Gregory Peck]]) shocks Princess Ann (played by [[Audrey Hepburn]]) by pretending to lose his hand in the [[Bocca della Verità]].
 
== See also ==
A scene from the 1953 romantic comedy movie ''[[Roman Holiday]]'' was filmed in Santa Maria in Cosmedin. In the scene, "Joe" played by [[Gregory Peck]] shocks the "Anya/Princess Ann" played by [[Audrey Hepburn]] by pretending to lose his hand in the [[Bocca della Verità]]. Likewise it was depicted as the church inside the unnamed abbey in 2019 mini-series adaptation of the novel Name of the Rose.<ref>{{cite web|last=O'Connor|first=Joanne|title=On location: Roman Holiday|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/275ff5c4-ee23-11e2-816e-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2a4I0zOMl|publisher=Financial Times}}</ref>
* [[Roman Catholic Marian churches]]
 
== References ==
{{reflist}}
 
== Bibliography ==
* Coarelli, Filippo. Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide. Translated by James J. Clauss and Daniel P. Harmon. Rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2014.
 
* Crescimbeni, Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni,. ''Stato della basilica diaconale, collegiate, e parrocchiale di S. Maria in Cosmedin di Roma.'' (Roma Rome: Antonio de' Rossi, 1719).
* G.Fusciello, BGemma. Giovenale, ''La Basilica di S.Santa Maria in Cosmedin a Roma'' (Roma: P. Sansaini, 1927)Rome: [Volume 2Edizioni ofQuasar, ''Monografie sulle chiese di Roma'']2011.
* Giovenale, Giovanni Battista. ''La Basilica di S. Maria in Cosmedin.'' Monografie sulle chiese di Roma 2. Rome: Sansaini, 1927.
* [[Richard Krautheimer]], ''Corpus basilicarum christianarum Romae. The early Christian basilicas of Rome (IV-IX cent.).'' (Roma: Pontificio Istituto de archeologia cristiana, 1937) [Volume 2 of ''Monumenti dell'antichità Cristiana''].
* Glass, Dorothy F. ''Studies on Cosmatesque Pavements''. Oxford: BAR, 1980.
* Federico Gizzi, ''Le chiese medievali di Roma'', Newton Compton.{{full citation needed|date=March 2016}}
* Hansen, Maria Fabricius. ''The Spolia Churches of Rome: Recycling Antiquity in the Middle Ages.'' Translated by Barara J. Haveland. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 2015.
* Elio Fox, ''Santa Maria in Cosmedin'' (Trento, Italy: Eurographik, 1969).
* Krautheimer, Richard. ''Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
* Gemma Fusciello, ''Santa Maria in Cosmedin a Roma'' (Roma: Edizioni Quasar, 2011).
* Krautheimer, Richard, Wolfgang Frankl, and Spencer Corbett. ''Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae: The Early Christian Basilicas of Rome, IV to IX Cent.'' Vol. 2. Vatican City: Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, 1959.
* Varisco, Alessio. "La Basilica Santa Maria in Cosmedin. ''antropologiaartesacra'' 2008. http://www.antropologiaartesacra.it/ALESSIO_VARISCO_ROMASantaMariaInCosmedin.html#_ftnref1.
 
== External links ==
* {{commons-inline}}
* High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of [https://mcid.mcah.columbia.edu/art-atlas/ancient-and-early-christian-sites-rome/santa-maria-cosmedin Santa Maria in Cosmedin | Art Atlas]
 
* {{cite book | last = Webb | first = Matilda | title = The Churches and Catacombs of Early Christian Rome | publisher = Sussex Academic Press | location = Brighton | year = 2001 | isbn = 1-902210-58-1|chapter= Santa Maria in Cosmedin |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ESRnSBbNRGAC|pages=175–177}}
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/I/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/churches/_Texts/Armellini/ARMCHI*/2/Ripa.html#S.Maria_in_Cosmedin "S.&nbsp;Maria in Cosmedin"], in Mariano Armellini, ''Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX''.{{full citation needed|date=March 2016}}
* Federico Gizzi, ''Le chiese medievali di Roma'', Newton Compton.{{full citation needed|date=March 2016}}
 
{{commons|Santa Maria in Cosmedin|Santa Maria in Cosmedin}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050830232322/http://www.romainteractive.com/smcosmed.htm Roma Interactive]
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/churches/S.Maria_in_Cosmedin/home.html Thayer's Gazetteer of Rome]
 
==See also==
* [[Roman Catholic Marian churches]]
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of [https://mcid.mcah.columbia.edu/art-atlas/ancient-and-early-christian-sites-rome/santa-maria-cosmedin Santa Maria in Cosmedin | Art Atlas]
 
{{Churches in the City of Rome}}
{{Sequence
{{Rome landmarks}}
| prev = [[Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto]]
 
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Santa Maria in Cosmedin
| next = [[Santa Maria in Domnica]]
}}
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{{Monuments of Rome}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria In Cosmedin}}
[[Category:6th-century churches|Maria Cosmedin]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1124]]
[[Category:Basilica churches in Rome|Maria Cosmedin]]
[[Category:Titular churches|Maria Cosmedin]]
[[Category:Romanesque architecture in Lazio]]
[[Category:Churches of Rome (rione Ripa)|Maria Cosmedin]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1124]]
[[Category:12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy]]
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