Sur primo te sciroppi nappettata, doppo, ripij fiato a na piazzetta.

L un bivio: Quanta gente c passata e nun ha fatto caso a la Chiesetta? (First you suffer an ascent, then you regain your breath on a plain. There is a crossroad: how many people passed by and did not even realize the church): thus reads a prayer written in Roman dialect by Placido Scifoni, a devotee of Madonna del Riposo (Our Lady of Rest). The church, built in fact on the crossroad of Via Aurelia, is a small Marian chapel that was saved, in spite of the intense urbanization of the area, by the intervention of Monsignor Claudio Morino who was its rector in the sixties and seventies. The pilgrims coming from the north and heading for the tomb of Peter, before entering the city used to stop there for a short break and then would carry on their journey; even those who came from St. Peter's or Cavallegeri could sit on a small plain after an uphill climb and before engaging in another one. Documented witnesses tell us about a place situated just over a mile from Porta Pertusa, on the Vatican hill, known as "Sancta Maria de Riposo since the beginning of the XV century. The first to mention it in his 'Diary' on the 18th of October 1409 was Antonio Pietro dello Schiavo, on the occasion of the arrival of the federate army (Orsini were part of them) to Rome under Luigi dAngi ally of Pope Alexander V who pursued the troops of Ladislao, king of Naples (which included the Colonna family) venerunt III nomine armo rum equestre set duo alli pedestres cum balistis de gentibus colegii. Item multi alii de gentibus dicti colegii fuerunt per multa alia loca, videlicent im Monte Mari, et ad Sanctam Mariam de Riposo. Even more important is the quote from Nichol Signorili in his Descriptio urbis Romae made upon request from Martin V between 1424 and 1427, which shows that the oratory Sanctae Mariae dello Riposo belonged to the suburban churches of Rome, and confirming that the church already existed in that period. In 1486, in his diary of Rome notary Natimporto recalling how the Orsini and Colonna were again at war with each other, furnishes more information on the 13th of February [1486] the enemy was driven even to the Sancta Maria del Riposo, because they had sent their prey, in order to make noise in Rome, that the enemies were at the door, and many of ours went out on the 20th came the Orsini even to the Maddalena and to Santa Maria del Riposo, and plundered the whole country, and there were about eight teams of horses and a lot of infantry ...". On the map of the Roman countryside (Mappa della Campagna Romana), drawn by Eufrosino della Volpaia and dated 1547, the Oratory, with its little bell, is easily recognizable in the Aurelio area, on the crossroad of the two streets near to the place called Il Pidocchio (Louse). Situated between valle dellInferno (hell valley) and valle delle Fornaci (Fornaci valley) , it appears in a fairly isolated area: on the paper, in fact, appear only a few towers as Torre Rossa, Tor di Papi, Tor Maglianella, some farmhouses as Casal Vecchio and LHostaria del Pidocchio, even though other buildings will rise later at a certain distance. Outside the walls of the Christian citadel, built by the popes, begins the Roman countryside crossed by ancient Cornelia and two Aurelia roads; in this area of Aurelio arose rural villas and farms that produce food for the city, but many fields, after depopulation, had been intended for pasture and the surrounding hills were covered with vineyards; actually on one of them the little church was built. In 1660, the Oratory seems to belong to the parish of St. Angelo, a small church of kilnmen placed outside of Porta Cavallegeri and near to Porta Fabbrica; the curate Francesco Megoli tells us that the church was "close to the farmhouse of S. Pio V, adjacent to

the vineyard of Mr. Antonio Piovani and called Madonna del Riposo, whose key, chalice and tapestry were kept by the vine-dresser Ascertained the presence of the church since 1427, some writers such as Virgilio Mori and Alberto Castrocane have suggested that initially there should have been only a kiosk with the image of the Virgin and that the construction of the small chapel happened subsequently, once when it became place of veneration by the faithful. The thesis is supported by Pirro Ligorio who was convinced that there was a cemetery in the area, that was later dismantled and the bones transferred to the cemetery of St. Peter. He writes: The Via Aurelia cemetery, where is now Santa Maria del Riposo, was ruined and the dead bodies of saints were brought to the S. Peter and other churches." In fact, many evidences indicate a strong presence of Christians in the early centuries of Christianity in the whole area of Aurelio; there is a clear example of the Christian cemetery built by Saint Calepodius that was among the first ones to arise in the North West zone of Rome less than two miles away from the small Oratory (precisely in front of the farmhouse of St. Pius V, intersection between the streets Casale San Pio V and Via Cardinal Pacca). Therefore, this is why the idea is most likely that there was a small kiosk which was later transformed into an oratory. Even though the historical references attribute the building of the ancient church to Pius IV and to Pius V, it is believed that they rather provided for the restoration and the enlargement of the main building to which a risalit, a sacristy and two other rooms above the sacristy were added. Hence, in the sixteenth century, the oratory was known and visited by famous people; two marble memories are there to recall it: a medallion with the profile of Pope Pius IV is fixed above the door of the sacristy with the inscription: " Pio IV P. M. edific a. MDLXI (Pope Pius IV built it in 1561); on the other hand, the coat of arms of Pius V appears on the facade of the church itself. The chapel on the edge of the Roman countryside thus undergoes interventions and changes over the centuries. Four bodies, built at later dates, make up the body of the church. Referring to the year 1561, the Shrine of circular shape with a dome can be compared, according to the study of Cinzia Sebastiani Zoli, with other churches built in the sixteenth century in Umbria and Viterbo inland. In particular, the chapel can be compared with the small church of S. Egidio in Cellere di Viterbo, erected about the same time in an open countryside according to the drawing by Sangallo il Giovane. Taking into consideration only the chapel, both churches, despite the smaller size of the Marian oratory show circular plan with a dome and entrance protected by a small risalit (forepart) with a tympanum. The Shrine, then, could be the first body to be built on the ruins of the church from XIV and XV century mentioned by Nichol Signorili. It hides, among other things, traces of the foundations of Roman origin; thus this shows that the church was built on a site already devoted to the worship, justifying the words Pius IV built. As for the coat of arms of Pius V on the facade, there are two hypotheses: the coat of arms could recall the completion of the Oratory with frescoes or specify the building of risalit, needed to accommodate a greater number of believers, local residents, generally poor wine-dressers.

Between years 1566 and 1572 the church assumed the structure we still see today. Over the centuries the church Madonna del Riposo passes from hand to hand: from an apostolic report from 1660 we learn that the owner is Mr. Antonio Piovano who will later sell it to Mr. Palazzeschi. The construction of a new manor house beside the church and a barn behind the apse is attributed to the later one. The transfer of ownership concerned the vineyard with the adjoining church. Between 1828 and 1843, the property that included the church with vineyard and buildings was sold to Cardinal Bartolomeo Pacca, the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the friend of Pope Gregory XVI, who, as it was a custom for many cardinals, will use it as a personal country house. Just before his death in 1844, Cardinal Pacca established the Prelature on a property that takes his name (it includes vineyards, house and oratory) assigning it to his great-grandson. The latter one also became cardinal and was buried in the room next to the chapel where currently a bust representing him is found; his remains still lie buried under a marble block. In the 1895, according to the sentence of the civil court in Rome the whole ownership passes to Mr. Antonio Mariotti whose plate posted inside the church says: "Antonio Mariotti, Roman, out of deference to the miraculous image of Madonna del Riposo restored and adorned the shrine in 1901. Between 1898 and 1901, the rich landowner promoted the reb uilding of the front steps and a new bell gable. He was also interested in the structure paintings, maybe even repainting the dome and the niches of the apse where the original frescoes were reduced to a very bad condition. We should say maybe because there were too many changes in the ownership over the centuries, and each one may have contributed to modify, add, and embellish parts of the complex. On the outside, the entrance of the temple has five steps that were added later by the manufacturers to bring the floor of the additional part to the level of the ancient one that was obviously on a higher level than the road. The first residences around the church began to appear around 1920, a period in which the chapel is owned by Staderini, whose house, placed side by side with the church, was decorated by the portal in travertine ashlar still visible today. Through the examination of the internal structure four parts of the building can be identified: the Shrine, the risalit (forepart), the old sacristy, and the new sacristy. The round structured Shrine has a central plan of an octagonal structure crowned with a dome. Such typology of building that we precisely find in Umbria and Viterbo region was affirmed during the sixteenth century; this indicates that the primitive structure of the church, assuming it had been built at the beginning or the end of XIV or XV century, should be different. This last statement is supported by the discovery of a wall section corresponding to the right side of the shrine after the removal of a part of the plaster already dilapidated. The fact that the lower part of the section of masonry is based on ancient foundations, possibly of Roman origin, leads us to assume that the Shrine was built on the church ruins from XIV-XV century, also mentioned in the list of suburban churches by Signorili; the presence of Roman walls supports the hypothesis of some writers that the oratory would have been built in a place already dedicated to the worship as a cemetery. Externally, the Shrine shows a masonry brick and mortar typical for the outside walls of buildings, it ends on the first floor, or rather

on the level of the dome continuing with the irregular ashlars; therefore the room on the right side of the shrine is definitely of later date, as it is also the current roof. The roof of the temple was then the same dome (cupola) that we can see today only from inside. The small oratory with the circular plan showed, corresponding to one or more entrance doors, the small risalit that supported a triangular tympanum (pediment): one can still recognize the remains of a small colonnade of the entrance door to the arcade that is still visible in the room above the first sacristy. The oratory built by Pope Pius IV, which still cannot be defined as a church given its small dimensions, was then a shrine of a circular plan with the presbytery supported by the dome, and the facade with the tympanum concealed an entrance colonnade distinguished by two small open arcades. The second room, built as an extension to the Shrine, is a risalit intended for accommodation of greater number of believers, local residents, who could thus take part in religious services. By demolishing the facade with tympanum and removing a part of the two anterior niches the entrance to the Shrine is enlarged; to unite the two bodies a large arcade (leaning on what were before the niches of the Shrine ) is made. The residue of a fresco depicting an Evangelist found on them, shows that the risalit is subsequent to the temple and that the frescoes precede its construction. It is difficult to give credit to someone for the changes and the construction of new building: the attribution to the Pious V is conceivable, but the time interval between the construction of the Shrine (1561) and the risalit is relatively short. However, confirming the hypothesis is the fact that the pope was the one who enacted the changes made to the sacred liturgy by the Council of Trent (the liturgy of the Mass was rewritten in order that this rite became the central moment in the religious life); thus there was a need to celebrate the Mass at least on festive days and the oratory being the only sacred building in the area, easily accessible for the poor vine-dressers, it is very likely that Pope Pius V had promoted the construction of risalit in order to increase the capacity of the small sanctuary, which from that moment became the true church. The building is elevated about 60 cm from the ground; the floor was in fact made at a higher level of the ground. Below, in inaccessible rooms there is the tomb of Cardinal Pacca. Under the church itself, there are definitely many tunnels, which probability served as cellars or for the other uses. Ancient stone rosettes, along the outer walls of the sanctuary, served to ventilate the spaces below. The designs of the latter are shown on the plan of the Pacca Prelature. The third space of the architectonic structure is rather simple, two rib barrel-vaulted, placed right next to the sanctuary (the external walls of the sanctuary are in the same room). It serves as a sacristy; the assumption is that it was built simultaneously to risalit, when the Oratory, transformed into a church, needed additional service room. The last part of building, two floors high, is the fourth body, which now serves as a new sacristy; it is certainly of a later period to other structures as it is demonstrated by a window whole in the nave of risalit (the latter showed the windows on both sides) - the first one became niche and was closed when the last part leaning against the nave was built. Intended as a sacristy/vestry and to get a 'keeper's house - it has a wooden ceiling with visible beams

and tiles. According to the plan of the building, designed for the 1828 Gregorian Cadaster, this fourth room does not exist yet. The construction is therefore to be dated around the year 1850, a period that corresponds to the Pacca Prelature and therefore assignable to the old Cardinal Pacca, or rather to the young great-grandson. The latter one has presumably chosen a hermit to guard the place and to celebrate the Mass and therefore there was a need to build the house for him. At the beginning of XVIII century, the house was built behind the Oratory on the request of one of the vineyard owners, Mr. Palazzeschi; between the house and the church there is a 'choir' with a window that faces the altar and that allowed the owners to attend the Mass in private; a room for storage of hay was also built behind the Oratory. We also owe to Mr. Palazzeschi the transfer of the bell from the church to the main house. In 1844, the church and manor house became a Prelature. In 1898, the entire property passes into the hands of Mr. Antonio Mariotti, who, as it is written on the plaque, adorned the kiosk perhaps producing paintings that cover the original frescoes. Thus the parts adversely affected by humidity (from the time of the original frescoes): the evangelists Luke and John, the dome, stucco, but also the two evangelists Mark and Matthew in niches at the beginning of the nave that had been lost with risalit construction. Between 1957-58, the small church was saved from the property speculation through the intercession of its Rector Msgr. Claudio Morino, who got the support from Pope Pius XII, and it was destined to a substantial restoration work that included the reconstruction of the Carrara marble floors in the sacred hall, decorated in the center with the papal coat of arms of the Pope Pius XII. The interior of the church bears the marks of time. The phase before the last renovations shows the semicircular Shrine with vaulted dome and two niches framed by stucco reliefs, painted in tempera and depicting the two evangelists: Luke and John. These were placed on either side of the central aedicule depicting Madonna with the Child, painted in fresco. The hemispherical vault showed a Coronation of the Virgin Mary, badly damaged: Madonna sits between the Father and His Son while she receives a crown of stars and the Holy Spirit as a dove is descending upon Her. Underneath a stripe of souls seem to escape from the flames of hell or purgatory. Tempera-framed decorations and fake marble covered the remaining areas of the nave and the apse. They were often the result of different layers over time that would remedy the damage caused by leak of rainwater and humidity; the reconstruction and repainting in the nineteenth century had altered the reading of the sixteenth century frescoes, in this way greatly compromised. An intense work of restoration carried out by Francesco China with the team of 'Studio 3' has resulted in the recovery of the original frescoes in the tempera paintings of the two evangelists Luke and John, and in the coronation of the Virgin in the vault. Frescoes considered contemporary to the painting of Madonna, probably made in late sixteenth century. The difference in style of souls in purgatory on the dome and distinctive fresco of Madonna suggest the presence of a valuable painting - confirmed by the fret connection between the wall and the base of the vault showed an imperfect geometric setting; in fact, underneath

there was a more rigorous one. Actually a crown of Cherubim and Seraphim with the Holy Spirit Dove in the center appears in the dome. From the pictorial point of view, surely the most interesting point is the fresco of Madonna with the Child and musician angels. The Virgin is seated on a throne and holds Jesus in her arms. Her position (slightly turned to the right) increases the sense of depth and relief. The face is slightly pink, sweet, delicate, and highlighted by the brown background of the throne and the dark red robe. It is assumed that the throne originally rested above the clouds which were later painted into the four little angels playing musical instruments, the prettiest of them, in the act of playing the mandola (lute), has emerged after the restoration has removed the wooden frame that completely concealed it for about half a century. While Mary on the throne follows the stereotype, the angels show a more creative artist. In four niches, two near the altar and two symmetrically on the opposite side, located in the elongated body include the four evangelists; here, as it was the case with the vault, the repainting was superimposed on the original picture. Under the evangelists Luke and John, who flank the painting of the Madonna, there was a completely different picture emerged from a background that is no longer golden, but characterized by scenery depicted at the bottom that strike with their refinement though they almost pass unnoticed. In those years in Rome the artists could explore their creativity, not so much in the sacred which followed the well-defined stereotypes, but in search of an ideal landscape made of vegetation and archaeological remains; in fact, it was in the small parts that you could see the real inventions of the artist. The evangelists Mark and Matthew were also painted in tempera in the niches created by the aisle, also with the late nineteenth century technique imitating sixteenth-century ones: a fragment of the fresco depicting one of the two original evangelists appeared in the remains of the niche that survived the construction of risalit, (further evidence of the sharp cut that was implemented later to join the old Shrine to the new building consisting of forepart. It is difficult at this point to establish the date of the paintings; definitely the original frescoes of the Shrine are part of a uniform plan, attributable, according to Francesco China, to Tuscan skilled artists from the end of the sixteenth century and early seventeenth century. Finally, the stucco and gilding of frames are datable to eighteenth century. These last ones, in fact, were made following the macca technique, a silver gilding typical of the sixteenth century, but also very much in use in the eighteenth century to simulate the gold at the lowest cost. In 1997, thanks to the new rector of the small sanctuary His Eminence Cesare Nosiglia and the parish priest of San Pio V, Msgr. Luigi Storto, to whom the administration and liturgical care were entrusted, the works of consolidation and restoration were inaugurated. They brought the church to its original and delicate beauty. At the closure of the Great Jubilee of 2000, the small Oratory was consecrated in honor of Madonna del Riposo (Our Lady of Rest). Still today, Madonna del Riposo welcomes, as in the past, the pilgrims of the twentieth century to give them a safe refuge, a little oasis where you can find brief moments of silence to get away from the noise of the hectic city life.