San Francesco Saverio, Rimini Explained

San Francesco Saverio also known as the Church of the Suffragio is a Baroque-style Roman Catholic church located in Piazza Ferrari #12 in Rimini, Italy. The church rises adjacent to the former convent of the Jesuits (now a civic museum).

History

The church was commissioned by the Jesuit order and built in 1721. The Jesuits previously had been housed in a site in Santa Maria a Mare. The design had been attributed to either Giovanni Francesco Buonamici or Francesco Garampi.^{[1] [2]}

The layout is modelled on the Gesù church in Rome. Adjacent to the church was once the Jesuit convent, which was for years a hospital, and now serves as Civic Museum. The facade remains incomplete in brick, but the interior is richly decorated, despite the suppression of the Jesuits by papal bull in 1773.^[3]

The adjacent convent once was a hospital, then a museum.^[4]

Interior decoration

An inventory in 1864 (also 1901) cited the following works in the church:^[5]

• St Louis Gonzaga by Andrea Barbiani
• St Martin Bishop with St John the Baptist and the Virgin in Glory by Nicolo Frangipane
• Crucified Jesuit Martyrs in Japan (including the Blessed Paulo Miki) by Guido Cagnacci, right presbytery (still in situ)
• St Nicola and the Souls of Purgatory attributed to Visacci of Urbino, 1st altar left^[6]
• St Antony (oval) by Giuseppe Soleri Brancaleoni, 1st chapel on left
• Departure from Calvary attributed to Zuccheri studio, 1st chapel on left
• Guardian Angel by Angelo Sarzetta, 1st chapel on left
• Virgin with Child, St Joseph and St Peter attributed to Antonio Puglieschi
• Marriage of the Madonna by Giovanni Battista Costa
• Deposition, by Giovanni Cesare Grazi, a copy of the work of Barocci located in Sinigallia
• Glory of St Ignatius by Pietro Rotari, altar by GF Buonamici, in transept^[7]
• St Francis Xavier Preaching in the Indies, main altar, by Vincenzo Pisanelli
• St Emidius, Patron of Rimini (1788) by GS Brancaleoni, left transept, placed after earthquake of 1786^[8]
• St Francis Borgia in Adoration of the Virgin painted by Rotari, in 1st altar right^[9]
• Annunciation, by Tuscan painter, left presbytery
• St Stanislao by Giovanni Maria delle Piane (Molinaretto), copy of GG dal Sole painting, sacristy.
• St Michael Arcangelo by Sarzetto, sacristy
• Bambino che schiaccia il Drago, by Giovanni Francesco Nagli, sacristy

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=DrA7AQAAIAAJ Guida del forestiere nella città di Rimini
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=OlxEAQAAMAAJ La patria; geografia dell' Italia: pte. 2. Provincie di Ravenna, Ferrara, Forli'
3. http://www.riminiturismo.it/visitatori/scopri-il-territorio/arte-e-cultura/chiese/chiesa-del-suffragio Rimini Turismo
4. Web site: Chiesa del Suffragio. Rimini turismo. 2018-08-09.
5. Tonini (1864) and Borsari (1901).
6. Still in situ, Rimini Turismo
7. Still in situ, Rimini Turismo
8. Still in situ, Rimini Turismo
9. Still in church, Rimini Turismo