Saint James in Rome: The Vanished Churches

SAINT JAMES IN ROME: THE VANISHED CHURCHES Rosa Vázquez Santos S. A. de Xestión do Plan Xacobeo An effective evaluation ofthe cult and iconography of St. James in the city of Rome requires a complex process of study, since the current state of affairs can only provide us with a vague and even a deceptive idea. Although the only two churches currently dedicated to St. James are very important, they do not reflect in any way the situation in the preceding centuries. We refer here to San Giacomo in Settignana, currently alia Lungara,1 and to San Giacomo degli Incurabili, at the time of writing in Augusta, which for many years was one of the three main pilgrim hospitals in the city.2 The church which was the center of the cult of St. James in Rome throughout the Renaissance and Baroque period still exists; this is the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, the great religious building of 1 The bibliography on this church is scarce, and the only books that offer information are more general studies such as M. Armellini (Le chiese di Roma 2: 802). The guides and other historical sources are therefore particularly important when studying the church, above all the numerous references made by EM. Torrigio (156-60). 2 As to the church, hospice and confraternity ofSan Giacomo degli Incurabili, a large part of the archives is to be found in the Archivio di Stato di Roma. See also: P. De Angelis; D. Gaspari; M. Heinz; L. Innocenti Presciuttini (182-83); and P. Pecchiai and R. U. Montini. La corónica 36.2 (Spring 2008): 75-98 76jRosfl Vázquez SantosLa corónica 36.2, 2008 the Castilian crown and later ofthe Spanish nation, currently converted into the church ofthe Sacro Cuore? (Plate 1) Any account of St. James in Rome considering only the churches that still stand would be misleading, not only because we know of the existence of altars and chapels of St. James in churches which were not themselves dedicated to the apostle, but also because we know of at least nine churches dedicated to St. James that have vanished over the centuries. It is essential to make an initial study of these lost churches if we are to reconstruct the topography of the cult of St. James in the city. We have chosen to structure this study following the traditional division ofthe city into districts, or rioni. Rione I (Monti): San Giacomo al Colosseo In District or Rione I of Rome, known as Monti, stood the church oí San Giacomo al Colosseo. The church, demolished in 1815, stood at the top ofthe street of San Giovanni, between the church of St. John Lateran and the church ofthe SS. Quattro Coronati (L. Barroero 32). The oldest reference we have for this church comes to us via Nicola Signorili. In 1466, this writer makes reference to a church dedicated to St. James, with a hospital for the sick under the title of San Giovanni. Subsequently many guidebooks to the city confirm the existence and document the location of this church.4 The building dedicated to worship here therefore possessed annexes dedicated to a charitable hospice and a women's hospital, with a small square opposite the church known as San Giacomo. Some writers state that, as well as the hospital for sick women, there was also a building next to the church ofthe type that in the medieval period were known in 3 For the church ofSan Giacomo degli Spagnoli, see C. Cecchelli; J. Fernández Alonso, "Las iglesias nacionales", "Santiago de los españoles" and "Pio II"; E Russo; M. Vaquero Pineiro, "L'ospedale", "Una realtà nazionale composita" and La Renta y las Casas; R. Vázquez Santos, "Culto e iconografía jacobeos" and "San Giacomo Degli Spagnoli". 4 "Le piante del Bufalini (1551), del Du Pérac (1577), e del Falda (1676) pongono la chiesa nell'area dove si trovava in epoca romana il Ludus Magnus, la caserma per i gladiatori costruita da Domiziano (81-96) e riportata parcialmente alla luce nel 1961" (F. Lombardi 62). Saint James in Rome77 Rome as case sante; this would have been the...