Editing Santa Maria sopra Minerva

{{Short description|14th-century Dominican church in Rome}}
{{distinguish|Temple of Minerva, Assisi}}
{{Infobox church
| name = Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva
| native_name = {{unbulleted list|{{native name|en|Basilica of Saint Mary above Minerva}}|{{native name|la|Basilica Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam}}}}
| image = Santa Maria sopra Minerva.jpg
| caption = Santa Maria sopra Minerva façade by [[Carlo Maderno]]
| location = Piazza della Minerva 42, [[Rome]]
| country = [[Italy]]
| status = [[Minor basilica]], [[titular church]]
| coordinates = {{coord|41|53|53|N|12|28|42|E|format=dms|type:landmark_region:IT_scale:10000|display=it}}
| image_size = 270
| mapframe-frame-width = 270
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a fullscreen view
| mapframe-zoom = 13
| mapframe-marker = religious-christian
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| denomination = [[Catholic Church|Catholic]]
|tradition=[[Latin Church]]
|religious order= [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]]
| province = [[Diocese of Rome]]
| consecrated date = 1370
| groundbreaking = {{start date|1280}}
| completed date = 1370
| cardinal protector = [[António Marto]]
| architect = Fra Sisto Fiorentino<br />Fra Ristoro da Campi<br />[[Carlo Maderno]]
| style = [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]
| length = {{convert|101|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| width = {{convert|41|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| width nave = {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| dedication = [[Mary, mother of Jesus]]
| relics=* [[Saint Catherine of Siena]]
* [[Fra Angelico|Blessed John of Fiesole]] (Fra Angelico)
| website = {{URL|santamariasopraminerva.it/en}}
}}
'''Santa Maria sopra Minerva''' is one of the major [[Church (building)|churches]] of the [[Order of Preachers]] (also known as the Dominicans) in [[Rome]], Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was built directly over ({{langx|it|sopra}}) the ruins or foundations of a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess [[Isis]], which had been erroneously ascribed to the Greco-Roman goddess [[Minerva]]<ref name="GF98" /> (possibly due to ''[[interpretatio romana]]'').

The church is located in [[Piazza della Minerva]] one block east the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in the [[Pigna (rione of Rome)|Pigna]] ''[[rioni of Rome|rione]]'' of Rome within the ancient district known as the ''[[Campus Martius]]''. The present church and disposition of surrounding structures is visible in a detail from the [[Giambattista Nolli|Nolli Map]] of 1748.

While many other medieval churches in Rome have been given [[Baroque]] makeovers that cover Gothic structures, the Minerva is the only extant example of original [[Gothic architecture]] church building in Rome. Behind a restrained Renaissance style [[façade]]<ref name=Ministry>{{cite web|url=http://www.libertaciviliimmigrazione.interno.it/dipim/site/it/patrimonio/chiese/Lazio/roma/Chiesa_s._maria_sopra_Minerva |title=S. Maria sopra Minerva|publisher=Ministry of the Interior |access-date=2013-03-12|language=it}}</ref> the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] interior features arched [[vaulting]] that was painted blue with gilded stars and trimmed with brilliant red ribbing in a 19th-century Neo-Gothic restoration.

The church and adjoining convent served at various times throughout its history as the Dominican Order's headquarters. Today the headquarters have been re-established in their original location at the Roman convent of [[Santa Sabina]]. The [[titular church|titulus]] of {{lang|la|Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam}} was conferred upon Cardinal [[António Marto]], on 28 June 2018.

==History==
[[File:Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Rome) - Inside HDR.jpg|thumb|273px|upright|Santa Maria sopra Minerva interior]]
In Roman times there were three temples in what is now the area surrounding the basilica and former convent buildings: the [[Temple of Minerva Chalcidica|Minervium]], built by [[Gnaeus Pompey]] in honour of the  goddess [[Minerva]] about 50 BC, referred to as ''{{lang|la|Delubrum Minervae}}''; the [[Temple of Isis and Serapis|Iseum]] dedicated to [[Isis]], and the [[Temple of Isis and Serapis|Serapeum]] dedicated to [[Serapis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.basilicaminerva.it/|title=Official website of Santa Maria sopra Minerva|language=it|access-date=2009-03-15}}</ref> Details of the temple to Minerva are not known but recent investigations indicate that a small round Minervium once stood a little further to the east on the Piazza of the Collegio Romano.<ref name="GF98" /> In 1665 an [[Egypt]]ian [[obelisk]] was found, buried in the garden of the Dominican cloister adjacent to the church. Several other small obelisks were found at different times near the church, known as the ''{{lang|la|Obelisci Isei Campensis}}'', which were probably brought to Rome during the 1st century and grouped in pairs, with others, at the entrances of the temple of Isis.<ref>{{Citation|last=Platner|first=Samuel Ball|title=A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome|location=Oxford|year=1929|pages=368–369|chapter=Obeliscus Isei Campensis|chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Obeliscus_Isei_Campensis.html}}</ref> There are other Roman survivals in the [[crypt]].

The ruined temple is likely to have lasted until the reign of [[Pope Zachary]] (741-752), who finally [[Christianization|Christianized the site]], offering it to [[Saint Basil the Great|Basilian]] nuns from Constantinople who maintained an ''[[wikt:oratorium|oratorium]]'' there dedicated to the "Virgin of Minervum".<ref>{{Harvnb|Masetti|1855|p=2}}</ref> The structure he commissioned has disappeared.

In 1255 [[Pope Alexander IV]] established a community of converted women on the site. A decade later this community was transferred to the Roman Church of [[San Pancrazio]] thereby allowing the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] to establish a convent of friars and a ''studium conventuale'' there. The Friars were on site beginning in 1266 but took official possession of the Church in 1275. Aldobrandino Cavalcanti (1279), ''vicarius Urbis'' or vicar for [[Pope Gregory X]], and an associate of [[Thomas Aquinas]] ratified the donation of Santa Maria sopra Minerva to the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] of [[Santa Sabina]] by the sisters of S. Maria in Campo Marzio.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Agostino Paravicini|last= Bagliani|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/aldobrandino-cavalcanti_(Dizionario-Biografico)|language=it|access-date= 2013-02-23|encyclopedia=Treccani.it- The Italian Encyclopedia|title=Cavalcanti, Aldobrandino (Ildebrandinus)}}</ref>  The ensemble of buildings that formed around the church and convent came to be known as the ''insula sapientae'' or ''insula dominicana'' (island of wisdom or Dominican island).<ref name="beniculturali.it">{{cite web|url=http://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Contenuti/MibacUnif/Eventi/visualizza_asset.html_903794572.html |title=EUROPEAN HERITAGE DAYS 2012 - "ITALY TREASURE OF EUROPE" |publisher=Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism |date=2012-09-29 |access-date=2013-12-19 |language=it}}</ref>

The Dominicans began building the present [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] church in 1280 modelling it on their church in Florence [[Santa Maria Novella]]. Architectural plans were probably drawn up during the pontificate of [[Pope Nicholas III|Nicholas III]] by two Dominican friars, Fra Sisto Fiorentino and Fra Ristoro da Campi.<ref name="GF98">{{Harvnb|Grundmann|Fürst|1998|pp=96–97}}</ref>  With the help of funds contributed by [[Boniface VIII]] and the faithful the side aisles were completed in the 14th century.

In 1453 church interior construction was finally completed when Cardinal [[Juan de Torquemada (cardinal)|Juan Torquemada]] ordered that the main nave be covered by a vault that reduced the overall projected height of the church.<ref name=Ministry/>  In the same year of 1453 Count Francesco Orsini sponsored the construction of the façade at his own expense. However work on the façade remained incomplete until 1725 when it was finally finished by order of [[Pope Benedict XIII]].<ref name="beniculturali.it"/>

In 1431,  the Church and the adjacent Convent of the Dominicans was the site of  a [[Papal conclave]]. The city of Rome was in an uproar upon the death of [[Pope Martin V]] (Colonna), whose family had dominated Roman political life for fifteen years, and enriched themselves on the wealth of the Church. There was fighting in the streets on a daily basis, and the Plaza in front of the Minerva, because of the configuration of streets, houses, church and monastery, could easily be fortified and defended.<ref>Ferdinand Gregorovius, ''The History of Rome in the Middle Ages'' (translated from the fourth German edition by A. Hamilton) Volume 7 part 1 [Book XIII, Chapter 1] (London 1900) 22-26.</ref> The Sacristy of the Church served as the meeting hall for the fourteen cardinals (out of nineteen) who attended the Conclave, which began on 1 March 1431. The dormitory of the friars in the Convent to the immediate north of the Church, served as the living quarters for the cardinals and their refectory and kitchen. On 3 March they elected Cardinal Gabriele Condulmaro, who took the name [[Pope Eugene IV|Eugenius IV]].<ref>J. P. Adams, [http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1431.html ''Sede Vacante and Conclave of 1431'']. Retrieved: 2016-03-13.</ref>  A second Conclave was held at the Minerva, on 4–6 March 1447, following the death of Pope Eugenius, once again in the midst of disturbances involving the Orsini supporters of Pope Eugenius and his enemies the Colonna. Eighteen cardinals (out of a total of twenty-six) were present and elected Cardinal Tommaso Parentucelli da Sarzana as [[Pope Nicholas V]].<ref>J. P. Adams, [http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1447.html ''Sede Vacante and Conclave of 1447'']. Retrieved: 2016-03-13.</ref>

The Minerva has been a [[titular church]] since 1557,<ref>David M. Cheney, ''Catholic-Hierarchy:'' [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d1m40.html ''Santa Maria sopra Minerva''.]  Retrieved: 2016-03-13.</ref> and a [[minor basilica]] since 1566. The church's first titular cardinal was Michele Ghislieri who became Pope [[Pius V]] in 1566. He raised the church to the level of [[minor basilica]] in that same year.

In the 16th century [[Giuliano da Sangallo]] made changes in the choir area, and in 1600 [[Carlo Maderno]] enlarged the apse, added [[Baroque]] decorations and created the present façade with its pilastered tripartite division in [[Renaissance]] style.<ref name=Ministry/> Marks on this façade dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries indicate various flood levels of the Tiber {{convert|65|ft|m|abbr=off}}.

Between 1848 and 1855 Girolamo Bianchedi directed an important program of restoration when most of the Baroque additions were removed and the blank walls were covered with neo-gothic frescos giving the interior the [[Gothic Revival|Neo-Gothic]] appearance that it has today.

The basilica's stained glass windows are mostly from the 19th century. In 1909, the great organ was constructed by the firm of Carlo Vegezzi Bossi. The organ was restored in 1999.<ref>[http://organoacanne.altervista.org/pagine/vecchi/minerva.htm The Vegezzi Bossi Organ at the Minerva.] Retrieved: 2016-03-13.</ref>

The inscriptions found in S. Maria sopra Minerva 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 I. Roma: ''Tipografia delle scienze mathematiche e fisiche'', 1869, pp. 409-539.</ref>

===Convent and ''Studium''===
[[File:Cloister september-2023.jpg|thumb|Cloister of the Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva]]
In 1288 the theology component of the provincial curriculum for the education of the friars was relocated from the ''studium provinciale'' at the Roman basilica of [[Santa Sabina]] to the ''studium conventuale'' at Santa Maria sopra Minerva which was redesignated as a ''studium particularis theologiae''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Marian Michèle|last= Mulchahey|title=First the bow is bent in study": Dominican education before 1350|year= 1998|page=323|url=  https://books.google.com/books?id=bK9axCYcbFIC|publisher=Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies|isbn= 9780888441324|access-date= 2011-05-26}}</ref>  At various times in its history this ''studium'' served as a ''[[studium generale]]'' for the Roman province of the Order.

===College of Saint Thomas===
The late 16th century saw the ''studium'' at Santa Maria sopra Minerva undergo transformation. Thomas Aquinas, who had been canonized in 1323 by Pope [[John XXII]], was proclaimed the fifth Latin [[Doctor of the Church]] by [[Pius V]] in 1567. In his honor, in 1577 the Spanish Dominican Msgr. [[Juan Solano]], O.P., former bishop of Cusco, Peru, funded the reorganization of the ''studium'' at the convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva on the model of the [[Colegio de San Gregorio|College of St. Gregory at Valladolid]] in his native Spain.<ref>{{cite book|first=Carlo |last=Longo O.P.|title=La formazione integrale domenicana al servizio della Chiesa e della società |work=Atti del Congresso internazionale, Pontificia università S. Tommaso, Roma, 23-24 Novembre 1994 |publisher= Edizioni Studio Domenicano|year= 1996|chapter=J. Solano O.P. (1505 c.-1580) e la fondazione del "collegium S. Thomae de Urbe" (1577)|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gMW2uqe2MCwC|access-date= 2011-04-21|language=it|isbn=9788870942460}}</ref>  The result of Solano's initiative, which underwent structural change shortly before Solano's death in 1580, was the College of Saint Thomas ({{langx|la|Collegium Divi Thomae}}) at Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The college occupied several existing convent structures, and new construction was required. At that time the convent underwent considerable reconstruction to accommodate the college and the cloister was redesigned so that side chapels could be added to the church's northern flank. A detail from the [[Giambattista Nolli|Nolli Map]] of 1748 gives some idea of the disposition of buildings when the Minerva convent housed the College of St. Thomas.

===Offices of the Inquisition===
On 14 September 1628, by papal decree, the convent of Minerva was designated as the seat of the [[Congregation of the Holy Office]]. It thus became the place where the tribunal of the [[Roman Inquisition]] set up by Paul III in 1542 held the Secret Congregation meetings during which the sentences were read out.<ref name=Seminario>{{cite web|url=http://en.camera.it/4?scheda_informazioni=38 |title=Palazzo del Seminario (The Seminario Palace) |publisher=Chamber of Deputies |access-date=2013-12-19}}</ref>  It was in a room of the Minerva Convent on 22 June 1633 that the father of modern astronomy [[Galileo Galilei]], [[Galileo affair|after being tried for heresy, abjured his scientific theses, i.e. those of the Copernican theory]].<ref name=Seminario/>

In the late 18th and early 19th century the suppression of religious orders hampered the mission of the Order and the College of St. Thomas. During the French occupation of Rome from 1797 to 1814 the college declined and even briefly closed its doors from 1810 to 1815.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christopher J. |last=Renz|publisher=Dominican School|year=2009|isbn=9781883734183 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t8qt63uOg6IC|access-date=2011-04-24|title=In This Light Which Gives Light: A History of the College of St. Albert the Great (1930-1980)}}</ref>  The Order gained control of the convent once again in 1815, only for it to be expropriated by the Italian government in 1870.

In 1873 the ''Collegium Divi Thomæ de Urbe'' was forced to leave the Minerva for good, eventually being relocated at the convent of [[Santi Domenico e Sisto|Saints Dominic and Sixtus]] in 1932 and being transformed into the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']] in 1963.

The Dominicans eventually were allowed to return to the Minerva and part of the convent.

==Interior==
Among several important works of art in the church are [[Michelangelo]]'s statue ''[[Cristo della Minerva]]'' (1521) and the late 15th-century (1488–93) cycle of frescos in the [[Carafa Chapel]] by [[Filippino Lippi]]. The basilica also houses many funerary monuments including the tombs of [[Doctor of the Church]] Saint [[Catherine of Siena]] (1347-1380), who was a member of the [[Third Order of Saint Dominic]]; the Dominican friar [[Beatification|Blessed]] [[Fra Angelico]] (c. 1395–1455); and ornate monuments to the [[Medici]] popes: [[Leo X]] (born Giovanni de Medici, c. 1475–1521) and [[Clement VII]] (born Giulio de Medici, c. 1478–1534), designed by [[Baccio Bandinelli]].<ref name="metmuseum1">{{cite web | url=http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/336013 | title=Antonio da Sangallo, the Younger &#124; Design for a Freestanding Tomb Seen in Elevation and Plan }}</ref>

===Carafa Chapel===
{{main|Carafa Chapel}}
[[File:Carafa chapel 2010.jpg|thumb|upright|Carafa chapel in 2010]]
The [[Carafa Chapel]], with late 15th-century frescoes (1488–1493) by [[Filippino Lippi]], was commissioned by Cardinal [[Oliviero Carafa]] in honour of [[Saint Thomas Aquinas]]. There are two Marian scenes, the ''[[Annunciation]]'' and the ''[[Assumption of Mary|Assumption]]''; over the altar is his St Thomas presenting Cardinal Carafa to the Blessed Virgin, and on the right-hand wall his Glory of St Thomas. It was inaugurated in 1493, and is also known as the Chapel of St [[Thomas Aquinas]]. The relics of St Thomas Aquinas were kept in this chapel until 1511, when they were moved to Naples. Designed by [[Pirro Ligorio]] in 1559, the [[List of extant papal tombs|tomb of Gian Pietro Carafa]], who became [[Pope Paul IV]] in 1555, is also in the chapel.

===Cappella Capranica===
The chapel is also known as the Chapel of the Rosary. The stucco ceiling was made in 1573 by [[Marcello Venusti]]. The chapel contains the tomb of Cardinal [[Domenico Capranica]] by [[Andrea Bregno]].

===Michelangelo's Cristo della Minerva===
[[File:Michelangelo-Christ the Redeemer adjusted.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Michelangelo]]'s ''[[Cristo della Minerva|Christ the Redeemer]]'' near the altar]]
The ''[[Cristo della Minerva]]'', also known as ''Christ the Redeemer'' or ''Christ Carrying the Cross'', is a marble sculpture by [[Michelangelo Buonarroti]], finished in 1521, located to the left of the main altar.

===Cappella Aldobrandini===
The [[Aldobrandini]] chapel was designed by [[Giacomo della Porta]] but it is [[Carlo Maderno]] that completed della Porta's project (after 1602). It was consecrated in 1611. The canvas depicting the Institution of the Eucharist and dated from 1594 is by [[Federico Fiori]]. The monument to the parents of [[Pope Clement VIII]], Salvestro Aldobrandini and Luisa Dati, is by [[Giacomo della Porta]]. The first [[Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament]] to be approved by the Holy See was established in this chapel, with [[St. Ignatius of Loyola]] as one of its earliest members. This chapel contains the [[Federico Barocci]] altarpiece depicting the ''[[Communion of the Apostles (Barocci)|Communion of the Apostles]]''.

===Cappella Raymond of Penyafort===
The chapel dedicated to [[Raymond of Penyafort]] houses the tomb of Cardinal [[Juan Díaz de Coca]], by [[Andrea Bregno]]. The ceiling fresco ''Jesus Christ as a Judge, between two angels'' is by [[Melozzo da Forlì]].

===Other major artworks===
* ''Annunciation'' (1485), by [[Antoniazzo Romano]] - shows Cardinal [[Juan de Torquemada (cardinal)|Juan de Torquemada]] OP presenting girls who received a [[dowry]] by his Guild of the Annunciation to the Virgin.<ref>[https://inpress.lib.uiowa.edu/feminae/DetailsPage.aspx?Feminae_ID=38213 "Annunciation", ''Feminae'', University of Iowa]</ref>  The cardinal is buried nearby.
* The tombs of the Popes [[Leo X]] and [[Clement VII]] by [[Baccio Bandinelli]] (1541) <ref name="metmuseum1"/>
* Tomb of [[Urban VII]]
* Tomb of [[Fra Angelico]], by Isaia da Pisa (1455)
* Tomb of [[Guillaume Durand]] the Elder, Bishop of Mende (1285-1296), the 13th-century canonist; signed by Giovanni di Cosma (1296)
* [[Memorial to Maria Raggi (Bernini)|Memorial to Maria Raggi]], by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] (between 1647 and 1653)
* Tomb of Cardinal Domenico Pimentel by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1653)
* Tomb of Francesco Tornabuoni (1480), one of the best works by [[Mino da Fiesole]]

===Burials===
{{more citations needed|section|date=April 2023}}
[[File:Saint Catherine of Siena tomb.jpg|thumb|Sarcophagus of Saint Catherine of Siena beneath the High Altar]]
Saint [[Catherine of Siena]] is buried here (except her head, which is in the [[Basilica of San Domenico (Siena)|Basilica of San Domenico]] in [[Siena]]). Beyond the sacristy, the room where she died in 1380 was reconstructed here by [[Antonio Barberini]] in 1637. This room is the first transplanted interior, and the progenitor of familiar 19th and 20th century museum "period rooms." The [[fresco]]es by [[Antoniazzo Romano]] that decorated the original walls, however, are now lost.

The famous early [[Renaissance]] painter [[Fra Angelico]] died in the adjoining convent and was buried in the church. (He had painted a fresco cycle in the cloister on the initiative of Cardinal [[Juan de Torquemada (cardinal)|Juan de Torquemada]], but those paintings have not survived.)

Before the construction of [[San Giovanni dei Fiorentini]], the Minerva served as the church in Rome of the [[Florence|Florentines]], and therefore it contains numerous tombs of prelates, nobles and citizens coming from that [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] city. For example, the elaborate tombs of the [[Medici]] Popes - [[Leo X]] (Giovanni de Medici) and [[Clement VII]] (Giulio de Medici) - are located here, designed by Florentine sculptor [[Baccio Bandinelli]].<ref name="metmuseum1"/> Curiously, [[Diotisalvi Neroni]], a refugee who had taken part in the plot against [[Piero di Cosimo de' Medici|Piero de' Medici]], is also buried in the church.

The tombs of Popes [[Pope Urban VII|Urban VII]] and [[Pope Paul IV|Paul IV]] are located in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, as are the [[Cardinal-nephew]] of [[Pope Nicholas III]] [[Latino Malabranca Orsini]], Michel Mazarin ([[Archbishop of Aix]]) who was the brother of Cardinal [[Jules Mazarin]], the Byzantine philosopher [[George of Trebizond]], and two Renaissance theorists and practitioners, [[Filarete]] in architecture and [[Mariano Santo]] in [[surgery]].

Cardinal [[Astorgio Agnensi]] has his tomb monument in the cloister.

==List of cardinal-priests from Santa Maria sopra Minerva==
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* 1557–1566 [[Pope Pius V|Michele Ghisleri]] (later [[Pope Pius V]])
* 1566–1589 [[Michele Bonelli]]
* 1589–1602 [[Girolamo Bernerio]]
* 1602–1608 [[Francesco Maria Tarugi|François-Marie Thaurusi]]
* 1608–1616 [[Filippo Spinelli]]
* 1616–1621 [[Ladislao d'Aquino]]
* 1621–1639 [[Giulio Roma]]
* 1643–1654 [[Giambattista Altieri]]
* 1655–1679 [[Jean François Paul de Gondi]]
* 1679–1694 [[Philip Howard (cardinal)|Philip Howard of Norfolk]]
* 1694–1699 [[José Saenz d'Aguirre]]
* 1701–1729 [[Louis Antoine de Noailles]]
* 1729–1730 [[Agustín Pipia]]
* 1730–1747 [[Philipp Ludwig von Sinzendorf]]
* 1747–1762 [[Daniele Delfino]]
* 1758–1770 [[Giuseppe Pozzobonelli]]
* 1770–1782 [[Scipione Borghese]]
* 1783–1787 [[Tommaso Maria Ghilini]]
* 1787–1800 [[Vincenzo Ranuzzi]]
* 1801–1814 [[Giulio Maria della Somaglia]]
* 1816–1822 [[Francesco Fontana (cardinal)|Francesco Fontana]]
* 1823–1828 [[Francesco Bertazzoli]]
* 1829–1832 [[Benedetto Barberini]]
* 1832–1836 [[Giuseppe Maria Velzi]]
* 1838–1850 [[Antonio Francesco Orioli]]
* 1850–1854 [[Raffaele Fornari]]
* 1857–1860 [[Francesco Gaude]]
* 1861–1864 [[Gaetano Bedini]]
* 1868–1870 [[Matteo Eustachio Gonella]]
* 1875–1885 [[John McCloskey]]
* 1887–1894 [[Zeferino González y Díaz Tuñón]]
* 1895–1896 [[Egidio Mauri]]
* 1896–1909 [[Serafino Cretoni]]
* 1911–1918 [[John Murphy Farley]]
* 1919–1922 [[Teodoro Valfre di Bonzo]]
* 1922–1926 [[Stanislas Touchet]]
* 1926–1929 [[Giuseppe Gamba]]
* 1930–1938 [[Giulio Serafini]]
* 1939–1946 [[Eugène Tisserant]]
* 1946–1965 [[Clemente Micara]]
* 1967–1974 [[Antonio Samorè]]
* 1976–1977 [[Dino Staffa]]
* 1979–1998 [[Anastasio Ballestrero]]
* 2001–2017 [[Cormac Murphy-O'Connor]]
* 2018–present [[António Marto]]
{{div col end}}

==Minerva's Pulcino==<!-- This section is linked from [[Salvador Dalí]] -->
{{main|Elephant and Obelisk}}
[[File:Elephant and Obelisk - Bernini.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''Pulcino della Minerva'', the famous elephant sculpture by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini|Bernini]] and [[Ercole Ferrata]], making the base of one of Rome's eleven Egyptian obelisks.]]

In front of the church there is one of the most curious monuments of Rome, the so-called ''Pulcino della Minerva''. It is a statue designed by the Baroque era sculptor [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] (and executed by his pupil [[Ercole Ferrata]] in 1667) of an elephant as the supporting base for the Egyptian obelisk found in the Dominicans' garden. It is the shortest of the eleven Egyptian [[obelisks in Rome]] and is said to have been one of two obelisks moved from Sais, where they were built during the 589 BC-570 BC reign of the pharaoh [[Apries]], from the [[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]]. The two obelisks were brought to Rome by [[Diocletian]], during his reign as emperor from 284 to 305, for placement at the Temple of Isis, which stood nearby. The Latin inscription on the base, chosen by the pope who commissioned the sculpture to support the obelisk found on the site, Alexander VII, is said to represent that "...a strong mind is needed to support a solid knowledge".

The inspiration for the unusual composition came from ''[[Hypnerotomachia Poliphili]]'' ("Poliphilo's Dream of the Strife of Love"), an unusual 15th century novel probably by [[Francesco Colonna (writer)|Francesco Colonna]]. The novel's main character meets an elephant made of stone carrying an obelisk, and the accompanying woodcut illustration<ref>{{Commons-inline|File:Elefant.hypnero.jpg|''Elephant hypnerno''|extratext= &nbsp;(illustration from ''Hypnerotomachia Poliphili'')}}</ref> in the book is quite similar to Bernini's design for the base for the obelisk. The curious placement of the obelisk through the body of the elephant is identical.

The sturdy appearance of the structure earned it the popular nickname of "Porcino" ("Piggy") for a while. The name for the structure eventually changed to ''Pulcino'', the Italian for a small or little "chick". This may have been a reference to the comparatively short height of the obelisk or, an obscure reference to the major charity of the Dominicans to assist young women needing dowries, who made a procession in the courtyard every year. The latter were once depicted in a local painting as three tiny figures with the Virgin Mary presenting purses to them.

==Cultural references==
The elephant and obelisk monument and the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva feature in the novel 'The Tomb of Alexander' by Sean Hemingway. In the novel it is claimed that a secret passageway beneath the church leads to a chamber beneath the elephant monument which contains the body of Alexander the Great, placed there in the 17th century by Pope Alexander VII. This is entirely a work of fiction and the theory is unproven.

Dalí's painting 'Les Elephants' includes two elephants with long spindly legs that appear to be carrying obelisks; on closer inspection, the obelisks are floating. Dalí also utilizes this motif in Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening (1944) and The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1946). See Monica Bowen's blog Alberti's Window.<ref>Bowen, Monica. Bernini’s Elephant, Another Myth, and Dali. Alberti’s Window. March 21st, 2016.</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery> 
[File:Cloister september-2023.jpg|thumb|Cloister of the Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva] 
File:SantaMariaSopraMinerva-MonumentoFunebreBernini04-SteO153.JPG|[[Bust of Giovanni Vigevano|Tomb of Giovanni Vigevano]] by [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]], 1618–1620
File:SantaMariaSopraMinerva-MonumentoFunebreBernini03-SteO153.JPG|''[[Memorial to Maria Raggi (Bernini)|Memorial to Maria Raggi]]'' by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, 1647–1653
File:SantaMariaSopraMinerva-TombaBeatoAngelico02-SteO153.JPG|Tomb of [[Fra Angelico]], by Isaia da Pisa, 1455
File:Roma-santamariasopraminerva01.jpg|''[[Cristo della Minerva]]'' by [[Michelangelo]], 1519–1520
File:High altar Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.jpg|High Altar
File:Santa Maria sopra minerva Rome main vault.jpg|Vault
File:Santa Maria sopra Minerva navata laterale.jpg|Basilica interior
File:Benozzo Gozzoli cat01.jpg|''Madonna and Child Giving Blessings'' by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1449
File:Our Lady of the Rosary - Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Rome).jpg|Icon of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, crowned by the Vatican Chapter in 1640 as authorized by [[Pope Urban VIII]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Roman Catholic Marian churches]]

==References==
===Notes===

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
* Silvia Koci Montanari, ''Le Chiese papali a Roma: sulle tracce dei sepolcri dei Papi'' (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000), pp.&nbsp;243 ff.
* Giancarlo Palmerio and Gabriella Villetti, ''Storia edilizia di S. Maria sopra Minerva in Roma, 1275-1870'' (Roma: Viella, 1989).
* Gianfranco Spagnesi, ''Antonio da Sangallo il giovane: la vita e l'opera'' (Roma: Centro di studi per la storia dell'architettura, 1986), pp.&nbsp;109–115 (tombs of Leo X and Clement VII).
*{{Citation | last1 = Grundmann | first1 = Stefan|last2=Fürst |first2=Ulrich  |title = The Architecture of Rome: an architectural history in 400 individual presentations | publisher = Ed. Axel Menges | location = Stuttgart | year = 1998 | isbn = 3-930698-60-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Se1BbQ99KGUC}}
*{{Citation|last=Masetti|first=Pio Tommaso |title=Memorie istoriche della chiesa di S. Maria sopra Minerva e de' suoi moderni restauri|publisher=Tip. di B. Morini|year=1855|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akk2AAAAIAAJ|language=it| location=Rome|oclc=24239739}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{in lang|it}} [http://www.basilicaminerva.it/ Santa Maria sopra Minerva: official site]
* [https://cbarnard2.wixsite.com/beggarsrome/copy-of-s-cecilia-in-trastevere "Beggar's Rome"] - A self-directed virtual tour of S. Maria sopra Minerva and other Roman churches
* [http://www.initaly.com/regions/latium/church/smsm.htm June Hager, "Santa Maria sopra Minerva"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201085605/http://www.initaly.com/regions/latium/church/smsm.htm |date=2019-12-01 }}
* [http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/HP/ihyp038.htm Woodcut elephant that inspired Bernini] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070117145841/http://mitpress.mit.edu/e-books/HP/ihyp038.htm |date=2007-01-17 }}
* {{Wikivoyage inline|Rome/Old Rome|Santa Maria sopra Minerva}}
* {{commons-inline}}

{{Churches in the City of Rome}}
{{Sequence
| prev = [[Santa Maria del Popolo]]
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Santa Maria sopra Minerva
| next = [[Santa Maria in Trastevere]]
}}
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{{Monuments of Rome}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria Sopra Minerva, Santa}}
[[Category:Titular churches|Maria Minerva]]
[[Category:Basilica churches in Rome|Maria sopra Minerva]]
[[Category:Dominican churches]]
[[Category:Sites of papal elections]]
[[Category:Burial places of popes]]
[[Category:13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy]]
[[Category:Conversion of non-Christian religious buildings and structures into churches]]
[[Category:Gothic architecture in Lazio]]
[[Category:Churches of Rome (rione Pigna)]]
[[Category:Carlo Maderno buildings]]
[[Category:Minerva]]
[[Category:Isis]]