CHURCH OF SANT’ANTONIO

INTERIOR

A single nave is present with a vaulted ceiling is decorated with a star motif. A stucco shelf runs along the entire perimeter of the church defining the connections between the vaults in the wall. The walls are arranged with two symmetrical side chapels. In the first altar on the left, a painting by the Roman artist G. Sortini was painted in 1784 can be found. The subject is St. Nicola di Bari who is raising three children and freeing a youth from slavery. At the base of the canvas, a small oval wooden oil painting shows the image of St. Nicola; artist is unknown. The second altar on the left was consecrated by St. Salvatore, and there is a painting dedicated to him there.  The 16th century painting is attributed to an unknown artist and was transferred from the Church of the Madonna of the Rosary to the Church of St. Anthony in 1775 during restoration promoted by Cardinal Lante della Rovere. At the base of this painting is a small oval wooden painting with the image of St. Lucia, done by the artist R. Sanna in 1996. Every year, on December 13, for the festival of the Saint, the altar is richly decorated.
On the back wall is a great triumphal arch decorated with an arch painted like faux marble, interrupted in the middle and the ends by three tondos. Within the central tondo is the image of the dove of the Holy Spirit; in the left is the letter “A” (alpha), in the right is the letter “ω” (omega). This is a direct reference to the importance of the Holy Trinity. Behind the main altar is a wooden statue of St. Antonio Abate blessing. This work comes from the late 16th century is noted to have been here already when Cardinal Muti visited in 1616. According to oral tradition, it was made from a trunk of a pear tree that was stolen by the famous sculptor Bagnaiolo “Barbalena or Barlena.” However, there are no remaining written sources for this claim. On the side walls of the apse, symmetrically arranged on each side of the altar, are two paintings by the Viterbese Pietro Papini from the end of 1700. On the left is St. Rocco and on the right is St. Vito. The vault in the apse represents the Holy Trinity. The back walls of the room open to two symmetric doors that allow access to the sacristy. Above these, two tondos, with unknown artists, depict St. Caterina of Siena on the left, and St. Filippo Neri on the right, and date to the 18th century. In the second altar on the right is a painting by Baldassarre Croce from 1588. In the painting, the Madonna and Child are seated while St. Giuseppe smiles at the child with his hands resting on a cane. In front of him, St. Giovannino holds a cross in his hand with the inscription, “Ecce Agnus Dei.” The Madonna has in her fingers il cordoncino dello scapolare del Carmelo. Placed on the altar, at the foot of the large painting is a small oil painting from an unknown artist depicting the image of St. Domenico. In the first altar on the right, there is a painting done by T. Giustin, the first Viterbese architect of 1800, depicting St. Francesco di Paola. Placed at the foot of this altar is a small oval oil painting, from an unknown artist, depicting the image of the Archangel Michael. On the right wall, near the exit, is a marble plaque dated 1595. This commemorates the merging of the Brotherhood of St. Antonio with the Brotherhood of St. Rocca, as wanted by the Bishop of Viterbo, Mons. Gerolamo Matteucci.

Translation by Lauren Williamson, Texas A&M University, enrolled in the USAC Viterbo program at the Università degli Studi della Tuscia.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

AA. VV. Bagnaia di Fuori: La chiesa di Sant’Antonio. Opuscolo a cura dell’Associazione amicidi Bagnaia Arte e storia. Viterbo, 2002.
A. BATTELLOCCHI; Il palazzo della loggia di Bagnaia. Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A.A.  2002/2003.
S. ALBANESE; Tecnica e restauri dei dipinti dell’oratorio del Gonfalone.  Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A:A.  2002/2003.
F. BUSSI;  Istoria della città di Viterbo, Roma 1742.
A. CARONES; Memorie Istoriche della terra di Bagnaia. Raccolte dal sacerdote Arcangelo Carones. manoscritto pubblicato a cura dell’Associazione Amici di Bagnaia Arte e Storia. Viterbo 1983.
A. CAROSI; Le epigrafi medievali di Viterbo, Viterbo 1986.
L. DELLA ROCCA, Gli Affreschi della chiesa di S. Stefano a Bagnaia e la società delle disciplinatrici nel tardo medioevo. Viterbo, 2002.
O. EGIDI; Castel di Salce, in DE MINICIS (a cura di), Insediamenti rupestri medievali della Tuscia, Roma 2003, p. 102.
I. FALDI; Pittori Viterbesi di cinque secoli. Roma, 1970.
G. FERRO; Le mura medievali di Vitorchiano, in GUIDONI E., DE MINICIS, E., (a cura di), Le mura medievali del Lazio. Studi sull’area viterbese, Roma 1993, pp. 61-75.
F. FOPPOLI; Le mura medievali di Barbarano Romano, in GUIDONI, E., DE MINICIS, E., (a cura di).
Le mura medievali del Lazio. Studi sull’area viterbese, Roma 1993, pp. 76-85.
F. FOPPOLI; VISINO S., Case con portico di Barbarano Romano, in GUIDONI E., DE MINICIS E. (a cura di) Case e torri medievali I, Roma 1996, pp. 179-185.
V. FRITTELLI; Bagnaia. “Cronache d’una terra del Patrimonio”, Viterbo 1977.
I. GIORGI, U. BALZANI (a cura di), Il regesto di Farfa di Gregorio di Catino, Roma 1879-1914.
A. LANCONELLI; Dal castrum alla civitas: il territorio viterbese tra VIII e XI secolo, in “Società e storia”, 56 (1992), pp. 245-266.
J. LE GOFF; L’immaginario medievale, Bari 1998.
M. MARTORELLA; Liber Statutorum Balnearie 1565. A cura di. Viterbo 2012.
C. PINZI; Gli ospizi medievali e l’Ospedal Grande di Viterbo, Viterbo 1983.
C.  PINZI;  Storia della città di Viterbo, Roma 1913.
C. PINZI; Il castello e la villa di Bagnaia, Viterbo 1908.
C. PINZI; Storia della città di Viterbo, Roma 1913,
G. SERONE. Le mura medievali di Bagnaia. Analisi diacronica di un manufatto architettonico, in Il Tesoro delle città Strenna dell’Associazione storia delle città. 2007. PP. .473 – 491.
G. SIGNORELLI; Viterbo nella storia della Chiesa, Viterbo 1907.
C. SCIVOLA, L’amministrazione del patrimonio della Confraternita del Gonfalone di Bagnaia; Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A.A. 2003/2004.
C. SCIVOLA, La confraternita del Gonfalone di Bagnaia; Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A:A.  2002/2003.

Fonti
I. CIAMPI, Cronache e statuti della città di Viterbo, Firenze 1872, pp. 417-418;
A. ROSSI, Spogli vaticani, in Giornale di erudizione artistica, VI (1877), pp. 204 s.;
C. PINZI, Memorie e documenti inediti sulla Basilica di S. Maria della Quercia a Viterbo, in Arch. stor. dell’arte, III (1890), pp. 300-305 con App. di documenti; Id., Gli Ospizi medioevali e l’Ospedale Grande di Viterbo, Viterbo 1893, p. 134 e documenti XXII, XXIII in App.
G. SIGNORELLI, Viterbo nella storia della Chiesa, Viterbo 1938, II, I, pp. 224 s., 237, 265, 273; 2, p. 395.