Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini

(Click on any photo to see a larger version)

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Nave
Sanctuary and High Altar

(To see photos of the choir click here)
(To see photos of the chapels on the left side click here)
(To see photos of the chapels on the right side click here)
(Information on crypt click here)

The church of Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins is a 17th century convent church on Via Vittorio Veneto, close to Piazza Barberini, Capuchin church dedication is to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her aspect of the Immaculate Conception. This is the first church in Rome with this particular dedication, for the Franciscan Friars Minor Capuchin (for whom it was built) were fervent proponents of the doctrine before it became a dogma.

For reference, a plan of the church is available here.

History

In the second half of the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII granted the church of Santa Croce e San Bonaventura dei Lucchesi, to the nascent Capuchins, and they erected their first purpose-built friary in Rome here. A new church was constructed in 1575 just to the west of the old one.

The convent of St Bonaventure was cramped, and hence was found unsatisfactory as the new order grew. A solution was arranged by the first cardinal of the Capuchins, Antonio Marcello Barberini, twin brother of Pope Urban VIII, who had the church built at his own expense and who commissioned almost all the paintings of the altars to the best artists of the time, all working for the Barberini family. One of his first projects was to found a new, large convent for his Capuchin brethren on a suburban site then occupied by vineyards and owned by his brother the pope. The foundation stone was laid on October 4, 1626. Pope Urban celebrated the first Mass on September 8, 1630. The church was designed by Antonio Casoni, and the work supervised by the order's own architect who was Michele da Bergamo.

In 1813 there was a fire in the sanctuary of the church, which destroyed the altarpiece by Giovanni Lanfranco. In the subsequent restoration the interior was embellished with gilded stucco work.

At the start of the 21st century, the church and convent were subject to a major restoration. The restoration involved the whole of the seventeenth-century structure: vault, walls, floor, woods, monuments and paintings. Part of the work involved the creation of a new museum which also includes the ossuary, and which was opened in 2012.