Chiesa delle Santissima Stimmate di San Francesco

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The church of Ss. Stimmate di San Francesco or the Church of the Holy Stigmata of St. Francis is a church in central Rome in Rione Pigna, sited where previously there was a church called Ss. Quaranta Martiri de Calcarario.

The Stimmate was consecrated in 1297. In 1597 the land is give by Clement VIII to the Confraternita delle Ss.Stimmate for construction completed in 1714 on designs by Giovanni Battista Contini.

[edit] Art and architecture

The facade was designed by Antonio Canevari, in a plan recalling Pietro da Cortona. In the center niche is a statue of the saint receiving the stigmata as he looks heavenward. The ceiling has a 'Gloria di S.Francesco' by Luigi Garzi, while the first chapel to the right has a Flagellation by Marco Benefial with a cupola frescoed by Giovanni Odazzi. The main altarpiece is a Saint Francis with stigmata (1719) by Francesco Trevisani. In the first chapel the left is a Ss. Quaranta Martiri (Holy 40 martyrs) by Giacinto Brandi, author of another St Francis with stigmata in the Hall of Stimmate.