La iglesia de los santos Ildefonso y Tomás de Villanueva en Roma: un monumento barroco a la pietas hispanica (Review)

Abstract

In 1667 the construction of the Hospice of Saints Ildefonso and Tomás de Villanueva began on the Roman Via Sistina. The headquarters of the Augustinian Recollects in Rome took on a particular architectural configuration directly inspired by Francesco Borromini’s Chapel of the Three Kings and a very concrete iconography linked to the political situation during the second half of the 17th century. Thus the church was decorated to create a monument to the Immaculate Conception with images of the Loreto litany adorning its walls, reinforced by paintings of the Virgins of Copacabana and Guadalupe inside. All of this, combined with the dedication of the building to Saint Tomás de Villanueva (canonized in 1658), turns the temple into a celebration of the pietas hispanica in an area of the Holy City scene of clashes for power between France and Spain.