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A TALE OF TWO CHURCHES: ‘PROTESTANT’ ARCHITECTURE AND THE POLITICS OF RELIGION IN LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ROME

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2019

G.A. Bremner
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Abstract

The two Anglican churches in Rome by the distinguished nineteenth-century English architect George Edmund Street — St Paul's Within-the-Walls (1872–6), Via Nazionale, and All Saints’ (1880–7), Via del Babuino — are notable examples of High Victorian design. Yet little scholarly attention has been afforded either church, especially All Saints’. This article considers both these buildings not so much as works of architecture but as markers of cultural intent in an environment (and age) fraught with political and religious tension and conflict. It seeks to understand them in the difficult and often fluid context of Risorgimento Italy out of which they emerged, including the city of Rome immediately following its capture by Italian national forces on 20 September 1870. The aim is to establish an interpretation of the two buildings that pays due attention to their political and religious agency. In so doing this article considers closely how architecture was understood as a mediating force in the struggle over politics and identity in the late nineteenth century. In taking a fresh look at the extant archival documentation, alternative possibilities are offered (and revealed) as to how we might further decode the significance of these beguiling if still largely misunderstood works of architecture.

Le due chiese anglicane in Roma, opera dell'illustre architetto George Edmund Street — S. Paolo Entro le mura (1872–6), via Nazionale e quella di Ognissanti (1880–7), via del Babuino — sono esempi importanti di ‘High Victorian design’. Tuttavia una scarsa attenzione scientifica è stata rivolta sino ad oggi a queste chiese, specialmente a quella di Ognissanti. L'articolo prende in considerazione i due edifici non tanto come opere di architettura, ma soprattutto come segni di uno specifico intento culturale in un contesto (e in periodo) carico di tensioni e conflitti religiosi e politici. Si cerca così di comprenderle nel periodo storico in cui sono state realizzate: il difficile e spesso fluido contesto del Risorgimento italiano e la città di Roma, nel momento immediatamente successivo alla sua conquista da parte delle forze nazionali italiane il 20 settembre 1870. Lo scopo del contributo è quello di proporre un'interpretazione dei due edifici che ponga la dovuta attenzione alla loro agency politica e religiosa. Così facendo, si prende attentamente in considerazione come alla fine del XIX secolo all'architettura fosse riconosciuta una capacità di mediazione nella lotta politica e nelle questioni identitarie. Nel riprendere in considerazione con rinnovato interesse la documentazione archivistica esistente, vengono proposte (e mostrate) possibilità alternative su come potremmo ulteriormente decodificare il significato di queste seducenti, ma anche ancora largamente incomprese, opere di architettura.

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Articles
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Papers of the British School at Rome , Volume 88 , October 2020 , pp. 259 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © British School at Rome 2019

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