Santa Maria dell'Anima

Santa Maria dell'Anima
English: Our Lady of the Soul
German: Kirche der deutschsprachigen katholischen Gemeinde und des Päpstlichen Instituts Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rom
Façade of the church.
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41°53′59.1″N 12°28′19.3″E / 41.899750°N 12.472028°E / 41.899750; 12.472028
LocationVia di Santa Maria dell'Anima 64, Ponte, Rome
CountryItaly
DenominationCatholic Church
TraditionRoman Rite
Websitehttps://pisma.it/
History
StatusNational church for Austria & Germany
DedicationMary, mother of Jesus
Consecrated1542
Architecture
Architect(s)Andrea Sansovino, Giuliano da Sangallo
Architectural typeChurch
Stylehall church
Groundbreaking1386
Completed1522
Specifications
Length40 metres (130 ft)
Width30 metres (98 ft)
Clergy
RectorMichael Max

Santa Maria dell'Anima (English: Our Lady of the Soul) is a church in central Rome, Italy, just west of the Piazza Navona and near the Santa Maria della Pace church. It was founded during the course of the 14th century by Dutch merchants, who at that time belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the 15th century, it became the national church of the whole Holy Roman Empire in Rome and henceforth the so-called German national church and hospice of German-speaking people in Rome. In some sources this institution is called Austrian since Habsburg emperors were its protectors.[1]

According to tradition, the church received its name, from the picture of Our Lady which forms its coat of arms (the Blessed Virgin between two souls).[2] Among the artworks housed inside is the Holy Family by Giulio Romano. It is the resting place of the Dutch Pope Adrian VI as well as of Cardinals William of Enckenvoirt and Andrew of Austria.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Scheer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Schmidlin, J. (1913). "College and Church of the Anima (in Rome)" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.