Aracoeli - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 1036

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

ARACOELI. — In the oldest recension of the Mirabilia urbis Romae (ca. mid-12th century), the name A. occurs for the first time, indicating the church dedicated to the Virgin on the Capitoline.

There the well-known legend is reproduced of Augustus, who erected an altar to the Son of God on Rome’s famous hill. The legend is already found inserted in the universal Chronicle of Giovanni Malala (6th century), who cites the source from which he drew it, namely the Byzantine chronographer Timothy, from the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century. Probably originally a single legend, it later acquired two versions: one more widespread in the East, the other in the West. The latter rests more decidedly on the concept of Paolo Crosio (Adversus paganos histor., VI, 22), namely that, since Christ was born when the whole world was at peace, Augustus did not allow himself to be called lord, because the Lord of the world had been born among men. The former seems to reflect another concept, no less important and more spontaneous among the Christians of that time: that, when Christ was born or was about to be born, the false oracles fell silent (Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior).

The Eastern and older version already appears in Malala and, in Rome during the 8th century, also received a Latin recension (Cod. Vat. Pal. lat. 277, f. 63), in which S. Maria in A. is mentioned for the first time. The Western version appears for the first time in the Mirabilia urbis Romae; yet we find it represented in the artistic composition of an altar still preserved in the church, which may date from the time of the antipope Anacletus II (1130–37). The legend sheds some light on the origins of the church and makes it possible to suppose that already in the time of the chronographer Timothy, that is, at the end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century, on the Capitoline citadel the Christian sanctuary of the Virgin may have succeeded the pagan temple of Juno. Its dimensions cannot be known, just as it is impossible to determine its orientation. The designation S. Maria in A. was preceded by that of S. Maria in or de Capitolio. Among the numerous theories that have sought to explain the origin of the name A., that of Ch. Huelsen, namely that it derives from the inscription on the altar of the Augustan legend, is the simplest and also the most probable; nor can it be accused of anachronism if the chronology we have proposed for that altar is accepted. A monastery for its custodians must soon have arisen beside the church.

The presence of Benedictines in this monastery is documented for the year 883 (Cod. Sessor. 217 [2116], f. 19), but an inscription of an abbot, discovered during the excavation work for the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II (Notizie degli scavi, 1892, p. 407 ff.), has led scholars to think

Article illustration — (photograph: Musca di Roma) ARACOELI - Altar of the Augustan legend (12th century). Rome, S. Maria in Aracoeli.

that Greek monks had lived there a century earlier. From the Benedictine period, the church still retains the image of the Madonna on panel (11th century) and the altar of the Augustan legend.

In 1250 the Friars Minor succeeded the Benedictines; to them is owed the general appearance of the present three-naved basilica. It displays all the characteristics of Franciscan architecture, which adapts itself to local tastes and shuns every preconceived style. Thus, the beautiful pointed-arched bifora windows along the sides and the oculi of the façade and transept were incorporated into the traditional forms of the Roman basilica, while the interior walls offered extensive pictorial surfaces: it will suffice to recall the frescoes by Pietro Cavallini, depicting the Augustan legend, which adorned the apse, deplorably demolished in 1564 to make way for the present choir. The bare façade, with its facing of reddish bricks, corresponds only imperfectly to the basilica’s interior, since the terminal shell rises higher than the roof’s gable and the two lateral slopes stand well above the nave roofs. The central nave is covered by the splendid coffered ceiling, lavishly embellished with gold (1571), and the chapels of the side aisles, built and restored at different times, contain works of uncommon artistic value, such as the chapel of S. Bernardino da Siena, frescoed by Pinturicchio. In a chapel adjoining the sacristy is preserved the precious image of the Holy Child, so greatly venerated in Rome and throughout the world. The church is reached by a flight of 124 steps, built in 1348.

(Alinari photograph)
ARACOELI – The Holy Child. Wooden sculpture (perhaps from the 14th century), covered with votive offerings from various centuries – Rome, S. Maria in Aracoeli.

Even today, as in the Middle Ages, A. is the church of the municipality of Rome. The historic Franciscan convent, which until 1886 was the seat of the Order’s minister general, has almost completely disappeared to make way for the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II by Saccon

i. The Friars Minor of the Roman province remain as custodians of the sanctuary

Vedi Tav. CXXVII.

BIBL.: C. Romano, Memorie istoriche della chiesa e del convento di S. Maria in A. di Roma, Rome 1736; G. B. De Rossi, Le origini della chiesa dell'A., in Bullettino di archeologia cristiana, 1894, pp. 85–89; Ch. Huelsen, The legend of A., in Journal of the British and American Society of Rome, 4 (1907), pp. 39–48; A. Colasanti, S. Maria in A. (Le chiese di Roma illustrate, II), Rome 1923; B. Pesci, La leggenda di Augusto e le origini della chiesa di S. Maria in A., in Incoronazione della Madonna di A., there 1938, pp. 18–33; id., Il problema cronologico della Madonna di A. alla luce delle fonti; L. Grassi, La Madonna d'A. e le tradizioni romane del suo tema iconografico, in Rivista di Archeol. Crist., 18 (1941), pp. 3–46. Benedetto Pesci