Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate

Tivoli's Sant'Antonio Abate is distinguished by its neoclassical facade and an interior that brings together a painting by Pierre Mignard, monochrome frescoes by Stefano Tofanelli and a late-fifteenth-century wooden statue of the saint.

Why it matters

The late-eighteenth-century church became a new home for the monks of an unsafe church dedicated to the same saint near Porta del Colle. They had previously stayed in the deconsecrated church of Santo Stefano. The present church also preserves the history of the Accademia Romana dei Nobili Ecclesiastici, which received it under Pope Pius VI.

What to notice

Four pilasters with low capitals frame the facade, whose entablature alternates triglyphs and metopes. A dedicatory inscription names God and Saint Anthony Abbot; the academy's arms and a putto blowing to inflate a ship's sail appear above. Inside, two niches near the presbytery are remnants of the earlier church of San Bartolomeo. The main altar holds Pierre Mignard's canvas of Saint Anthony praying before a crucifix, with Tivoli's waterfall in the background. Stefano Tofanelli painted monochrome tempera frescoes on the walls in the late eighteenth century. Near the entrance is a wooden statue of Saint Anthony, about 115 centimetres tall, shown seated in a yellow robe and dark mantle, with a bell at the end of his staff. It is attributed to the late fifteenth century.

Context and history

Before the present dedication, the site held the church of San Bartolomeo. When the older Sant'Antonio Abate near Porta del Colle became unsafe, its friars moved the wooden statue; after Santo Stefano was deconsecrated in 1782, the statue and cult came to the present church on Via Domenico Giuliani. Under Pius VI, the church passed to the Accademia Romana dei Nobili Ecclesiastici, received its neoclassical facade and gained an adjacent summer residence. Gregory XVI stayed there in 1834. The Mignard painting, formerly on a side altar of San Bartolomeo, was moved to the main altar in 1726.