6/2/15

Giornale 3

            For my third solo excursion I’ve decided to team up with Franchesca and Glenibel and head to the small church of S. Maria della Vittoria which was close to where my second solo excursion took place, the Capuchin Crypt. On our way to the church we had to walk for a couple of minutes from the metro station. As we were heading over there we noticed a blue BMW convertible riding by us, the reason why the car stood out to us so much is because the driver’s side door was completely missing. We then started discussing if there was something special about the car’s door design that made the door look the way it appeared, or if the driver just completely lost his door. Unfortunately we never found out the answer. When we arrived to the church there was hardly anyone there which was good for a change since we’ve been in places that have been packed lately. The first thing that catches my eye when I entered the church was a bust statue of Jesus Christ. Afterwards I stop to take a picture of a portrait of what I believe to be is Saint Maria Della Vittoria since it is her church that I’m standing inside in. I see another painting with the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus, in front of the portrait there is a smaller portrait of Jesus Christ with some kind of cloak wrapped around his shoulders and his left hand seems to be waving to those who view the portrait. It seems as if Jesus is greeting everyone who enters the church. Afterwards while still in the church I found out that the church was built over an old chapel that was dedicated to Saint Paul, I also found out that the present church was not originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but it first dedicated to Saint Paul in dedication to the old chapel that once stood there. Pope Innocent X dedicated the church to the Virgin Mary in 1620 in gratitude for the victory the Catholic Church obtained in the battle of the White Mountain in Prague. I also later realized that the numerous chapels in the church were dedicated to different individuals. One of these individuals was Saint Francis. In his chapel there are paintings hanging around and altarpiece shows the Virgin Mary offering Jesus Christ to Saint Francis himself. Another specific individual that also had a chapel dedicated to him was Saint Joseph. In his chapel you can see a sculpture of an angel revealing the Mary is pregnant with Jesus Christ. Under the altar of the chapel you can see what looks like a wax figure of the martyr Saint Victoria. After we left the church we were walking back on the same path that led us to the church. This time we noticed that there were Orange trees planted on each side of the street. They were just casually there like a regular tree in New York City would be. I thought about getting an orange, but then remembered what my professors told me the last time I got an orange from a tree. I let the trees be and just went straight back home.