The Church of St. Louis of the French founded by Cardinal Giulio dei Medici (future Pope Clement VII) in 1518, was completed in 1589 by Domenico Fontana, based on a design by Giacomo della Porta.
Located in the Sant’Eustachio district, a few steps from Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, it is famous for masterpieces by Caravaggio, Domenichino and Guido Reni.
We definitely recommend a visit to St. Louis of the French Curch after a Vatican Tour.
The interiors of the St. Louis of the French
It imposes itself on the square of the same name with a large late Renaissance façade, surmounted by a triangular tympanum with the coat of arms of France, covered with travertine, divided by pilasters in five bays, with three portals and with statues by Pierre Lestache (1758) depicting Charlemagne, Louis IX of France, St Clotilde and St Joan of Valois.
The interior has three naves, punctuated by massive arcades separated by pillars, defined laterally by five chapels on each side, concluded by a deep chancel and covered by an elaborate barrel vault.
The second chapel in the right aisle is dedicated to St. Cecilia and houses frescoes with stories from the life of the saint by Domenichino and an altarpiece of St. Cecilia by Guido Reni.
The Contarelli Chapel and the Caravaggio masterpieces
In the last chapel of the left aisle is the Contarelli Chapel, from the Italianised name of the French cardinal Mathieu Cointrel, which houses three paintings by Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, between 1599 and 1602. In homage to the name of the commissioner, the three canvases are dedicated to St. Matthew and represent: The Calling of St. Matthew, St. Matthew and the Angel and The Martyrdom of St. Matthew. In the vault, frescoes by Cavalier d’Arpino.
On the choir loft above the entrance door is the splendid organ, built by Joseph Merklin in 1881.
The church also houses a number of tombs, including those of Pauline de Beaumont, commissioned by her lover François-René de Chateaubriand, Cardinal François Joachin de Bernis, ambassador to Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, and Frederic Bastiat, the 19th century liberal economist and writer.
