Rome - Oratory of the Most Holy Sacrament by Mark Sukhija

The Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament of Santa Maria was built in Via Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni between 1727 and 1728. Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni was a Protector of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Sacrament and a patron of the arts - from which we can deduce his interest in this building.

Domenico Gregorini was commissioned as the architect of the Oratory. Francesco Trevisani was commissioned to paint the alterpiece while Giovan Domenico Piastrine was given over to decorate the walls.

Trevisani, who would also paint the portait of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni which currently hangs at the Bowes Museum in Durham, painted The Holy Family, St Anne and St Joachim as the subject on the Alterpiece.

The mid-19th Century saw the complete renovation of the interior by Tito Armellini. Luigi Martinori replaced the pictorial decoration between 1856 and 1857. The main altar (which was rebuilt in 1842 by Valdier (?)) now holds the relics of SS Cyriac, Ilaria and Lea, fragments of a Virgins veil and St Josephs Mantle.

The Church is dedictated to St Joseph. The proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854 a cycle on the subject of St Joseph was planned but never executed.

The Frescoes of the main chapel of David (right) and Aaron (left) were painted by Pietro Gagliardi in 1854/1855.

The Choir dates from the 18th-cenutry.

Sacred furnishings were requisitioned at the end of the 18th Century to pay the taxes levied by the French.

Paintings of Angels and Evangelists (1857) by Luigi Martinori adorn the walls.

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