San Silvestro in Capite
Title
Description
San Silvestro in Capite is a church with a rich legacy in Rome before it became the home of the Franciscans and the object of Colonna patronage. A Dominican convent in the 13th century, it served as the base for rent collection for the church’s multitude of property holdings both inside and outside of Rome.
In 1285 when Pope Honorius IV disbanded the monastery and dispersed the Dominican brothers within, Cardinal Giancomo Colonna seized the opportunity to put his own mark on the space. Fresh from a conflict with the former Pope Boniface VIII when he was forced to leave Rome and relinquish some of his land, Giancomo began grand projects to rebuild the Colonna family prestige. These included the mosaic program in Santa Maria Maggiore, fire repairs to the Lateran complex, and taking charge of small, run down Benedictine monasteries, such as San Silvestro and the nearby San Lorenzo in Panisperna. He rededicated these old monasteries to the Poor Clares.
The Clares entered the urban church from their monastery outside the city and began practicing business in addition to their usual spiritual pursuits. They collected the rent from the church’s land and overall became more involved in the business aspect of owning these vast holdings.
Also notable is the immense amount of Colonna patronage that the church began to receive in exchange for accepting Colonna men into the convent and burial and remembrance practice for notable members of the family. Over time San Silvestro became a family church, a site where wealth and lands could be religiously and respectfully displayed, while still acting as a beacon of family power in the urban landscape.
While most of the medieval art has been covered up or moved, original columns and inscriptions can be found in the courtyard behind the façade. The altar from the church is said to have been moved to either Santi Nereo e Achilleo or San Cesareo in Palatio, both of which are by the Baths of Caracalla. Additionally, if you stand further back in the piazza out front, you can see the top of the old medieval roof and the campanile, or bell tower, which still stands today.
Creator
Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
Source
Graham, Emily E. “Memorializing Identity: The Foundation and Reform of San Lorenzo in Panisperna.” Franciscan Studies 75 (2017): 467-495. https://muse.jhu.edu/
Date
Identifier
Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Description
San Silvestro in Capite is a church with a rich legacy in Rome before it became the home of the Franciscans and the object of Colonna patronage. A Dominican convent in the 13th century, it served as the base for rent collection for the church’s multitude of property holdings both inside and outside of Rome.
In 1285 when Pope Honorius IV disbanded the monastery and dispersed the Dominican brothers within, Cardinal Giancomo Colonna seized the opportunity to put his own mark on the space. Fresh from a conflict with the former Pope Boniface VIII when he was forced to leave Rome and relinquish some of his land, Giancomo began grand projects to rebuild the Colonna family prestige. These included the mosaic program in Santa Maria Maggiore, fire repairs to the Lateran complex, and taking charge of small, run down Benedictine monasteries, such as San Silvestro and the nearby San Lorenzo in Panisperna. He rededicated these old monasteries to the Poor Clares.
The Clares entered the urban church from their monastery outside the city and began practicing business in addition to their usual spiritual pursuits. They collected the rent from the church’s land and overall became more involved in the business aspect of owning these vast holdings.
Also notable is the immense amount of Colonna patronage that the church began to receive in exchange for accepting Colonna men into the convent and burial and remembrance practice for notable members of the family. Over time San Silvestro became a family church, a site where wealth and lands could be religiously and respectfully displayed, while still acting as a beacon of family power in the urban landscape.
While most of the medieval art has been covered up or moved, original columns and inscriptions can be found in the courtyard behind the façade. The altar from the church is said to have been moved to either Santi Nereo e Achilleo or San Cesareo in Palatio, both of which are by the Baths of Caracalla. Additionally, if you stand further back in the piazza out front, you can see the top of the old medieval roof and the campanile, or bell tower, which still stands today.
Creator
Spencer Lekki (2021)Edited by Julia Tassava (2026)
Date
1285Coverage
1200sSource
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.Graham, Emily E. “Memorializing Identity: The Foundation and Reform of San Lorenzo in Panisperna.” Franciscan Studies 75 (2017): 467-495. https://muse.jhu.edu/