Pontifical Basilica of Saint Michael

The Basilica of Saint Michael (officially Pontifical Basilica of Saint Michael and former church of Saint Justus and Shepherd) is located on the street of San Justo, in Madrid (Spain). It is located next to the Archbishop's Palace, in the heart of the area known as Madrid de los Austrias. It is attached to the Apostolic Nunciature in Spain, which has entrusted it to Opus Dei since 1960, and is the headquarters of the Brotherhood of Students. It was declared a National Historic Artistic Monument on November 28, 1984.

History

Despite its small dimensions, it is one of the most relevant architectural constructions of the Spanish Baroque, due to the unique convex shape of its façade and its original floor plan, unusual in the country and unique in the Madrid Baroque. The temple, which began construction in 1739, has a notable Italian influence. The building occupies the site of the old church of Saints Justo and Pastor, Christian martyrs who, according to tradition, died in Alcalá de Henares. Little is known about this missing church, one of the ten oldest in the city. Its construction was before the 13th century, or at least that is what is clear from the Charter of 1202, in which it is cited. The temple suffered a fire in 1690 and was completely destroyed.

In 1739, work on the current construction began, at the request of Cardinal Infante Luis Antonio de Borbón y Farnesio, archbishop of Toledo, who financed its execution with a budget of 1,421,000 reales. In 1745 the building was completed.

During the reign of Joseph I Bonaparte, the church added a new dedication: to the original one of Saints Justo and Pastor, that of Saint Michael was added, a saint who was left without a parishioner due to the demolition of the neighboring parish of San Miguel de los Octoes. In the 19th century, the temple was dedicated solely to San Miguel and the parish of Saints Justo and Pastor passed to the church of the old Convent of Wonders. In 1892 it was handed over to the Apostolic Nunciature, acquiring the title of pontifical basilica, when the parish of San Miguel moved to Leganitos. The Nuncio handed over the custody to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer of Madrid, and for which Vicente Nicasio Renuncio Toribio was responsible for many years.

In the 20th century, Opus Dei took over the temple. This institution promoted different reforms, such as the removal of the side altars and the construction of a crypt under the building. In this century it became a pontifical church, with the name of the Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel (that is, it is the temple of the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See in Spain).

The composer of Italian origin Luigi Boccherini, who died in Madrid, was buried in this basilica, until in 1927 Benito Mussolini ordered his remains to be taken to Lucca, where the musician was from. He was buried in the church of San Francisco, in the pantheon of illustrious sons of the aforementioned Tuscan city.

Description

The building, with a Latin cross plan, is due to the Italian architect Santiago Bonavía, although it was initially commissioned by Teodoro Ardemans, who came to make a design, and it was completed by Virgilio Rabaglio. Especially striking is its façade, convex in shape, topped by two towers with spiers, of oriental influence, and a pediment, equally curved.

The façade integrates several sculptural groups. The allegories of Charity, Faith, Hope and Strength, made by Roberto Michel and Nicolás Caresana, adorn the two upper bodies. At the top of the entrance door, there is a bas-relief, made by Caresana, showing the Martyrdom of Saints Justo and Pastor, to whom the temple was originally dedicated.

The basilica maintains different sets of balance throughout the structure of its single nave, given the concave-convex tension of the surfaces and the alternation of circular and elliptical sections with others of crossed arches. Added to this is the oblique arrangement of the pilasters and columns, with respect to the central axis, and the cross-shaped crossing of the main arches, in the vault.

The nave is covered with a lowered dome, which is supported on pendentives with reinforced edges between two straight sections with crossed arches. Above the transept rises an oval dome on a ring with balusters. The presbytery is covered with a groin and quarter-sphere vault. The vaults of the nave are decorated with frescoes by Bartolomeo Rusca, made in 1745, in which the celestial apotheosis of Saints Justo and Pastor is represented with four virtues on the pendentives and the prophets Elijah, Jeremiah, David and Isaiah painted by Hatoy in the triangular areas of the anterior and posterior sections. In the pendentives and dome of the transept and on the presbytery the fresco paintings belong to the brothers Luis, Antonio and Alejandro González Velázquez, representing the evangelists (pendentives), Presentation of the saints Justo and Pastor before the tyrant and Martyrdom of Saints Justus and Shepherd. On the sides of the presbytery, paintings by Hatoy of the archangels Barachiel, Gabriel and Jehudiel, on the left, and Uriel, Raphael and Sealtiel on the right. Some other grisaille paintings are arranged on the transept and side altarpieces, completing a rich decoration of simulated marbles and stuccos. At the foot, a high choir with a flat roof.

In the shallow side chapels there were altarpieces with a classical air from the end of the XVIII century rebuilt in the XX, partly replaced by confessionals when the church was handed over to the Opus Dei, with sculptures, and in some cases stained glass, also modern. The presbytery is occupied by a large canvas dedicated to Saint Michael, a work by Alejandro Ferrant dated 1897.

Among the most notable carvings in the church is the image of the Holy Christ of Faith and Forgiveness, from the century XVIII, the work of the sculptor Luis Salvador Carmona, which goes out in procession every Palm Sunday taken out by the Brotherhood of Students, the first of all those that parade during Holy Week in Madrid. Elías Tormo cites in the temple another carving by Luis Salvador Carmona of Santa Librada crucified, "very beautiful", and a San Pascual Bailón also attributed to him, which could have passed to other departments.