Basilica of Sant'Agostino

Sant'Agostino St. Augustine (English) Sancti Augustini (Latin)
Facade of Sant'Agostino, by Giacomo di Pietrasanta (1483)
Basic information
Location	Rome, Italy
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
District	Lazio
Province	Rome
Country	Italy
Year consecrated	1960
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Titular church
Leadership	Jean-Pierre Ricard
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Baccio Pintelli Luigi Vanvitelli
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	1483

Sant'Agostino is a Roman Catholic church in the piazza of the same name near Piazza Navona, in the rione Sant'Eustachio, of Rome, Italy. It is one of the first Roman churches built during the Renaissance.

The construction the church was funded by Guillaume d'Estouteville, Archbishop of Rouen and Cardinal Camerlengo (1477-1483). The façade was built in 1483 by Giacomo di Pietrasanta, using travertine taken from the Colosseum. The design of the church is attributed to the late 15th century architect Baccio Pintelli, with later 18th century restorations of the interior by Luigi Vanvitelli. It is a plain work of the early Renaissance style.

The Titulus S. Augustini has been held by Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard since 2006. Furthermore, it is the station church of the first Saturday in Lent.

The most famous work of art presently in the church is the Madonna di Loreto in the Cavalletti Chapel, an important Baroque painting by Caravaggio. The church also contains a Guercino canvas of Saints Augustine, John the Evangelist and Jerome; a fresco of the Prophet Isaiah by Raphael; and the statues of the Saint Anne and Virgin with Child, by Andrea Sansovino and of the Madonna del Parto (Our Lady of Childbirth) by his pupil, Jacopo Sansovino. The latter sculpture, based, according to a legend, on an ancient statue of Agrippina holding Nero in her arms, is reputed by tradition to work miracles in childbirth. The statue is laden with thank-offerings and always surrounded by offerings of flowers and candles. In 1616, the 17th-century Baroque artist Giovanni Lanfranco decorated the Buongiovanni Chapel (in the left transept) with three canvases and a ceiling fresco of the Assumption. The church also houses Melchiorre Caffà's sculpture "St. Thomas of Villanova Distributing Alms", completed by his mentor Ercole Ferrata.