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Church of Our Lady of Consolation in Caprarola: the dome that was never built, and the miraculous fresco
The Church of Madonna della Consolazione is located in Caprarola, in the province of Viterbo. Consecrated in 1565, it houses a fresco believed to be miraculous and a coffered ceiling that tells a story of altered plans and architects.
From Farnese to Rainaldi, a dome that never came to be
The land had belonged to the Lateran Chapter since 1514. In 1526, permission was requested to build a church there: a single nave, a gabled roof, and walls decorated with stories of the Madonna. In 1568, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese wanted to add a dome, and entrusted the project to Vignola. However, when the architect died, work had not even begun. In 1591, Girolamo Rainaldi was commissioned by Cardinal Odoardo to do the work. Rainaldi studied the project, and concluded that the dome was unfeasible: it would have required an expansion at the expense of the adjacent convent. His solution was to make a coffered ceiling with relief figures of saints.
What you can see inside
The side chapels contain numerous works of art, such as the painting of St Francis in Prayer, attributed to Annibale Carracci, and a wooden crucifix. On the high altar stands a small gilded wooden temple: three angels support an oval fresco of the Madonna della Consolazione (Our Lady of Consolation), believed to be miraculous. According to tradition, the fresco was originally in a small countryside chapel, and would return there every time someone tried to move it. The miracle only ceased when the Church of the Madonna delle Grazie (Our Lady of Grace) was built on that very spot, where a copy of the original image can be found today.
