Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini, or Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins, was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII. His brother, Antonio Barberini, was a Capuchin. The church was designed by Antonio Casoni and built between 1626 and 1631. It is comprised of a small nave and several side chapels. The contents of the chapels are quite notable as one contains the body of St. Felix of Cantalice and another is the tomb of the Blessed Crispin of Viterbo. Several famous masterpieces hang in the chapels as well, including St. Michael the Archangel by Guido Reni and Gherardo delle Notti's Christ Mocked. The church is also home of an ossuary in which is displayed the bones of over 4000 Capuchin friars, collected between the years of 1528 and 1870. The bones are fashioned into decorative displays, much like those found in the Sedlec ossuary in the Czech Republic.