[2] The basilica enshrines the venerated image of Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as the health and protector of the Roman people, which was granted a Canonical coronation by Pope Gregory XVI on 15 August 1838 accompanied by his papal bull Cælestis Regina.

[3] However, the Holy See fully owns the basilica, and Italy is legally obligated to recognise its full ownership thereof[4] and to concede to it "the immunity granted by international law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign states.

This name for the basilica had become popular in the 14th century[5] in connection with a legend that c. 352, during "the pontificate of Liberius, a Roman patrician John and his wife, who were without heirs, made a vow to donate their possessions to the Virgin Mary.

[7] It may be implied in what the Liber Pontificalis of the early 13th century says of Pope Liberius: "He built the basilica of his own name near the Macellum of Livia".

[5] A congregation appointed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office and that the feast be given its original name.

This name may have originated from the same legend, which recounts that, like John and his wife, Pope Liberius was told in a dream of the forthcoming summer snowfall, went in procession to where it occurred and there marked out the area on which the church was to be built.

[11] However, some sources say that the adaptation as a church of a pre-existing building on the site of the present basilica was done in the 420s under Pope Celestine I, the immediate predecessor of Sixtus III.

[12] Long before the earliest traces of the story of the miraculous snow, the church now known as Saint Mary Major was called "Saint Mary of the Crib" ("Sancta Maria ad Praesepe"),[13] a name it was given because of its relic of the crib or manger of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, four boards of sycamore wood believed to have been brought to the church, together with a fifth, in the time of Pope Theodore I (640–649).

Richard Krautheimer attributes the magnificence of the work also to the abundant revenue accruing to the papacy at the time from land holdings acquired by the Catholic Church during the 4th and 5th centuries on the Italian peninsula: "Some of these holdings were locally controlled; the majority as early as the end of the 5th century were administered directly from Rome with great efficiency: a central accounting system was involved in the papal chancery; and a budget was apparently prepared, one part of the income going to the papal administration, another to the needs of the clergy, a third to the maintenance of church buildings, a fourth to charity.

These fines enabled the papacy to carry out through the 5th century an ambitious building program, including Santa Maria Maggiore.

The basilica was restored, redecorated and extended by various popes, including Eugene III (1145–1153), Nicholas IV (1288–1292), Clement X (1670–1676), and Benedict XIV (1740–1758), who in the 1740s commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to build the present façade and to modify the interior.

In 1966, archeologists excavating under the basilica found the remains of a Roman building including an imperial calendar with fasti and agricultural annotations and illustrations.

"[28] The key aspect that made Santa Maria Maggiore such a significant cornerstone in church building during the early 5th century were the beautiful mosaics found on the triumphal arch and nave.

The basilica's 16th-century coffered ceiling, to a design by Giuliano da Sangallo, is said to be gilded with gold, initially brought by Christopher Columbus, presented by Ferdinand and Isabella to the Spanish pope, Alexander VI.

To the right of the Basilica's façade is a memorial constituting a column in the form of an up-ended cannon barrel topped with a cross: it was erected by Pope Clement VIII to celebrate the end of the French Wars of Religion.

"[45] The mosaics of the triumphal arch and the nave in Santa Maria Maggiore gave a model for the future representations of the Virgin Mary.

As one historian describes it: "On the apse arch Christ is enthroned, a young emperor attended by four chamberlains, angels of course",[28] this is a perfect example of mosaic art in the 5th century.

Another panel found on the triumphal arch is of the Virgin, she is crowned and dressed in a colorful veil, her wardrobe subtly brings to mind that of a Roman empress and in this panel she has her divine son walking with her and a suite of angels and Joseph ready to greet her; "The Virgin...shows to perfection the impressionistic character of mosaics.

[26] The nave of the basilica was covered in mosaics representing Old Testament events of Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt across the Red Sea.

[51] Fragments of the sculpture of the Nativity believed to be by 13th-century Arnolfo di Cambio were transferred to beneath the altar of the large Sistine Chapel[50] off the right transept of the church.

[51] The Mannerist interior decoration of the Sistine Chapel was completed (1587–1589) by a large team of artists, directed by Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Guerra.

While the art biographer, Giovanni Baglione allocates specific works to individual artists, recent scholarship finds that the hand of Nebbia drew preliminary sketches for many, if not all, of the frescoes.

[52] The column in the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore celebrates the famous icon of the Virgin Mary now enshrined in the Borghese Chapel of the basilica.

The icon is at least a thousand years old, and according to a tradition was painted from life by St Luke the Evangelist using the wooden table of the Holy Family in Nazareth.

Prior to becoming the Pope Pius XII, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli celebrated his first Catholic Mass before the image inside the Borghese Chapel on Easter Sunday, 2 April 1899.

On 1 November 1954, the icon was translated and officially crowned by Pope Pius XII at Basilica of Saint Peter as he gave a personal speech and introduced a new Marian feast Queenship of Mary.

[56][57][58][59][60][e] Artists Nobility Clergy and Religious Figures Popes Media related to Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons