The San Michele Oratory or Oratory of San Michele (Italian - ''Oratorio di San Michele'') is an oratory chapel in Padova, Italy. The interior is painted with a cycle of frescoes on the life of the Virgin Mary by

Jacopo da Verona Jacopo da Verona (1355–1442/1443) was an Italian painter. As his name suggests, he was born in Verona. His works include the frescoes of the San Michele Oratory in Padua. References

Painters from Verona 14th-century Italian painters 1 ...

History

Origins

It first arose near the Torlonga del Castello Carrarese, outside the ancient Roman walls of the city. It was built in 1397 over the ruins of the Santi Arcangeli church, which had been renamed San Michele by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

, who proclaimed

Michael the Archangel Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

"patron of Italy" after their victory over the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

The earlier church had been damaged in 1390 by a fire triggered by clashes between the Carraresi and Visconti during Francesco Novello da Carrara's siege of the city. After the city's fall, the Bovi family decided to build a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, opening a gap in the north side of the old church's nave. An inscription on the interior wall beside the chapel entrance gives the date of construction as 1397, the commissioner of the building as Pietro di Bartolomeo de Bovi and the painter's name Jacopo da Verona:

Later changes

Restoration

Frescoes

References

Bibliography (in Italian)

* C. Bellinati, ''Padova da salvare: l'antica Chiesa dei Santi Arcangeli (S. Michele) in Padova e la Cappella affrescata da Jacopo da Verona (1397)'', Padova 1969, Civica BP.h.322.59 * ''Giotto e i cicli pittorici del Trecento a Padova'', a cura di D. Banzato, M. Masenello, G. Valenzano, Milano 2015, pp. 113–117 * Banzato Davide, ''Jacopo da Verona e la Cappella di S. Maria'', in "Padova e il suo territorio", Anno XXIII, 196 (nov/dic2018) * Bibbia istoriata padovana della fine del Trecento: Pentateuco, Giosue, Ruth / a cura di Gianfranco Folena e Gian Lorenzo Mellini, 1962 * Duò Chiara, Nuovi contributi sugli affreschi della Cappella Bovi a San Michele, "Padova e il suo territorio", 26 (2011) * Massimi Maria Elena, Jacopo da Verona, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. 62, Roma, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2004 * Mori Giovanna, Jacopo da Verona, in "Padova e il suo territorio", Anno XVI, 90 (aprile 2001)/2001 * Mori Giovanna, Jacopo da Verona, in Giotto e il suo tempo, a cura di V. Sgarbi, Milano, 2000

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Michele Padua Roman Catholic churches in Padua Roman Catholic chapels in Italy Gothic architecture in Veneto 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy