San Francesco is a Romanesque and Gothic-style,

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church located at Piazza San Francesco in

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

, region of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, Italy.

History

Tradition holds that in 1211, St Francis, stayed three days in the house of Venanzio Orlandi which was located on the via dei Forni. Orlandi prior to the century, in turn built an oratory at the site where the tribune of this church stands. Construction of the church began circa 1295 and continued for decades. The oratory was enlarged into a church with an adjacent convent, and prominent families of the town added their chapels over the years. The church and convent were suppressed in 1810. The church was restored in 1911 to 1930. In 1328, representatives of the

Guelf The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, ri ...

communities of the Valdinievole and Florentine Valeriana, joined in a league to oppose the

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...

city of

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one ...

. This league would lead to the annexation of the territory in 1339 to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. questo territorio al dominio di Firenze (1339).

Interior

The church has a single nave with a number of altarpieces including one by Alessandro Bardelli. In the chapel of the ''Misericordia'' is a 15th-century wooden sculptural group of the ''Virgin and Child''. In 1506, the icon is said to have performed miracles, leading to the foundation of the ''Confraternity'' or ''Compagnia di Misericordia'' associated with the church of Santi Stefano e Niccolao in Pescia. To the right of the main altar is the chapel of St Charles Borromeo with a canvas by Rodomonte di Pasquino Pieri, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona. The Nucci chapel has frescoes dated to the 1430s attributed to

Bicci di Lorenzo Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452) was an Italian painter and sculptor, active in Florence. He was born in Florence in 1373, the son of the painter, Lorenzo di Bicci, whose workshop he joined. He married in 1418, and in 1424 was registered in the G ...

. The upper register depicts the ''Transit of the Virgin''. An inventory of works from 1896, cites that in the first altar on the right was a depiction of a crucifixion attributed to

Agnolo Gaddi Agnolo Gaddi (c.1350–1396) was an Italian painter. He was born and died in Florence, and was the son of the painter Taddeo Gaddi,who was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto. Agnolo was a painter and mosaicist, trained ...

. In the third altar to the right was

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

painting on wood with an early portrait of ''St Francis'' surrounded by a series of scenes depicting his miracles (1235) by Bonaventura Berlinghieri. The altarpiece was completed only about a decade after the saint's death, but the painting has a stylized

Byzantine 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 ...

simplicity with gilded background. The painting was restored many times. In the next chapel, inside the presbytery, was a depiction of the ''Martyrdom of St Bartholemew'' by Giovanni Imbert. Another canvas is by

Domenico Passignano Domenico Passignano (1559 – 17 May 1638), born Domenico Cresti or Crespi, was an Italian painter of a late- Renaissance or Counter-''Maniera'' (Counter-Mannerism) style that emerged in Florence towards the end of the 16th century. Biography ...

. The other chapel has a 15th-century triptych depicting the ''Madonna and Child with Saints Anne, Simon, Thaddeus, Lawrence, and Dominic''., some sources attributed the painting to Spinello Aretino. In the chapel of Sant'Antonio (of Padua), in the apse left of the main altar, are two paintings, one of the ''Miracle of the Kneeling Mule'' (wherein a heretic's mule knelt before St Antony administering the eucharist) by

Giovanni Martinelli Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli was one of t ...

; the other is ''St Antony resurrects a deceased man'', a copy of a work by Lorenzo Pasinelli found in the church of San Francesco, Bologna. The next chapel was built for the Barba family, by Pompeo Barba, a scholar and doctor, who commissioned a ''Martyrdom of St Dorothea'' (1595) by

Jacopo Ligozzi Jacopo Ligozzi (1547–1627) was an Italian painter, illustrator, designer, and miniaturist. His art can be categorized as late-Renaissance and Mannerist styles. Biography Born in Verona, he was the son of the artist Giovanni Ermano Ligozzi ...

. A painting of a ''Dead Christ'' has also been attributed to Ligozzi. The chapel also has tombs of the Obizzi family. One wall tomb near the altar of St Dorothea, has the remains of Giovanni degli Obizi, with an engraving of a warrior and dragon. The ceiling has 14th-century frescoes attributed to Antonio Vite. Cappella cardini 01

In the apse, the Cardini (or Orlandi-Cardini) chapel is entered through an elegant arch flanked by columns, all in

pietra serena Pietra serena is a blue-gray sandstone used extensively in Renaissance Florence for architectural details. It is also known as Macigno stone. The material obtained at Fiesole is considered the best and is also quarried at Arezzo, Cortona, and Volt ...

; it was designed by Andrea Cavalcanti, a pupil of

Brunelleschi Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...

, and built in 1451-1458. That chapel houses a venerated 15th century stucco crucifix, called the ''Crocefisso della Corda Pia'', which is said to have been involved in miracles. This chapel was found to have

quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

-period frescoes, attributed to

Neri di Bicci Neri di Bicci (1419–1491) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence. A prolific painter of mainly religious themes, he studied under his father, Bicci di Lorenzo, who had in turn studied under his father, Lorenzo di Bicci. The thr ...

, depicting the brothers Cardini in prayer with the patrons of the town and valley. In the wall of the sacristy is a fresco depicting the ''Crucifixion'', attributed to

Puccio Capanna Puccio Capanna was an Italian painter of the first half of the 14th century, who lived and worked in Assisi, Umbria, Italy between 1341 and 1347. He is also called ''Puccio Campana''. Capanna was originally a Florentine. Vasari described him as ...

. The church bell-tower (1718-1719) was designed by Carlo Antonio Arrighi.La patria; geografia dell' Italia
part. 2. Provincia di Massa e Carrara, Luca, Pisa, Livorno, by Gustavo Strafforello (1896); page 107-108.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesco Pescia 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Pescia Gothic architecture in Tuscany