San Michele Arcangelo (St Michele Archangel) is a 13th-century Romanesque-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 in

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volt ...

, 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. The church is across the street from the Medieval Palazzo Maffei-Guarnacci (Casa Torre Toscano).

History

While there is documentation dating a church on the site to the 10th century, the Romanesque facade of the church, partially embellished with marble and

pietra dura ''Pietra dura'' () or ''pietre dure'' () ( see below), called parchin kari or parchinkari ( fa, ) in the Indian Subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is c ...

striations dates to around 1285. In the arches are reliefs with the heraldic symbols of the

Farnese family The House of Farnese family (, also , ) was an influential family in Renaissance Italy. The titles of Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Duke of Castro were held by various members of the family. Its most important members included Pope Paul I ...

. The statue of the Madonna over the portal is a copy of a 14th-century original now in the Museum of Sacred Art. Those expecting the interior will continue in the style of the exterior will be disappointed. The interior was completely modified in the 1820s by the order of the Scolopi, which had owned the church since 1711. The presbytery still contains a marble tabernacle by a 15th-century Florentine Balsimelli di Settignano, and contains a ''Madonna and child'' terracotta by

Giovanni della Robbia image:Saint Sebastian Della Robbia Louvre InvML96.jpg, 250px, ''Saint Sebastian'', Musée du Louvre, Paris. Giovanni della Robbia (1469–1529) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, mostly in ceramics. Biography Giovanni della Robbia was the son o ...

and a wood panel of ''The Guardian Angel'' by

Nicolò Circignani Nicolò () is an Italian male given name. Another variation is Niccolò, most common in Tuscany. It may refer to: * Nicolò Albertini, statesman * Nicolò Amati, luthier * Nicolò Barella, Italian footballer * Nicolò Barattieri, Italian enginee ...

. Along the nave are altars with paintings including a canvas depicting the ''Holy Family'' by

Carlo Maratta Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 162515 December 1713) was an Italian painter, active mostly in Rome, and known principally for his classicizing paintings executed in a Late Baroque Classical manner. Although he is part of the classical tradition ...

and a ''Madonna of the Redemption'', which is a 15th-century fresco transferred to canvas attributed to Cenni di Francesco (Cenni di Francesco di ser Cenni). There is also a painting of ''San Giuseppe Calasanzio'' by Giuseppe Zocchi. In the oratory of Saint Christopher there is a fresco of the ''Madonna and child'' attributed to Vincenzo Tamagni.

Sources

Civic Tourist Site
*Italian Wikipedia entry {{DEFAULTSORT:Michele Arcangelo Volterra Roman Catholic churches in Volterra Romanesque architecture in Tuscany 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy