The Church of San Paolo in Ferrara is located on corso Porta Reno 60, a few blocks south of the

Ferrara Cathedral Ferrara Cathedral ( it, Basilica Cattedrale di San Giorgio, ''Duomo di Ferrara'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral and minor basilica in Ferrara, Northern Italy. Dedicated to Saint George, the patron saint of the city, it is the seat of the Archb ...

, facing piazzetta Alberto Schiatti. It is considered the pantheon for famous citizens of the city.

History

Construction of a parish church at the site was begun in the tenth century. In 1295, the church was affiliated with the Order of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel. Over the next two centuries, a monastery was built adjacent to the church with two cloisters. The monastery was rebuilt after the 15th century in a Renaissance style. After the earthquake of 1570, reconstruction of the church was entrusted to the architect Alberto Schiatti. Construction began in 1575, and the church was reconsecrated in 1611. The adjacent Carmelitan monastery was enlarged. During the Napoleonic occupation, the monastery was suppressed, and converted into a jail, for which it continued to be used till 1912. The church remained open as a parish church. The church contains works by important Ferrarese artistsFerrara Terra e Acqua site
entry on San Paolo. such as: *Left Nave **''Descent of Holy Spirit'' by

Scarsellino Scarsellino or Ippolito Scarsella (1550 (or 1551) – 28 October 1620) was an Italian mid-to-late sixteenth century reformist painter and one of the most important representatives of the School of Ferrara. His landscapes of both sacred and secu ...

. **''Resurrection'' and ''Circumcision of Jesus'' by

Bastianino Sebastiano Filippi (or Bastianino; ca. 1536 – 23 August 1602) was an Italian late Renaissance – Mannerist painter of the School of Ferrara. Biography He was born in Lendinara to a painter, Camillo Filippi, who had worked under Dosso Dossi. ...

. *Right Nave **''Birth of St John the Baptist'' by

. **''Annunciation'' by

. *Right Transept **''St Jerome'' (under organ) by

Girolamo da Carpi Girolamo Da Carpi (1501 – 1 August 1556) was an Italian painter and decorator who worked at the Court of the House of Este in Ferrara. He began painting in Ferrara, by report apprenticing to Benvenuto Tisi (il Garofalo); but by age 20, he had ...

. *Right of Main Altar **''Adoration of the Magi'' by

Domenico Mona Domenico Mona (also called ''Moni'', ''Monna'', or ''Monio'') (1550–1602) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, born in Ferrara. Biography His biographer Cesare Cittadella (1782) describes a stormy early manhood, wherein Mona, ...

. *Presbytery **''Conversion of St Paul'' and ''Beheading of St Paul'' by

. *Apse **''Rapture of Elias'', by

. *Frescoes on one wall of the choir date to prior to the 14th century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paolo, San Roman Catholic churches in Ferrara 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1611 1611 establishments in Italy