San Paolo is a

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 lette ...

church located on Via della Rosa #39 in

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The eclectic church facade sits near the intersection of four streets: Corso Silvani Fedi, Corso Giovanni Amendola, Via Porta Carratica, and Via del Can Bianco, about a block away along Silvani Fedi from the Chiesa del Tau.

History and Description

The first church at the site, built during the age of Lombard rule in 748, was a smaller temple, occupying the area of the presbytery, with an apse in the east. It was dedicated to St Blaise. In 1143, the church was enlarged by creating the present nave running along a north to south axis. The work continued into the 14th-century. The exterior is characterized by a typical Tuscan blend of Romanesque and

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

styles, with a polychrome decoration of the façade. Over the portal is a statue of St James, attributed to

Orcagna Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c. 1308 – 25 August 1368), better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. He worked as a consultant at the Florence Cathedral and supervised the construction of the fa ...

. The bell-tower, much altered over the centuries, was occupied in the 15th century by the Cancellieri family in their battles with the Panciatichi family. A chapel once at its base was frescoed in 1348 by Paolo di Stefano and in 1441 by

Bartolomeo da Giovanni Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo is a masculine Italian given name, the Italian equivalent of Bartholomew. Its diminutive form is Baccio. Notable people with the name include: * Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo (1824–1860), Italian paleobotanist and liche ...

. The chapel was torn down in the mid-19th-century. The interior has been largely turned into a Baroque one in the 17th and 19th centuries. A ''Madonna and St Cajetan in Glory'' was painted by

Paolo di Matteis Paolo de Matteis (also known as ''Paolo de' Matteis''; 9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born in Piano Vetrale, a hamlet of Orria, in the current Province of Salerno, and died in Naples. He trained wit ...

for the altar of the Marchetti family, nearby is a fresco with ''St Agatha and St Eulalia'' by

Gerino Gerini (painter) Gerino da Pistoia, also Gerino di Antonio Gerini, (1480–1529) was an Italian painter and designer of the Renaissance. Biography Not much is known about Gerino except through his works and a few lines by Giorgio Vasari. Gerino was a pupil of Pie ...

. The altar with the ''Immaculate Conception'' attributed to

Michelangelo Anselmi Michelangelo Anselmi (c. 1492 – c. 1554) was an Italian Renaissance-Mannerist painter active mostly in Parma. Biography He was born, apparently in Tuscany, perhaps in Lucca, from a Parmesan family of ancient Langobard origin, known as ...

and

Alessio Gimignani Alessio is a mostly Italian male name, Italian form of Alexius. Individuals with the given name Alessio * Alessio Ascalesi (1872–1952), Italian cardinal *Alessio Boni (born 1966), Italian actor *Alessio Cerci (born 1987), Italian footballer * ...

. The main altar has an ''Enthroned Madonna and Child and Saints Catherine, Appollonia, Mary Magdalen, Agnes, Paul, John the Baptist, Dominic, and others'' by Fra Paolino. It is said the a figure in profile portrays

Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...

as St. Peter the Martyr. Two frescoes were painted by Alessio Gimignani. An ''Assumption of the Virgin'' was painted for the Franchi altar. Many of the members of the Forteguerri family were buried here, and of the Greek and Latin scholar Scipione Carteromaco (died 1515).Pistoia e il suo territorio: Pescia e i suoi dintorni: guida del forestiero
by Giuseppe Tigri, Tipografia Cino, Pistoia (1853): page 232-235.

References

Churches in Pistoia

{{Coord, 43, 55, 50.21, N, 10, 55, 7, E, display=title, region:IT_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki Churches completed in 748 Paolo Pistoia 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Paolo Pistoia Paolo Pistoia