Chiesa Parrocchiale di Sant'Agostino 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 ...

parish church on Piazza Sant'Agostino in central

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

, Italy.

History and description

Founded in the 14th century by the Order of

Augustinian Hermits The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

, the church was rapidly refurbished between 1662 and 1663 by the Duchess Regent

Laura Martinozzi Laura Martinozzi (27 May 1639 – 19 July 1687) was a Duchess consort of Modena by marriage to Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena. She served as regent of Modena during the minority of her son Francesco from 1662 until 1674. Biography Early life ...

for the funeral of her husband, Alfonso IV. The new church was designed by the architect ''Gian Giacomo Monti'' and became the Este Pantheon for the celebration of Este family funerals. The rich series of decorations was designed by the Jesuit ''Domenico Gamberti'' who in 1659 had also overseen the funeral of '' Francesco I Este'', the first duke to be commemorated in the Church. During Duke Francesco's funeral, as was customary at the time, the church was completely transformed by a series of sumptuous temporary decorations. In the case of Alfonso IV these became permanent, a unique event in the history of European funerary art. The rich plasterwork and paintings depict an impressive series of monarchs, empresses, kings and queens, saints and holy men, bishops and popes linked to the House of Este. The most important artists at court were commissioned, including ''

Olivier Dauphin Olivier is the French form of the given name Oliver. It may refer to: * Olivier (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Olivier (surname), a list of people * Château Olivier, a Bordeaux winery *Olivier, Louisiana, a rural popul ...

, Sigismondo Caula,

Francesco Stringa Francesco Stringa (1578–1615) was an Italian painter of the early- Baroque era, active mainly near his native city of Modena. He apprenticed initially, in 1595, in the Roman studio of Federico Zuccari, but soon came under the influence of the a ...

Lattanzio Maschio Lattanzio is an Italian surname and given name. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Lattanzio Gambara (c. 1530–1574), Italian painter * Lattanzio Lattanzi (d. 1587), Italian Roman Catholic bishop * Lattanzio Mainardi (fl. 16th centu ...

'' and ''

Giovanni Lazzoni Giovanni Lazzoni (1618 – after 1687) was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period. He was born in Massa di Carrara, but worked for years in Rome, the Duchy of Modena, and for the Republic of Lucca. He completed the statues of Athena and ...

''. Reopened to the public in 2018 after the 2012 earthquake, the church houses numerous masterpieces including the 16th-century terracotta Lamentation by ''

Antonio Begarelli Antonio Begarelli, also known as Begarino (1499–1565) was an Italian sculptor. He was born at Modena, and is said to have been instructed by Giovanni dell'Abbate, the father of the painter Niccolò. Begarelli worked chiefly in Modena, where m ...

'' and a fragment of a 14h-century fresco of a Madonna and Child attributed to ''Tomaso da Modena''. The rather simple brick facade does not reflect the elaborately decorated interior. The basilica layout has a wide nave with protruding side altars. The ceiling holds framed canvases and is heavily encrusted with stucco sculpture.Tourism office of the Comune of Modena.
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History and description

References

Further reading