Santa Caterina 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 ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

-style church in

Urbania Urbania is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Italian region of Marche, located about west of Ancona and about southwest of Pesaro, next to the river Metauro. Urbania borders the following municipalities: Acq ...

, region of

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, Italy.

History

The small church, best described as an oratory, by the 14th century housed the Confraternity of the Artists, and was dedicated to St

Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

, patron of this guild and of artists. The building was reconstructed in 1522 by the architect Taddeo Zandrini. The interiors have a rich baroque stucco decoration. The ceiling was decorated by the stucco artists and painters and by Ottaviano and Lucio Dolci, and Agostino Apolloni. The ceiling has oval panels depicting ''Allegories of the Virtues'', while to the sides are depicted events in the ''Life of St Catherine''. The four niches in the wall house 17th century statues of the prophets by

Tommaso Amantini Tommaso Amantini (9 March 1625 – 1675) was an Italian sculptor and painter of the Baroque period. He was born in Urbania in the Marche region, and died in Rome. He studied with Bartoccini in Urbania, where he worked on maiolica. He then went t ...

. One altar has a 17th-century wooden crucifix, flanked by a ''Madonna and Child with Saints'' (1615) by

Giovanni Giacomo Pandolfi Giovanni Giacomo Pandolfi (1567–1636) was an Italian painter, who was born and lived in Pesaro. Biography He was likely the son of the painter Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi, also from Pesaro, who had married the sister of the painter Girolamo ...

. The main altar has a ''Entombment of St Catherine'' (1592) by Donnino Berti based on a design attributed to

Taddeo Zuccari Taddeo Zuccaro (or Zuccari) (1 September 15292 September 1566) was an Italian painter, one of the most popular members of the Roman mannerist school. Biography Zuccaro was born in Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino, the son of Ottaviano Zuccaro, ...

.Urbania
tourism site.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Urbania Baroque architecture in Urbania {{Italy-RC-church-stub