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Santa Maria della Pieve is a church in
The central portal has a
The church in ''I luoghi della Fede'', ''Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta''
Regione Toscana website
Images in Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Maria Della Pieve Churches completed in 1330 Towers completed in the 14th century Maria della Pieve Maria della Pieve Maria della Pieve 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
, 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 ...
, central 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 ...
.
History
The church is documented since as early as 1008, and, during the communal period of Arezzo, it was the stronghold of the city's struggle against itsbishops
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. After the latter built the nearby Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
and palace, the church, which had been already rebuilt in the 12th century, was further renovated with the façade and the apse, and the interior was remade in 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 ...
style (13th century).
The bell tower, finished in 1330, is in Romanesque style.
Description
The church's most striking feature is its façade, with a five-arch lower floor surmounted by three loggias, with the number of columns increasing with the elevation. The columns, and its capitals, are each different from the other (one is a statue). The original façade had no particular features, the current decoration having been added in the 12th century.
The central portal has a barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
entrance, and a lunette with a bas-relief of the Praying Madonna with Angels. Under her is a frieze with small angels, and the signature by one Marchionne. In the vault are depictions of the Months of the school of Benedetto Antelami. The two side portals, of smaller proportions, have also decorated lunettes: they depict "Christ Baptized by John" on the right and, at the left, a vegetable motif.
The 13th century apse has also two rows of loggia which recall the façade's structure, repeating the use of different style capitals. The sides have mullioned window
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...
s.
The tall interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by longitudinal ogival arches whose columns have Corinthian capital
The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...
s. The counter-façade has nine windows on three rows. At the high altar is the Tarlati polyptych
The Tarlati polyptych is a Renaissance polyptych painted by the Italian artist Pietro Lorenzetti, with tempera and gold on panel, in 1320. It is located at the church of Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo, Italy.
It depicts the Madonna and Child ...
, representing the ''Madonna and Saints'', by Pietro Lorenzetti
Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimens ...
(1320), while traces of frescoes with St. Dominic and St. Francis (attributed to Andrea di Nerlo, mid-14th century) can be seen inside the church. The crypt houses a reliquary bust of St. Donatus, executed in 1346.
The bell tower has a sturdy appearance with five rows of mullioned windows. Internally, the base houses the baptistery. The baptismal font dates to the 14th century, and has panels with ''Stories of St. John the Baptist'' by Giovanni d'Agostino Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
(1332–1333).
External links
The church in ''I luoghi della Fede'', ''Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta''
Regione Toscana website
Images in Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Maria Della Pieve Churches completed in 1330 Towers completed in the 14th century Maria della Pieve Maria della Pieve Maria della Pieve 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy