The Basilica of Santa Maria di Campagna is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

church in the city of

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

in the

Province of Piacenza The province of Piacenza () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Piacenza. As of 2016, it has a total population of 286,572 inhabitants over an area of , giving it a population density of 111.38 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It was built in a Greek-Cross plan with an octagonal dome in a high

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style in the 16th century.

History

It was built in 1522–28, under the patronage of a local guild. The site had housed a sanctuary dedicated to ''Santa Maria di Campagnola'', and housed a wooden image of the ''Madonna and Child'' from the 14th century. Tradition holds that

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II (; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermon ...

in 1095 announced the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

from this site. The architect of the Renaissance church was the native Alessio Tramello. Among the artists active inside the church were Camillo Procaccini, and

Gaspare Traversi Gaspare Traversi (February 1722 – 1 November 1770) was an Italian Rococo painter best known for his genre works. Active mostly in his native city of Naples, he also painted throughout Italy, including a stay in Parma. Biography Early ...

. The sacristy contains canvases by Gaspare Landi and Giulio Campi. The Chapel of Saint Anthony has works by

Pietro Antonio Avanzini Pietro Antonio Avanzini (1656–1733) was an Italian painter. Biography He was born in Piacenza, trained by Marcantonio Franceschini in Bologna, and described as a painter of little originality, often copying his master's designs Among his works ...

, Camillo Procaccini, and a member of the Galli-Bibiena Family. In the south transept are works of

Alessandro Tiarini Alessandro Tiarini (20 March 1577 – 8 February 1668) was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School. Biography Alessandro Tiarini was born in Bologna. His mother died when he was a child, and he was raised by an aunt. Early on his fa ...

Antonio Triva Antonio Triva (1626 – circa 1669) was an Italian painter and engraver of the Baroque period. Biography He was born in Reggio Emilia, and studied under Guercino in Bologna. Painted in Rome, Reggio, and Piacenza. He visited Venice, taking wi ...

, and Ignazio Stern. The Chapel of Santa Vittoria Martire has works by Ferrante Moreschi,

Bernardino Gatti Bernardino Gatti (c.1495 – 22 February 1576) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Parma and Cremona. He is also commonly called il Sojaro. He was born in or near Pavia or Cremona. His early apprenticeship is unclear, ...

(''St George slaying the Dragon''), Paolo Bozzini, Ludovico Pesci and Daniele Crespi. The nave ceiling has paintings by the 19th-century painter Giovanni Battista Ercole. Among the masterpieces of the church are the frescoes by Giovanni Antonio Sacchi ( Il Pordenone) and

in the cupola. They include depiction of the four evangelists in the spandrels. Pordenone also painted a fresco altarpiece in the Chapel of the Magi, depicting the arrival of the three Magi to visit the newborn Jesus. The Magi include a man of African descent and men dressed in elaborate Turkish garb. To the left of this fresco is another by the same artist depicting the ''Birth of the Virgin''. Finally in the chapel of St Catherine are frescoes by Pordenone depicting ''St Catherine debates with the philosophers'' (Disputa di Santa Caterina) and the ''Mystical Marriage of St Catherine''. The marble pavement was completed by the Milanese artist, Giambattista Carrà (1595). The statue of

Ranuccio I Farnese Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Duke of Piacenza, Piacenza and Duchy of Castro, Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and ...

was carved in 1616 by the Baroque sculptor

Francesco Mochi Francesco Mochi (29 July 1580 Montevarchi – 6 February 1654 Rome) was an Italian early-Baroque Sculptor (occupation), sculptor active mostly in Rome, Piacenza and Orvieto. His dramatic early works in Orvieto are now often regarded as the first ...

.Comune of Piacenza
, entry on church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria in Campagna Piacenza Roman Catholic churches completed in 1528 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Piacenza Renaissance architecture in Piacenza Octagonal churches in Italy