San Marcellino, also known as Santi Marcellino e Pietro, is a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

-style,

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 ...

church located on Via Ponchielli in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

, region of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, Italy.

History and description

The church was commissioned in 1602 by the Bishop Cesare Speciano from the architect Francesco Bigallo. The church and monastery were affiliated with the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, who completed the interiors. The facade remains incomplete, with monumental white marble corinthian pilasters and two niches in brick walls. In the second floor is a Serlian window with a heraldic shield below. The interiors, in

fashion, are elaborately ornamented with gilded stucco, and sport a number of lateral chapels. To the left of the entrance is a confessional with a canvas depicting a "Beatified Bishop" by

Luigi Miradori Luigi Miradori (c. 1600-1610 - c. 1656) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Cremona. Miradori was born in Genoa, thus also called ''il Genovese'' or ''Genovesino''. He was a pupil of the painter Panfilo Nuvolone or ...

. On the opposite side of the church is another confessional with a canvas by Giacomo Bertesi. The third altar on the right has an altarpiece depicting ''St Joseph and Child Jesus'' by Angelo Massarotti. At the end of the presbytery is a sculpted wood altar-frame by Bertesi, containing two canvases, used as a main altarpiece, depicting the ''St Marcellinus and St Peter the Exorcist baptizing the Jail-warden's daughter'' (1604) by

Gervasio Gatti Gervasio Gatti ( 1550 in either Cremona, Vercelli or Pavia – 1631) was an Italian painter during the late-Renaissance, active in Parma, Piacenza, and Cremona. He was also known as Il Soiaro (or ''Sojaro'') Gatti trained with his uncle Bernardi ...

. Other artworks in the church include a canvas with a ''Crucifixion scene with the Madonna, Magdalen, John the Baptist, and Francis Xavier'' by Agostino Bonisoli; a ''St Ignatius of Loyola'' (1622) and a ''Transfer of the Relics of the Saints from the church of San Tommaso to the Cathedral'' by Angelo Massarotti; and a ''Life of Sant’Orsola'' and ''Presentation at the Temple'' (1652) by

.Comune of Cremona
tourism site.

References

17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Cremona Baroque architecture in Lombardy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1602 1602 establishments in Italy {{Lombardy-RC-church-stub