Santa Maria In Provenzano, Siena
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Santa Maria in Provenzano, or the Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria in Provenzano, is a late-
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 ...
-
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 ...
, collegiate church in Piazza Provenzano Salvani, in the Terza Camollia, just southwest of the basilica of San Francesco, in the city of
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
, region of
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, Italy. This
Marian shrine A shrine to the Virgin Mary, or Marian shrine, is a shrine marking an Marian apparitions, apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Blessed Virgin Mary, Marian devotion ...
was built around a 14th-century
terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
icon of the Madonna, which was credited with miracles. The Palio of Siena takes place on the day of veneration of this Marian devotion.


History

The church was consecrated on October 16, 1611 by the archbishop Camillo Borghesi. The image, which originally was in an aedicule on a wall next to a house, was carried by a procession (translated) into the church on this day. The event was painted by Taddeo Gregori. This painting is presently in the Sacristy of the Collegiata. The procession's members included the widowed former grand-duchess Cristina of Lorraine and the reigning Grand-Duchess Maria Maddalena d'Austria. A number of omens and events had fortified faith in the power of the 14th-century icon. Brandano, il ''pazzo di Cristo'' (the ''madman of Christ''), had prophesied before 1555: Tradition holds that the lackluster faith of the Sienese led the Madonna to quit her protection, resulting in the ultimate subjugation of Siena by the Holy Roman Emperor and his Florentine allies. The Madonna di Provenzano terracotta was shattered. This was said to have resulted from either an errant or impertinent shot by a Spanish soldier in the occupying army of the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
. According to legend, the event caused a change on the soldier. He either died or repented from the event. Fifty years later, this neighborhood was considered one of the most morally insalubrious corners of town. An old prostitute from the neighborhood prayed to the icon of the Madonna, and overnight her ulcerous lesion was healed. The image became a destination for devotion of the faithful. Soon the church relented and in 1594 commissioned construction of a church as a shrine for the icon; the architect Flaminio Del Turco was hired to design it. The Medici family were among the patrons who raised funds to build the new church. In 1806 the image was covered with a coating of silver, which was done out of respect and a desire to preserve the icon. Through conservation of the work, the silver has been partially revealed. In 1634
Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...
named this as a collegiate church with its own chapter of canons. In 1681, the image was solemnly crowned with a
Papal Bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...
from
Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI (; ; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with ...


Art and architecture

Construction of the
Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
church building, with a Latin Cross layout, was begun in 1595. It has an imposing white marble facade and a peaked dome at the crossing of the transept. The first altar at the right depicts the ''Mass of San Cerbone'' (1630) by Rutilio Manetti. It depicts a miracle that occurred when the holy bishop of Massa Marittima saw apparitions of angels at a service he invoked for the pope. The canvas was commissioned by the bishop of Massa Marittima, Fabio Piccolomini. The second altar on the right has a canvas depicting ''Saints Catherine of Siena and Catherine of Alexandria'' by Francesco Rustici, and one of the ''Annunciation'' by Giovanni Domenico Manenti. The first altar on the left has an altarpiece depicting ''St Catherine of Siena has a Vision of the Martyrdom of St Lawrence'' (1685), by Dionisio Montorselli. The canvas was first hanged in the former Sienese church of San Lorenzo, which was destroyed. The second altar on the left has a 19th-century wooden crucifix. The spandrels of the cupola were frescoed with the four patron Saints of Siena: ''St Ansano'' (1715) painted by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini; ''St Savino'' and ''St Crescenzio'' (1727) by Vincenzo Meucci; and ''St Vittore'' (1726) by Gasparo Bidelli.Piccolomini, page 128. Along the walls are monochrome canvases depicting the ''Dream of St John the Evangelist'' and the ''Mass of St Gregory Magno'' by Bernardino Mei and Deifebo Burbarini. Along the nave are four large paintings depicting the ''Nativity of Mary'', the ''Visitation'', the ''Presentation of Jesus at the Temple'', and the ''Coronation of the Virgin'' by Luigi Boschi and Giovanni Bruni. In the transept are paintings depicting venerated individuals who had lived in the same neighborhood: ''St Bernardo Tolomei and the Blessed Savina Petrilli'' (2013), by Francesco Mori. The polychrome marble floor decoration below the cupola depicts the heraldic symbols of Grandukes of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duchy of Tuscany, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder s ...
and Margherita Luisa d'Orléans, and of the Florentine and Sienese states. It is surrounded by the symbols of the nearby bishoprics of the ancient Republic of Siena: Grosseto, Sovana, Pienza, Montalcino, Massa Marittima and Chiusi. The main altar shelters the terracotta icon of the Madonna di Provenzano in an architectural work (1617-1632) by Flaminio del Turco. The icon is surrounded by a "glory" of silver angels, and bronze statues of Saints Catherine and Bernardino sculpted by Giovanni Battista Querci. Some of the drapery on the altar has the symbols of
Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII (; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death, in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, and he held various d ...
, the last pope from Siena. In the Sacristy is a ''Compianto sul Cristo morto'' by Alessandro Casolani. The apse displays a flag captured by Sienese mercenary Paolo Amerighi from the Turks during the Battle of Vienna (1683), at the height of the Ottoman invasion of Europe. In the counterfacade is a flag from the Medici Fortress in Siena, given by the Grand-Duke Peter Leopold as a sign of the demilitarization of the city. Below the church, in its former crypt, is the Oratory del Suffragio, the chapel for the Contrada of Giraffa. It has an entrance on Via della Vergine.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria in Provenzano Roman Catholic churches completed in 1611 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Maria in Provenzano Baroque architecture in Siena 1611 establishments in Italy