San Domenico is a Romanesque and

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,

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 ...

church located in the Piazza of the same name, with a north flank of the nave parallel to Corso Silvani Fedi, in

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

, region of

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 ...

, Italy.

History

The church structure dates to some time in the mid to late 13th century. Dominican fathers are documented to have preached originally from the small ''Oratory of the Crucifix'' (Oratorio del Crocifisso). The latter contains frescoes dating to the 13th century. The church contains work from the 14th and 15th century, including frescoes by Giovanni Cristiani and Antonio Vite. There is no documentation to substantiate the rumors by later art historians including

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

that either the two Dominican order brothers Sisto and Ristoro, architects of

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The chu ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, or that

Giovanni Pisano Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient ...

, were at work here. Pistoia, san domenico interno 02

Traces of late 13th century frescoes are found in the convent and church, some attributed possibly to

Coppo di Marcovaldo Coppo di Marcovaldo (c. 1225 – c. 1276) was a Florentine painter in the Italo-Byzantine style, active in the middle of the thirteenth century, whose fusion of both the Italian and Byzantine art, Byzantine styles had great influence on gen ...

and his son Salerno. The tomb of the jurist Filippo Lazzari (first on right), and of the Blessed Lorenzo da Ripafratta, are attributed to

Bernardo Bernardo is a given name and less frequently an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. Possibly from the Germanic "Bernhard". Given name People * Bernardo the Japanese (died 1557), early Japanese Christian convert and disciple of Saint Fra ...

and

Antonio Rossellino Antonio Gamberelli (1427–1479), Janson, H.W. (1995) ''History of Art''. 5th edn. Revised and expanded by Anthony F. Janson. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 465. nicknamed Antonio Rossellino for the colour of his hair, was an Italian Renaissance ...

. The church also has the tomb of the bishop Andrea Franchi, who led the White Procession during the plague outbreak of 1399. In 1497, the florentine painter

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions ...

died here. The painter Fra Paolino, a Dominican follower of

Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction o ...

painted for this church an ''Adoration of the Magi'' and a ''Holy Conversation''. The latter work is now in the church of

San Paolo San Paolo (Italian for "Saint Paul") is a ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some ...

of Pistoia. The cloister has frescoes depicting the ''Life of San Domenico'' by

Sebastiano Vini Sebastiano Vini, also known as Bastiano Veronese (c. 1515 in Caprino Veronese – August 11, 1602 in Pistoia) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Tuscany. Biography He was the son of Giovanni Piero. It is unknown ...

. The church also has frescoes depicting the ''Life of the Magdalen'', painted by Ulisse Ciocchi, Michele Cinganelli, and

Giovanni Martinelli Giovanni Martinelli (22 October 1885 – 2 February 1969) was an Italian operatic tenor. He was associated with the Italian lyric-dramatic repertory, although he performed French operatic roles to great acclaim as well. Martinelli was one of t ...

: all pupils of Bernardino Poccetti. The painter Giovanni Cristiani painted a now detached last judgement for the convent refectory. The convent was suppressed in 1783; Dominicans returned only in 1928. The church was damaged during the allied bombing of World War II.Comune Pistoia
entry on the Convent of San Domenico.

Bibliography for History of Church and Convent

These sources are listed in the website below. *G. Beani, ''La chiesa e il convento di S.Domenico in Pistoia'', Pistoia, 1909 *S. Orlandi, ''La chiesa monumentale di S.Domenico a Pistoia'', Pistoia, 1932 *''Il patrimonio artistico di Pistoia e del suo territorio'', catalogo storico descrittivo, Pistoia, 1967 *A. Bacchi, Pittura del Duecento e del Trecento pistoiese, in ''La pittura in Italia. Il Duecento e il Trecento'', I, Milano 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domenico Pistoia 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Pistoia Romanesque architecture in Pistoia