BasilicaDiSanClementeInSantaMariaDeiServi

The Church of Santa Maria dei Servi is a Romanesque 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 in the Terzo of San Martino in the city of

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

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 is built on the site of the former Church of San Clement, which was acquired by the

Servite order The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary ( la, Ordo Servorum Beatae Mariae Virginis; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothe ...

in the

Medieval era In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. The original Basilica was built in the 13th century, but later underwent reconstruction and transformation which continued until the 15th-16th century.Siena: guide with town plan, Santini, Loretta. 1997

Exterior

The façade is simple and unadorned, with a single doorway and a rose window (indications of another can be discerned on the wall). It is in the Romanesque period style The adjoining

Campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

is likewise of the 13th century, richly embellished by four orders of windows. It was entirely restored in the 20th century. The church building stands atop it is cook entrance stairs, with views over the Duomo and the Palazzo Publico of Siena.

Interior

The interior is in great contrast with the rough and bare aspect of the exterior. A renaissance design is attributed to

Baldassare Peruzzi Baldassare Tommaso Peruzzi (7 March 1481 – 6 January 1536) was an Italian architect and painter, born in a small town near Siena (in Ancaiano, ''frazione'' of Sovicille) and died in Rome. He worked for many years with Bramante, Raphael, and la ...

. The church was enlarged in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, as seen in the interior of a Latin cross, where the Gothic style of the transept and apse joins the Renaissance style of the three aisles. The Renaissance style does not continue into the transept and apse, which are in the

Gothic style 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 ...

. Near the entrance is a Crucifix of the 14th century and a Holy Water stoup of the 13th century. Basilica dei servi, siena 17 altare maggiore bernardino fungai

Basilica dei servi, siena 17 altare maggiore bernardino fungai

Works of art

The most important works housed in the Santa Maria dei Servi have included : ;''Coronation of the Virgin'' altarpiece *''Coronation of the Virgin'' by

Bernardino Fungai Bernardino Fungai (1460– c. 1516) was an Italian painter whose work marks the transition from late Gothic painting to the early Renaissance in the Sienese school.

. This altarpiece is generally acclaimed as the masterpiece of Fungai and belongs to the period between 1498 and 1501. The four

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

panels depicting the life of Saint Clement were sold separately, and were temporarily reunited for an exhibition at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York in 1988. The narrative scenes of the four panels are all painted with tempera on wood. **''Conversion of Saint Clement'', housed in the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg (Museum of Fine Arts of Strasbourg) is the old masters paintings collection of the city of Strasbourg, located in the Alsace region of France. The museum is housed in the first and second floors of the ...

. The first panel represents the young philosopher, Clement, who having thought that his parents and two brothers were lost at sea turned more seriously to inquire into the question of the immortality of the soul. **''Reunion of Saint Clement with his family'', also housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg. The second panel shows Clement reunited with his parents and brothers through the instrumentality of Saint Peter the Apostle **''Saint Clement Striking the Rock'', housed in the

City Art Gallery, York York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. T ...

, England. The third panel continues the narrative of the life of Saint Clement, after he succeeded Saint Peter as Bishop of Rome. **''Martyrdom of Saint Clement'', also housed in the City Art Gallery, York, England. The final scene depicting highlights in the life of Clement done in tempera and gold on wood, and is noted as the most magically evocative in Fungai’s career. **The central panel belonging to the predella, depicting ''The'' ''Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels'', resurfaced at the 1991 sale of works from the Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos collection at Christie's in New York. The picture was subsequently purchased by the City Art Gallery, York. It is not known when the Fungai predella panels were dismantled from the altarpiece of the church of Santa Maria dei Servi and then separated. There is a lack of information regarding the dates when these panels found their way into the museums where they are housed at the present.

Paintings

Coppo di Marcovaldo - Madonna del Bordone - WGA05221

*'' Madonna del Marcovaldo'' (called Madonna del Bordone) by

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 ...

, signed and dated 1261, in Byzantine style and partially repainted by a pupil of

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ) was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Ducc ...

. Its height of 7 feet 3 inches and its width of 4 feet foreshadow the late-thirteenth-century tendency for panel paintings to approach the scale of frescoes.Art and Architecture in Italy 1250 to 1400, 1966 *''The Massacre of the Innocents'' by

Matteo di Giovanni Matteo di Giovanni (c. 1430 – 1495) was an Italian Renaissance artist from the Sienese School. Biography Matteo di Giovanni di Bartolo was born in Borgo Sansepolcro around 1430. His family relocated to Siena and he is firmly associated with ...

(1491) *''Adoration of the Shepherds'' (1404) by

Taddeo di Bartolo Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1363 – 26 August 1422), also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's biographies of artists or ''Vite''. Vas ...

*''Madonna and Saints'' by

*''Madonna with child'' by

Duccio di Buoninsegna Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ) was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Ducc ...

*''The Slaughter of the Innocents'' 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 ...

*''Madonna del Popolo'' by

Lippo Memmi Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356) was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law. Together with Martini, in 1333 he painted what is regarded as one of the masterworks of the Intern ...

*''Herod’s Feast'' by

*''The Death of St. John the Evangelist'' by

*''Annunciation'' by

Francesco Vanni Francesco Vanni (1563 – 26 October 1610) was an Italian painter, draughtsman, printmaker, publisher and printer active in Rome and his native city of Siena.

*''The Madonna of Belvedere'' of

Jacopo di Mino del Pellicciaio Jacopo di Mino del Pellicciaio (14th century) was an Italian painter, active in Siena. He is also called Giacomo di Mino. He appears to be a follower of Simone Martini. He was the contemporary of Lippo Vanni and Luca Thome, being in 1373 appoin ...

and

(1363)

References

Sources

* — Journal title=Istituto storico O.S.M.,155:164 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria dei Servi Basilica churches in Siena Romanesque architecture in Siena 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy