Description
The Basilica of Madonna dell'Umiltà is Pistoia's Marian sanctuary, in Renaissance style, and from outside you recognize it at once by the great dome that rises over the city's rooftops. It was built to house a fresco of the Madonna believed to be miraculous, and still today it is one of the places where Pistoia sees itself.
The dome is by Giorgio Vasari: about 25 meters across and 59 high. Inside, a severe vestibule with barrel vaults and rosettes leads to the central octagon: three architectural orders in the drum, a floor of marbles of various colors and, above, the dome.
At the center of the presbytery, designed by Jacopo Lafri, is the miraculous image, inside a marble dossal of 1612 by Pietro Tacca. It is the fresco of 1382 showing a Madonna not enthroned but humble: hence the name.
In the vestibule are large frescoed panels begun in 1716, for the solemn coronation of the image. Along the walls open six altars with large canvases by Florentine painters: the chapels beside the altar are decorated by Alessandro Fei and Giovan Battista Naldini.
In the apse is a panel by Bernardino del Signoraccio from 1493, with the Madonna and Child and Saints Mercurialis and Benedict, which came from the monastery of San Mercuriale.
The Madonna's treasury preserves sacred furnishings and ex-votos. Among the pieces are a silver ciborium of 1630, donated after the plague was averted, and a branch of golden roses with a sapphire, given in 1669 by Pope Clement IX.
Pistoia, July 17, 1490. The Panciatichi and Cancellieri families are fighting in the streets when some people see a painted Madonna light up and pour three thin streams from her forehead. As if she were suffering, tradition says, for so much brotherly blood.
The miracle was confirmed by the bishop and the authorities, and the leading families decided to build a worthy sanctuary. Easier said than done: the project was entrusted to Giuliano da Sangallo, perhaps on commission from Lorenzo the Magnificent, but in 1494 the Medici were driven out and the work passed to Ventura Vitoni.
It began in 1495 and dragged on for decades. In 1563 Cosimo I called in Vasari to cover the octagon. Vasari changed the original design and raised the dome; the lantern was finished in 1568. The fresco was moved above the new altar in 1579, and the church was consecrated in 1582.
Don't miss
• The dome.
• The miraculous image.
• The Madonna's treasury.
Did you know?
• The church stands where the little church of Santa Maria Forisportae once was, outside the first circle of walls.
• In 1931 Pope Pius XI raised it to the rank of minor basilica.
The dome is by Giorgio Vasari: about 25 meters across and 59 high. Inside, a severe vestibule with barrel vaults and rosettes leads to the central octagon: three architectural orders in the drum, a floor of marbles of various colors and, above, the dome.
At the center of the presbytery, designed by Jacopo Lafri, is the miraculous image, inside a marble dossal of 1612 by Pietro Tacca. It is the fresco of 1382 showing a Madonna not enthroned but humble: hence the name.
In the vestibule are large frescoed panels begun in 1716, for the solemn coronation of the image. Along the walls open six altars with large canvases by Florentine painters: the chapels beside the altar are decorated by Alessandro Fei and Giovan Battista Naldini.
In the apse is a panel by Bernardino del Signoraccio from 1493, with the Madonna and Child and Saints Mercurialis and Benedict, which came from the monastery of San Mercuriale.
The Madonna's treasury preserves sacred furnishings and ex-votos. Among the pieces are a silver ciborium of 1630, donated after the plague was averted, and a branch of golden roses with a sapphire, given in 1669 by Pope Clement IX.
Pistoia, July 17, 1490. The Panciatichi and Cancellieri families are fighting in the streets when some people see a painted Madonna light up and pour three thin streams from her forehead. As if she were suffering, tradition says, for so much brotherly blood.
The miracle was confirmed by the bishop and the authorities, and the leading families decided to build a worthy sanctuary. Easier said than done: the project was entrusted to Giuliano da Sangallo, perhaps on commission from Lorenzo the Magnificent, but in 1494 the Medici were driven out and the work passed to Ventura Vitoni.
It began in 1495 and dragged on for decades. In 1563 Cosimo I called in Vasari to cover the octagon. Vasari changed the original design and raised the dome; the lantern was finished in 1568. The fresco was moved above the new altar in 1579, and the church was consecrated in 1582.
Don't miss
• The dome.
• The miraculous image.
• The Madonna's treasury.
Did you know?
• The church stands where the little church of Santa Maria Forisportae once was, outside the first circle of walls.
• In 1931 Pope Pius XI raised it to the rank of minor basilica.