Description
The Cathedral of San Zeno is the duomo of Pistoia, on Piazza del Duomo, next to the bell tower and the baptistery. Outside it has a Romanesque facade with a portico of little loggias and the blue vault by Andrea della Robbia. Inside it holds one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian medieval goldsmithing: the silver altar of Saint James.
The altar of Saint James is made entirely of embossed silver sheet, worked on every side. A dozen masters worked on it, from 1287 to around 1450. In the center sits the great silver statue of Saint James, commissioned after the plague of 1348. It is in the Chapel of the Crucifix.
Among the goldsmiths, around 1400, was a young Filippo Brunelleschi: he is thought to have carved one side of the dossal, with two seated saints and two half-length prophets.
Under the portico, the lunette with the Madonna and Child and the blue vault with gilded rosettes are by Andrea della Robbia, from 1505. Inside, the ceiling of the central nave shows the painted wooden beams of 1338, brought back into view by the restorations of 1952-1966.
On the inner facade is the arca of Saint Atto, with three bas-reliefs from 1337, and the baptismal font of 1497 designed by Benedetto da Maiano. In the left aisle stands the monument to Cardinal Forteguerri, commissioned from Andrea del Verrocchio. In the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is the Madonna Enthroned by Lorenzo di Credi.
In the presbytery are a pulpit designed by Giorgio Vasari and the Crucifix on panel by Coppo di Marcovaldo, from 1274. Beneath, the Romanesque crypt, rebuilt in the 17th century to a design by Jacopo Lafri, has six columns of sandstone.
That silver treasure existed for a reason: in the mid-12th century Bishop Atto had brought a relic of Saint James from Santiago de Compostela and dedicated a chapel to it. One carnival night in 1293, a band of rogues led by Vanni Fucci emptied it of silver, relics and furnishings. Dante put him in Hell.
The cathedral has a history of fires, earthquakes and remodelings. It was probably rebuilt in the 12th century after a fire, and in the 17th century the vaults hid the wooden ceiling.
Don't miss
• The silver altar of Saint James.
• The monument to Cardinal Forteguerri.
• The Madonna Enthroned by Lorenzo di Credi.
• The baptismal font.
Did you know?
• Two slabs of the medieval pulpit were found under the floor of the nave: they had been reused as paving, face down.
• On the facade, at the top, the statues of the city's two patron saints, Saint Zeno and Saint James, once stood in the loggia.
The altar of Saint James is made entirely of embossed silver sheet, worked on every side. A dozen masters worked on it, from 1287 to around 1450. In the center sits the great silver statue of Saint James, commissioned after the plague of 1348. It is in the Chapel of the Crucifix.
Among the goldsmiths, around 1400, was a young Filippo Brunelleschi: he is thought to have carved one side of the dossal, with two seated saints and two half-length prophets.
Under the portico, the lunette with the Madonna and Child and the blue vault with gilded rosettes are by Andrea della Robbia, from 1505. Inside, the ceiling of the central nave shows the painted wooden beams of 1338, brought back into view by the restorations of 1952-1966.
On the inner facade is the arca of Saint Atto, with three bas-reliefs from 1337, and the baptismal font of 1497 designed by Benedetto da Maiano. In the left aisle stands the monument to Cardinal Forteguerri, commissioned from Andrea del Verrocchio. In the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament is the Madonna Enthroned by Lorenzo di Credi.
In the presbytery are a pulpit designed by Giorgio Vasari and the Crucifix on panel by Coppo di Marcovaldo, from 1274. Beneath, the Romanesque crypt, rebuilt in the 17th century to a design by Jacopo Lafri, has six columns of sandstone.
That silver treasure existed for a reason: in the mid-12th century Bishop Atto had brought a relic of Saint James from Santiago de Compostela and dedicated a chapel to it. One carnival night in 1293, a band of rogues led by Vanni Fucci emptied it of silver, relics and furnishings. Dante put him in Hell.
The cathedral has a history of fires, earthquakes and remodelings. It was probably rebuilt in the 12th century after a fire, and in the 17th century the vaults hid the wooden ceiling.
Don't miss
• The silver altar of Saint James.
• The monument to Cardinal Forteguerri.
• The Madonna Enthroned by Lorenzo di Credi.
• The baptismal font.
Did you know?
• Two slabs of the medieval pulpit were found under the floor of the nave: they had been reused as paving, face down.
• On the facade, at the top, the statues of the city's two patron saints, Saint Zeno and Saint James, once stood in the loggia.