Description
The Church of San Paolo is an ancient church in the centre of Pistoia, founded in the 10th century and rebuilt from the 12th: outside it has the forms of Tuscan Gothic, inside a single, austere and bare nave. It makes for a short stop, with a few works that surprise.
The most curious is the Sacred Conversation by Fra Paolino, from 1528: the friar painter gave Saint Peter Martyr the face of Girolamo Savonarola.
On the wall is the fresco of Saint Agatha and Saint Eulalia by Gerino Gerini, from 1520; opposite, a 14th-century Crucifix that used to be carried in penitential processions. Among the paintings there's also a Christ in Glory with Saint Cajetan by Paolo de Matteis. In the sacristy, 14th- and 15th-century frescoes have come back to light.
Outside, above the portal, Moses and David are carved in low relief. On the right, two stone tombs bear the coat of arms of the Banchieri, the family whose palace stood on the street behind the church, Via Amati.
The church has changed direction. The older one stood outside the first ring of walls and faced what was then Via della Spada, now Via della Rosa; from 1136 it was lengthened southwards, until it filled the space outside Porta Caldatica.
The bare interior has a history of misfortune: heavy remodelling in the 17th and 19th centuries, then the fire of 1895, which destroyed the roof and the organ and ruined many furnishings.
The stained-glass windows are modern. Behind the apse, the window with the Conversion of Paul is by Umberto Buscioni, from the 1990s, and in 2011 the same artist added four more on the parts of the day: dawn, morning, afternoon and night, each with a flower dedicated to the virtues of Mary.
The theme recalls the Eucharistic adoration held here day and night, without a break, in the chapel at the foot of the bell tower, the room from which the bell-ringer once worked the bells.
The most curious is the Sacred Conversation by Fra Paolino, from 1528: the friar painter gave Saint Peter Martyr the face of Girolamo Savonarola.
On the wall is the fresco of Saint Agatha and Saint Eulalia by Gerino Gerini, from 1520; opposite, a 14th-century Crucifix that used to be carried in penitential processions. Among the paintings there's also a Christ in Glory with Saint Cajetan by Paolo de Matteis. In the sacristy, 14th- and 15th-century frescoes have come back to light.
Outside, above the portal, Moses and David are carved in low relief. On the right, two stone tombs bear the coat of arms of the Banchieri, the family whose palace stood on the street behind the church, Via Amati.
The church has changed direction. The older one stood outside the first ring of walls and faced what was then Via della Spada, now Via della Rosa; from 1136 it was lengthened southwards, until it filled the space outside Porta Caldatica.
The bare interior has a history of misfortune: heavy remodelling in the 17th and 19th centuries, then the fire of 1895, which destroyed the roof and the organ and ruined many furnishings.
The stained-glass windows are modern. Behind the apse, the window with the Conversion of Paul is by Umberto Buscioni, from the 1990s, and in 2011 the same artist added four more on the parts of the day: dawn, morning, afternoon and night, each with a flower dedicated to the virtues of Mary.
The theme recalls the Eucharistic adoration held here day and night, without a break, in the chapel at the foot of the bell tower, the room from which the bell-ringer once worked the bells.