Description
The Ex Chiesa del Tau is the old church of Sant'Antonio Abate, in the centre of Pistoia: a 14th-century building, now deconsecrated, that hides one of the city's great fresco cycles. Next door is the convent, home to the Museo Marino Marini.
The reason to go in is the frescoes by Niccolò di Tommaso, the Florentine painter from Orcagna's circle who began them in 1372 with some assistants, perhaps including Antonio Vite of Pistoia. They cover the walls in three tiers, one above the other.
One above another you can read the Old Testament stories, those of the New Testament and the life of Saint Anthony, the hermit to whom the church was dedicated. It is one continuous narrative, to be followed wall after wall.
The name comes from the T-shaped cross, the tau, that the brothers of the Order of Saint Anthony wore sewn onto their habits: it recalls the staff the saint leans on in pictures. The surrounding countryside turned to him to protect domestic animals.
Even when the friars were gone, in the 16th century, the cult stayed alive thanks to the saint's feasts, both sacred and secular.
The church was founded in 1361 by Fra Giovanni Guidotti, head of the house of Saint Anthony in Florence, together with the convent, on the land freed by the demolition of the second ring of walls, with the blessing of the order's abbot general.
The complex also included a hospital and an oratory. The convent enjoyed a period of prosperity under Pope Leo X, then began a long decline.
The frescoes have survived a difficult history. After the order was suppressed at the end of the 18th century, the church was sold, divided into several floors and turned into housing. Only the restoration that began in 1962 brought the painted cycle back to light. Since 2014 the church and convent have been run by the State, today through the Direzione regionale Musei della Toscana.
The reason to go in is the frescoes by Niccolò di Tommaso, the Florentine painter from Orcagna's circle who began them in 1372 with some assistants, perhaps including Antonio Vite of Pistoia. They cover the walls in three tiers, one above the other.
One above another you can read the Old Testament stories, those of the New Testament and the life of Saint Anthony, the hermit to whom the church was dedicated. It is one continuous narrative, to be followed wall after wall.
The name comes from the T-shaped cross, the tau, that the brothers of the Order of Saint Anthony wore sewn onto their habits: it recalls the staff the saint leans on in pictures. The surrounding countryside turned to him to protect domestic animals.
Even when the friars were gone, in the 16th century, the cult stayed alive thanks to the saint's feasts, both sacred and secular.
The church was founded in 1361 by Fra Giovanni Guidotti, head of the house of Saint Anthony in Florence, together with the convent, on the land freed by the demolition of the second ring of walls, with the blessing of the order's abbot general.
The complex also included a hospital and an oratory. The convent enjoyed a period of prosperity under Pope Leo X, then began a long decline.
The frescoes have survived a difficult history. After the order was suppressed at the end of the 18th century, the church was sold, divided into several floors and turned into housing. Only the restoration that began in 1962 brought the painted cycle back to light. Since 2014 the church and convent have been run by the State, today through the Direzione regionale Musei della Toscana.