Santa Maria della Quercia (Viterbo)

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Santa Maria della Quercia

Santa Maria della Quercia, facade

Diocese : Viterbo
Basilica minor
Patronage : St. Mary
Consecration year: 1578
Religion: Roman Catholic
Medal: Dominican / Ordo Predicatorum (OP)
Address: Piazza del Santuario
01100 Viterbo (VT)

The church of Santa Maria della Quercia is a pilgrimage church in the La Quercia district of Viterbo , Italy.

history

According to a legend, a certain master Monetto had painted a picture of the Madonna on an old Roman brick around 1400. This picture was pinned by a Battista Juzzante to an oak (ital. Quercia ) on the road from Viterbo to Bagnaia . The picture was soon considered to be miraculous and a modest place of worship was established on the spot.

A papal bull by Paul II in 1467 authorized the parish of Viterbo to build a church in honor of this miraculous image. Construction began in 1470 under the direction of Maestro Danese da Viterbo. Bramante , Giuliano da Sangallo or Antonio da Sangallo are sometimes named as architects of the building . In 1490 Andrea Bregno was commissioned to build an altar structure that surrounds the oak with the miraculous image. In 1867 it received the rank of minor basilica. From 1469 to 1933 the monastery and church were under the care of the Dominican Order. It has been a parish since 1933 .

The outer

Layout

The mighty facade (1508–1517) rises high above a wide staircase and is characterized by simple austerity. On the uniform Bossenwerk dark peperine a tympanum protrudes with the relief of an oak, protects the two lions (the arms of Viterbo). The structure consists of two finely crafted candelabra and elegant portals. The lintels of glazed terracotta are works of Andrea della Robbia (1508); saints from the Dominican order are depicted. The coat of arms of Pope Julius II is located above the main portal . The campanile , built by Ambrogio da Milano in 1481–1505, was removed from the top in the 17th century.

The inner

Giuliano da Sangallo is responsible for creating the spacious interior. The main nave and the two aisles are supported by two rows of columns. The naves are closed by deep apses . The crossing is surmounted by a dome. In 1861–1880 the church was renovated and the presbytery redesigned.

The magnificent coffered ceiling by Antonio da Sangallo (1519–1524) is remarkable . The gold for the ceiling was made by Emperor Charles V Pope Paul III. and donated by him to the church. The artistic highlight in the church is the marble altar temple executed by Andrea Bregno in 1490, which contains the oak with the miraculous image.

  • Main nave

  • The ceiling

  • Altar tabernacle by Andrea Bregno and Michele Tosini

  • The main altar

  • The sacristy

  • Cloister

Convent and cloister

Adjacent to the church is the former Dominican monastery with a cloister built between 1479 and 1513.

swell

  • Mario Signorelli: Santuario Madonna della Quercia, Viterbo: storia, arte e culto nei secoli , a cura della Cassa di Risparmio della provincia di Viterbo in occasione del V centenario della Manifestazione miracolosa, Viterbo 1967.
  • PROGETTO MIRABILIA, Associazione culturale per la divulgazione del patrimonio storico artistico.
  • Viterbo.artecità.it
  • Thomas Pöpper : Sculptures for the Papacy. Life and work of Andrea Bregno. Plöttner Verlag , Leipzig 2010, ISBN 978-3-938442-86-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ Thomas Pöpper: Sculptures for the Papacy. Page 77 ff.

Web links

Commons : Santa Maria della Quercia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 42 ° 25 ′ 46 ″  N , 12 ° 7 ′ 47 ″  E