San Cristoforo alla Certosa
 San Cristoforo Church and access to the cemetery |
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| Basic data | |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| place | Ferrara , Italy |
| diocese | Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio |
| Building history | |
| architect | Biagio Rossetti |
| construction time | 1498 - 1551 |
| 44 ° 50 '43.2 " N , 11 ° 37' 36.6" E | |
The Church of San Cristoforo alla Certosa is located in Ferrara at 50 Piazza Borso d'Este, an integral part of the Cimitero Monumentale della Certosa di Ferrara .
history
In 1452, Borso d'Este had a large monastery built in Ferrara and invited the Carthusian monks of Grenoble to build it. According to the tradition of the order , they chose an isolated place far from the city center. Only a few decades later, after the Addizione Erculea commissioned by Ercole I. d'Este and entrusted to the court architect Biagio Rossetti , the complex was located near the new city center and was incorporated into the walls of Ferrara.
The current church dates from 1498 when construction began next to the original church. The church is the most mature work of Biagio Rossetti, even if for some historians the historical documents do not prove its authorship. The opening for worship was only possible in 1551.
The monks were expropriated with the Napoleonic abolition of the church and the monastery. It was acquired by the Municipality of Ferrara and reopened for worship in 1813. The adjacent site has been converted into a monumental public cemetery. The early church and the cloister were later demolished in order to build a colonnade that characterizes the square in front of it. It was badly damaged during the Second World War, with the bell tower, apse cover and south gable of the transept being destroyed. From the first post-war period until today there have been several restoration and consolidation works.
description
Outside
The facade is unfinished and appears to have been designed to accommodate marble cladding. In the 17th century the monumental marble portal with the coat of arms of the Carthusian Order was added, designed by Gaetano Barbieri from Verona, Pietro Puttini and Francesco Zoppo (the two putti).
Inside
The interior is grand, with a single nave and six side chapels. The marble bas-reliefs on the bases of the columns date back to the beginning of 1500 and represent the heraldic achievements of the Este family, in particular that of Borso d'Este (Paradour, fountain, unicorn), Hercules I (diamond, oak , Hydra), Alfonso I. (Grenade). There are also many Carthusian religious symbols.
The church houses works by Nicolò Rosselli, Lodovico Carracci , Agostino Carracci , Sebastiano Filippi , Francesco Naselli, Giacomo Parolini, Giuseppe Antonio Ghedini and other Ferrara painters from the late 1500s. On the high altar is a valuable wooden ciborium , designed by the architect Nicolò Donati and realized by Marc'Antonio Maldrato in 1597. The wooden choir with 56 inlaid chairs is attributed to Pier Antonio degli Abbati and comes from the church of Sant'Andrea.
Individual evidence
literature
- Carlo Bassi: Nuova guida di Ferrara. Vita e spazio nell'architettura di una città emblematica . 2G editrice (reprint of the 1981 edition by Italo Bovolenta), Ferrara 2012, ISBN 88-89248-14-9 (Italian).
- Marcello Toffanello: Ferrara: la città rinascimentale e il delta del Po . Libreria dello Stato, Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome 2005 (Italian).
- Barbara Ghelfi (text): Ferrara estense. Guida storico-artistica . Silvana editoriale, 2004 (Italian).
- Carlo Bertelli, Carlo Bassi, Micaela Torboli, Diego Marani: San Cristoforo alla Certosa a Ferrara . Skira, Milan 2007, ISBN 978-88-6130-357-7 (Italian).
- Roberto Roda, Renato Sitti (eds.): La Certosa di Ferrara . Interbooks, Padua 1985.
Web links
- San Cristoforo alla Certosa . Comune di Ferrara. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- Tempio di San Cristoforo alla Certosa . Provincia di Ferrara. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- Certosa di Ferrara . Retrieved April 25, 2020.