The foundation of the church, although still uncertain,
probably dates back to the first half of the twelfth century when
we find reference in a document to a church consecrated to San Paolo
built on a free piece of land outside the second city wall (
vs8).
The structures and size of that original church can be made out
in the apse and sacristy of the present Gothic building. The more
ancient church of San Paolo (of which significant traces are found
at the back) was enlarged in the first half of the thirteenth century,
but only after the city wall was destroyed, could the church expand
to its present size. Thus the former nave was transformed into a
large chapel that opens on to the presbytery, with altars and rich
decorations seen in the frescos that have been recently discovered
and restored (
vi).
San Paolo was redone in the Baroque period with the creation of
altars (of which only the high altar and two side ones remain today),
confessionals and the presbytery stairway with its pietra serena
balustrade.
The church is a beautiful example of Gothic architecture in which
echoes of the traditional Pistoian polychromy can still be seen
(
vs29/30/34),The
facade is embellished by the pinnacled doorway in white marble where
a statue of Saint Paul is placed at the center. Along the nave we
encounter works of art from different periods including: the late
fourteenth century fresco depicting the Madonna of Humility
A
(
vs35) attributed
to the Pistoian artist Antonio Vite (
vs41);
the Holy Conversation by. Fra' Paolino
B (
vs46)
painted during the first half of the 1500s for the high altar in
the church of San Domenico (
vs40)
the canvas by Paolo De Matteis, a follower of Luca Giordano, depicting
Christ in Glory and Saint Gaetano of Thiene
C.
The seventeenth century layout was upset by work done in the 1800s
in the neo-Gothic style that was in vogue at the time. All the altars,
except the three mentioned above, were removed; some windows were
walled up and others opened; the vault of the apse and the wings
of the trancept were changed; the chantry and the chapels of the
Rosary
A and of the Cross
B, were made smaller; the
organ and the choir were moved. At the end of the century a terrible
fire caused great damage to the building and its furnishings. About
a hundred years. after that tragic event, the church regained new
splendor after a series of restorations which saw the addition of
a new work: the modem stained glass windows by the Pistoian painter
Umberto Buscioni
D (
vs23).
Located next to the church, the Oratory of Saint Gaetano was built
for the Compagnia dei Disciplinati in the late 1300s. Because of
the many renovations that it has undergone, the building conserves
none of its original appearance. What we see today is the result
of a plan that, legend tells, was drawn by Gian Lorenzo Bernini
who was working in the church of the Santo Spirito (
vs37),in
the seventeenth century, but there is no document to confirm this
attribution.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card (s.i.) means see information
inside
