During the first half of the 1300s, a girl n
the Ospedale dei santi Donnino e Lorenzo was cured of her infirmity
thanks to the grace of the Virgin Mary (
vi). After this miracle,
the hospital room where the event had taken place was made into
an oratory. A talented painter who takes his name from the event,
the Master of 1336, painted the fresco of the Virgin just as she
had appeared to the sick young girl. A century later a church was
built in place of the oratory and was named after the Madonna delle
Grazie or del Letto because one of the chapels on the left wall
A housed the bed from which the girl saw the miraculous
apparition. The church, sober yet at the same time elegant, has
a simple doorway on the front framed by the candelabra decorations
carved on the door posts and by the large lunette with Pistoia's
coat of arms at the center. it is a fine example of Renaissance
architecture and in its structure we can see the influence of the
great Florentine architect Michelozzo. Although the designer is
unknown, we do know the economic contribution that the City Council
made to embellish the sanctuary which had always been a special
place of worship for the people of Pistoia. It is known that the
Pistoian architect Ventura Vitoni took part in the building phase,
since his presence has been documented at all the most important
city construction sites of the late fifteenth century (
vs14/vs35).
The inside, with a single nave covered by a beautiful lacunar ceiling,
culminates in the imposing choir that seems almost like a building
itself; it recalls the central arrangement of other churches dedicated
to the Virgin, like the basilica of the Madonna dell'Umiltą (
vs35).
The high altar
Bpreserves the fourteenth century fresco executed
in occasion of the miracle and later transferred to the altar once
the church had been finished. The portion of the choir that preserves
intact its Renaissance appearance makes clear reference to the model
that must have inspired the church: Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel
in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence. Next to the Church of
Santa Maria delle Grazie there used to be a convent for nuns of
the Augustinian Order. The entire religious complex was suppressed
at the end. of the eighteenth century by order of Bishop Scipione
de' Ricci (
vs20) and was
incorporated into the patrimony of the Ospedale del Ceppo(
vs16).
The church began once again to serve parochial functions around
the middle of the last century.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card (s.i.) means see information
inside
The Miracle of the Virgin of Grace
In 1336 a girl who had been immobile in a hospital bed for nine
years saw a Woman dressed in white who held a smiling child in her
arms. The apparition promised her good health and soon thereafter
she was cured. Fame of this miraculous healing spread through the
city, intensifying the cult of the Virgin Mary, the- Miracle Worker
to whom Pistoia would turn. repeatedly in the course of its history.
Even today the townspeople show their affection for the Virgin of
Grace by writing their hopes and thanks in the notebook placed on
the lectern next to the entrance of the Cappella del Letto.
