An old legend held dear by the people of Pistoia
tells that it was Saint Francis himself who ed his brothers to Pistoia.
In truth the first Franciscan community in the city was documented
only in the mid thirteenth century. The small church of Santa Maria
al Prato, together with a dormitory, refectory and cloister sufficiently
served the local Franciscan community's needs for about forty years.
With the growth of the Order, the monks asked the City Government's
permission to build a new church and monastery more suited to their
needs. Santa Maria al Prato was soon torn down to make way for the
new church of San Francesco whose first stone was consecrated by
the Bishop Tommaso Andrei on September 8, 1289. Once the building
was begun, it progressed slowly and the work underwent repeated
interruptions, reaching completion only half way through the fourteenth
century. Of simple and elegant design, the building shows the forms
of mature Gothic architecture with its one nave and five chapels
in the apse. The vertical thrust of the choir, together with the
bare vastness of the central hall, is in fact fully in keeping with
the stylistic canons of the mendicant orders (
vs40)
who were the major proponents of this artistic movement. Many of
the artworks that had enriched the church over time have since been
relocated; examples are the thirteenth century Saint Francis panel,
recently attributed to Coppo di Marcovaldo, today in the Municipal
Muse (
vs46) and the Madonna
and Child with Angels by Pietro Lorenzetti, today in the Uffizi
Gallery in Florence. The Chapter affrescos (
vi)
A
are still visible and although there are only fragments left, these
give a good idea of the Franciscan church's previous splendor. Proof
of the Franciscans' active patronage can be seen in works like:
the great Crucifix at the head of the right trancept
B painted
by the Master of 1310 (
vs46);the
fresco Scenes of Saint Francis on the walls of the high chapel
C painted by an artist very dose to the Bolognese style; the
Pietà painted by Bonaccorso di Cino on the left wall of the nave
D These works are all part of the most advanced artistic
movements of the first half of the 1300s. Also of great interest
are the decorative works that began in the 1380s and that testify
to a particular period of late. fourteenth century painting in Pistoia
(
vs40/44/46).
The coming together of enlightened patrons and artists of high quality
resulted in: the Bracciolini Chapel
E painted by an unknown
Master who takes his name from the chapel; and the Sacristy F where
Giovanni Cristiani (
vs40/48)
and Antonio Vite (
vs36/40/44).
were at work. The great period of Italian Gothic style ended with
the fourteenth century and / the Franciscan church of Pistoia fell
into many years of decline. The ancient paintings remained untouched
until the early seventeenth century when a different taste moved
aristocratic patrons to erect family altars along the walls and
the monks to paint over the walls of the presbytery chapels. It
is difficult to know exactly what became of the monastery since
the religious community was suppressed during Napoleonic rule For
many years the monastery and church served various functions (
vs5/46)
sino al 1926, anno della celebrazione francescana, quando furono
soggetti a radicali restauri e tornarono di proprietà dell'ordine.until
1926, a year of Franciscan celebrations when the buildings underwent
radical restoration.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card (s.i.) means see information
inside
