Chiesa e Ospedale di
Santa Maria della Misericordia (1303)
The Confraternita di Santa Maria della Misericordia, which administered this hospice was formed in ca. 1300 to care for those who were too poor to pay for medical help and for abandoned children. It received official approval from Bishop Bulgaro da Montemelino to establish this hospice in 1305, and the adjacent church was consecrated to the Santi Innocenti. The confraternity was decimated during the plague of 1348 and reconstituted in 1396, when the Commune reformed its constitution.
The charitable donations that the confraternity attracted enabled it to
invest in property in the vicinity, which accounts for the ubiquitous
trigrams on the buildings on each side of the street. The church took over the role of the parish church of SS Donato e Arrigo in 1542, and its high altar received this dedication at that point. (This church, which later re-opened as San Giuseppe, is a little further along Via Oberdan - see Walk II). It also took over the role of the parish church of Santa Lucia when that church (which stood on what is now the site of Palazzo Donini) was demolished to make way for Rocca Paolina.
The church was virtually rebuilt by Pietro Carattoli
in 1760. The hospital expanded over the centuries along what is now Via Oberdan, reaching the ex-Chiesa di San Giuseppe in 1833. It survived until 1923, when it was incorporated into the modern hospital that was built in the ex-Monastero di Santa Maria di Monteluce. The church was de-consecrated at that point. It has recently been restored and now houses a picture gallery.
Facade
[The church was rebuilt built in 1760 on the foundations of the original, which had become exposed in 1581 when the
level of the street in front of it had been significantly lowered]. The arch of the original red and white stone portal (1305) can be seen above the present portal (1760).
Two frescoes in niches to the sides depict:
the Madonna and angels (early 14th century), attributed to Marino da Perugia (to the right); and
Santa Maria della Misercordia (1520), attributed to Giovanni Battista Caporali(to the left).
Interior
The restoration of the interior has revealed the clean lines of the rebuilt church. Some of the frescoes (18th century) on the ceiling and the upper part of the walls survive.
Traces of the Etruscan walls are displayed under the floor.
Works Removed from the Church
Processional Crucifix (ca. 1272)
This small, double-sided processional Crucifix, which is attributed to the Maestro di San Francesco or a follower, was documented in the 19th century at Santa Maria della Misercordia. It is now in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 1).
There is a small kneeling figure of St Francis
kissing the right foot of Christ on one side of the crucifix. This figure was
over-painted at some point to remove his attributes of the stigmata and
the Franciscan cord, but these original features were revealed in a
recent restoration.
Madonna and Child (ca. 1310)
This panel, which is probably the earliest work to be attributed to Meo di Guido da Siena, was part of a polyptych from Santa Maria della Misercordia. It entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 2) in 1879.
Madonna del Libro (ca. 1510)
This altarpiece by a follower of Raphael was recorded in the sacristy of Santa Maria della Misercordia in the 18th century, and was donated to the Galleria Nazionale (Room 27) in 1863. The composition is based on Raphael’s Conestabile Madonna (now in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg).
Return to Walk II.