Sant' Agostino
(13th century)
A community of Augustinians hermits was established on this site outside Arco Etrusco in ca. 1256, soon after the formation of the order. Its new church and the adjacent convent hosted the General Chapter of the Order in 1279 and again in 1303.
The original church seems to have been rectangular in plan with a polygonal apse. This apse was demolished in the 14th century, and the present transept and apse were built, considerably increasing the capacity of the church. The octagonal campanile was then built above the chapel to the left of the apse.
Martin Luther celebrated Mass here in 1510, on his way to Rome.
The church was effectively rebuilt at the turn of the 18th century, to a design by Stefano Cansacchi di Amelia. The project was completed in 1803, after a hiatus caused by the French occupation of Perugia. Some of the late-18th century additions were stripped away in 1945, when a number of the 14th century elements of the interior were recovered.
Papal forces occupied the convent during the Salt War of 1540. It again became a barracks when the community was suppressed fin 1810 and then, this time definitively, in 1860. It now houses the Caserma Militare Braccio Fortebracci.
Facade
The lower part of the façade, with its attractive pink and white stone was part of the 14th century project, and the upper part was built in 1579. A portico that had been built in the late 18th century was removed in 1945, when the double portal (14th century) was restored.
Chapels on the Left
Frescoes (1377)
These frescoes in the Cappella di San Bartolomeo (2nd on the left) were discovered in 1945. They are signed by Pellino di Vannuccio and dated, and are the only known works by this artist. The fresco on the back wall, which depicts Crucifixion with the Virgin and SS John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene and a bishop saint, is the best preserved.
Other frescoes in the chapel include:
the Nativity (on the right);
a fragment of the Presentation of Christ (on the left); and
two saints below the Crucifixion: St Herculanus on the left; and St Jerome in his study on the right.
Madonna and Child with saints (1466)
This dated fresco in the Cappella di Santa Monica (3rd on the left) depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Joseph and Jerome.
Cappella di Santa Lucia Nuova
This chapel (the 4th on the left), which is also dedicated to St Rita of Cascia, was built in the 16th century in the style of Michele Sanmicheli.
Left Transept
The altar on the back wall of this transept was originally dedicated to St Lucy. This is in fact a partition wall; doors to the sides of the altars lead to the two original Gothic chapels behind:
the Cappella di San Nicolò da Tolentino (on the left), in which some frescoed aedicules have been exposed; and
the Cappella dei Consoli (on the right), in which an important fresco (late 14th century) of the Dormition of the Virgin has been rediscovered. This has been attributed to Allegretto Nuzi. [It was locked on my recent visit - hence no photograph].
Apse
The high altar originally stood at the crossing of the church, with the friars' choir behind it. Mattia di Tommaso da Reggio built a frame (1495-1500) above it for a huge double-sided polyptych (1502-23) by Perugino. Baccio d’ Agnolo carved the choir stalls (1503) to designs that are sometimes attributed to Perugino.
The execution of the panels for the polyptych was protracted, but it must have been largely complete by the time of Perugino's death in 1523 because his executors requested final payment. As part of this final payment, the friars promised to move Perugino’s body from the Oratorio dell’ Annunziata, Fontignano to Sant’ Agostino, but this promise was never honoured.
The altarpiece seems to have been part of a larger structure:
In 1512, the friars commissioned Giovanni Battista di Cecco (called Bastone) to build a partition around it that would complete the separation of their choir from the rest of the church.
In 1520, they commissioned Eusebio da San Giorgio to complete part of the structure that they termed the “cassa”, which was possibly a pair of doors that would cover the altarpiece except on special occasions.
a large wooden tabernacle was placed in front of the polyptych (as seen from the nave) in 1580;
the surrounding structure that completed the separation of the choir from the body of the church was probably also demolished at this point; and
the polyptych was dismantled in 1654 and the choir was relocated behind the altar.
Right Transept
The altar on the back wall of this transept was originally dedicated to St Nicholas of Tolentino. This is in fact a partition wall; doors to the sides of the altars lead to the two original Gothic chapels behind:
the Cappella dell’ Incoronazione (on the left); and
the Cappella dello Spirito Santo (on the right).
 |  |
Frescoes (14th century) in the | Frescoes (14th century) in the |
Crucifixion (14th century)
This fresco (which is also illustrated above) is under the window of the Cappella dell' Incoronazione. The surviving fragment shows SS Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist to the right of the Cross.
Deposition of Christ in the Sepulchre (late 14th century)
This fresco is in a niche in the Cappella del Crocifisso, on the transept side of the wall that separates the transept from the nave. It depicts the dead Christ being lowered on a sheet into a marble sarcophagus. The Virgin stoops to kiss Him, St Mary Magdalene holds His hand, and St John the Evangelist looks away in anguish. The figure of Joseph of Arimathea, who holds the sheet at the feet of Christ, is particularly fine.
Cappella di San Tommaso da Villanova (1523)
Severo di Paride Petrini commissioned the design of this chapel (1st on the right) from Francesco di Guido di Virio da Settignano and entrusted the supervision of its construction and decoration to Domenico Alfani. See the page on works of art removed from the church for details of the altarpiece by Domenico Alfani, which was removed in 1799.
Madonna delle Grazie (early 16th century)
This fresco, which is attributed to Giannicola di Paolo, was rediscovered in 1945 and now forms the altarpiece of the chapel.
Nave
Panels by Hendrik van den Broeck
These panels by Hendrik van den Broeck (Arrigo Fiammingo da Malines), which were until recently in the 2nd chapel on the right, now hang on opposite walls in the nave. They depict:
Christ and St Andrew (1551) on the left; and
the Martyrdom of St Catherine (1560) on the right.
Return to Walk V.