San Francesco is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

-style,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church located on the piazza of the same name in

Pistoia Pistoia (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about north-west of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typic ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy.

History

According to tradition, St Francis had visited Pistoia in 1220. Soon after, a few adherents of St Francis had grouped themselves in a small monastery attached to a small church called ''Santa Maria del Prato'' or ''Santa Maria Maddalena'', located at about the location of the present church. The property appears to have been granted to them by the canons of the cathedral. As the monastery grew, a new church, representing the present structure, was begun by 1294, dedicated to the ''Holy Cross'', and manned by the

Order of Friars Minor Conventual The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

. While the single nave structure with a number of lateral altars was completed by 1340, modifications and refurbishment proceeded for centuries. The lateral windows are thin and tall. The facade was only added in 1707. The convent was suppressed in 1808 by the Napoleonic government, but the friars were allowed to return in 1819. In 1866, the monastery was again suppressed, this time by the Italian State and its buildings passed into property to the Commune. In 1926 the convent was again returned to a community of conventual friars. In 2016, the Franciscans ceded the property and church to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram.

Description

The description of the interiors in 1853 by Tigri, recalls the following interior decoration: To the right of altar from entrance *1st altar (Lafri family) had an altarpiece with an ''Adoration of the Magi'' by Gismondino Lafri or his son Jacopo. *2nd altar (Sozzifanti dal Duomo family) had an altarpiece with an ''Annuciation'' by

Lazzaro Baldi Lazzaro Baldi ( – 30 March 1703) was an Italian painter and engraver of the Baroque period active mainly in Rome.

*3rd altar (Carafantoni family) has an altarpiece with a ''Nativity'' (1609) by Giuseppe di Silvestro Schiettini *4th altar (Sanmarini family) had an altarpiece with an ''Immaculate Conception'' attributed to followers of il Poppi *5th altar (Arrighi family) had an altarpiece with a ''Mary at the Temple'' attributed to il Poppi *6th altar (Bracciolini family) had an altarpiece with a ''Virgin and Saints'' attributed to school of Andrea del Sarto. In the presbytery *7th altar (Gatteschi family) has an altarpiece with a ''St Jacob'' by

Pietro Marchesini Pietro Marchesini (April 7, 1692 - October 24, 1757) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Tuscany. Biography He was born in Pistoia. He was patronized by Lorenzo Maria Gianni, and studied with Anton Domenico Gabbiani in Floren ...

*8th altar (Pazzaglia family) had an altarpiece with a ''St Anthony of Padua'' by Francesco Leoncini *9th altar (Baron Bracciolìni and main chapel) had frescoes depicting ''Life of St Francis'' attributed to

Lippo Memmi Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356) was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law. Together with Martini, in 1333 he painted what is regarded as one of the masterworks of the Intern ...

or Margaritone On the left of the altar *10th altar (Fioravanti family) had an altarpiece with a ''San Giuseppe da Covertino'' by Francesco Artizzoni *11th altar (Visconti family) had an altarpiece with a ''St Roch and other Saints'' (1638) by Giacinto Gimignano *13th altar (dedicated to Prior Sozzifanti) has an altarpiece with a ''Resurrection of Lazarus'' by

Bronzino Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italians, Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or r ...

*14th altar (Franchini family) had an altarpiece with a ''Wedding at Canna'' by

Gregorio Pagani Gregorio Pagani (14 July 1559 – 1605) was an Italian painter of the late 16th century, active mainly in Florence. He was the son of the painter Francesco Pagani, then became a pupil of Santi di Tito, then entered the studio of Ludovico Cigoli ...

and completed by

Matteo Rosselli Matteo Rosselli (10 August 1578 – 18 January 1650) was an Italian painter of the late Florentine Counter-Mannerism and early Baroque. He is best known however for his highly populated grand-manner historical paintings. Biography He first appr ...

*15th altar (Desideri family) had an altarpiece with a ''St Francis receives stigmata'' by Giovannone Zeti *16th altar (Gallo family) has an altarpiece with a copy of a ''Virgin by Reni'' by

Elisabetta Sirani Elisabetta Sirani (8 January 1638 – 28 August 1665) was an Italian Baroque painter and printmaker who died in unexplained circumstances at the age of 27. She was one of the first women artists in early modern Bologna, who became a successful p ...

*17th altar (Bracciolini dalle Api family) has an altarpiece with a ''Refuge in Egypt'' by

Aurelio Lomi Aurelio Lomi (29 February 1556 – 1622) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance and early-Baroque periods, active mainly in his native town of Pisa, Tuscany (at the time in the Republic of Florence). Biography The brother of the painters ...

Other chapels had frescoes by Nanni di Jacopo and Bartolomeo di Giovanni Cristiani, Bonaccorso di Cino and the master of the Bracciolini Chapel. In the chapter hall are 13th-century frescoes attributed to

Antonio Vite Antonio Vite was a fourteenth century Italian painter of the early 15th century. He was a pupil of Gherardo Starnina, and was born at Pistoia. He was active around the year 1428, and was perhaps identical with one ''Antonio Filippo da Pistoia'', ...

. A polyptych at this church by

depicting ''Virgin between St. Paul, St. John the Baptist, St. James, St. Francis, St. Louis, St. Mary Magdalen, and Santa Chiara'' was described by Vasari, but is no longer present.A History of Painting in Italy, Umbria, Florence and Siena, Volume 3
by Joseph Archer Crowe, Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle, Robert Langton Douglas, page 80. Storia della Croce di Bonaccorso di Cino, sec. XIV.jpg, History of the Cross by Bonnaccorso di Cino Resurrezione di Lazzaro di Alessandro Allori, 1594.jpg, Resurrection of Lazarus by Bronzino Il poppi, presentazione di gesù al tempio, 1584, 02.jpg, Presentation at Temple by Il Poppi Elisabetta sirani, madonna col bambino tra i ss. francesco e caterina d'alessandria, 1650 circa.jpg, Madonna and child and Saints by Elisabetta Sirani Aurelio lomi, riposo durante la fuga in egitto, 1615 ca. 02.jpg, Flight to Egypt by Aurelio Lomi

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francesco Pistoia 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches in Pistoia Gothic architecture in Pistoia