[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=”0″ images=”7996″ img_size=”full” onclick=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTVCZmxleHlfYnJlYWRjcnVtYiU1RA==[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/6″][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”30px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”4\/6″][vc_column_text]The Church of the Santissima<\/strong> Annunziata<\/strong>, along Via Garibaldi, is one of the most important Renaissance churches in Arezzo. Its origins coincide with the birth of the Compagnia della Santissima Annunziata, created by a group of Arezzo nobles for the purpose of prayer, penance and charity in the first half of the XIV century.<\/p>\n Around 1348, the members of the lay society asked permission from Bishop Boso degli Ubertini<\/strong> to build an oratory, now incorporated into the church fa\u00e7ade. In 1364, a hospital for wayfarers was also built a short distance away, dedicated to St Christopher, where on 26 February 1490 a young man from La Spezia, returning from a pilgrimage to Loreto, was staying. The man was praying in front of a statue of the Virgin when, according to tradition, she began to cry. Thus the cult of the \u201cMadonna of Tears\u201d was born.<\/p>\n The episode brought large sums of money into the company’s coffers, the fruit of alms, devotional offerings and bequests, which made it possible to design a church larger than the previous one. The design was entrusted to Bartolomeo della Gatta<\/strong> and in 1491 work began on a poly-absidal Latin cross building.<\/p>\n In 1502 the great Renaissance artist died and two years later the supervision of the works passed into the hands of Antonio da Sangallo<\/strong>, who made changes and extensions to his predecessor\u2019s design. During the sixteenth century, the dome was built, a new fa\u00e7ade incorporated the old oratory and the aisles were completed.<\/p>\n Before entering the church, on the right you can admire a masterpiece of the fourteenth-century Arezzo school enclosed in the large tabernacle that surmounted the entrance to the first oratory. This is the \u201cAnnunciation<\/em>\u201d datable to around 1370 and attributed by some historians to the young Spinello Aretino<\/strong>, by others to his master Andrea di Nerio<\/strong>. The fresco was part of the first oratory.<\/p>\n Inside, the tour begins from the first altar on the left wall, which houses a youthful work by Giorgio Vasari<\/strong>, the “Deposition of Christ<\/em>“, executed by commission of the Compagnia del Corpus Domini for the Basilica of San Domenico in the years 1536-37 and transported to its current location around 1796-97.<\/p>\n The next altar has a canvas with seven \u201cSaints\u201d painted by Pietro Castellucci<\/strong> in 1676, with a central niche for a bust of the \u201cMadonna and Child<\/em>\u201d from the early sixteenth century.<\/p>\n The fourth altar displays a stupendous 14th-century wooden \u201cCrucifix<\/em>\u201d of the Tuscan school rich in pathos, followed by the Spadacci Chapel with Matteo Rosselli<\/strong>‘s delicate \u201cAnnunciation<\/em>\u201d of 1625-26.<\/p>\n The Ricciardi Chapel in the left transept houses a remarkable \u201cAdoration of the Shepherds<\/em>\u201d by Niccol\u00f2 Soggi<\/strong> from 1521, surmounted by the precious seventeenth-century organ.<\/p>\n The high altar in polychrome marble, designed by Bernardo Buontalenti<\/strong>, dates back to 1596. It houses the \u201cMadonna of Tears<\/em>\u201d, a \u201cMadonna and Child<\/em>\u201d from the first half of the XV century, protagonist of the miracle of 1490, attributed to Michele da Firenze<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In the right transept, the Spadari Chapel is the only one remaining of the niche aediculae from the late fifteenth century. Inside, one can admire the terracotta statues by Agnolo di Polo<\/strong> depicting the \u201cMadonna and Child between St. Francis and St. Roch<\/em>\u201d, completed between 1526 and 1527.<\/p>\n Walking down the right wall in the direction of the exit, we encounter four altars. The Montauti Chapel holds \u201cThe Ecstasy of St. Francis<\/em>\u201d, a 1641 jewel by Pietro Berrettini<\/strong>, the second altar houses the \u201cMadonna in Glory between St. Donato and St. Francis<\/em>\u201d from 1665 by an anonymous Tuscan, the third and fourth chapels house paintings from the first half of the XVII century with \u201cSt. Francis Receiving the Stigmata<\/em>\u201d by Bernardino Santini<\/strong> and the \u201cCrucifixion\u201d by Teofilo Torri<\/strong>.<\/p>\n A lunette in the atrium was partially frescoed in 1527 by Niccol\u00f2 Soggi<\/strong> with \u201cLa Sibilla Tiburtina che annuncia a Ottaviano la venuta del Salvatore<\/em>\u201d (The Tiburtine Sibyl announcing the coming of the Saviour to Octavian). Finally, two large circular stained-glass windows by Guillaume de Marcillat<\/strong>, executed between 1524 and 1525, deserve special mention. At the top right is the \u201cMarriage of the Virgin<\/em>\u201d and in the apse area the \u201cAssumption of the Virgin<\/em>\u201d.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”90px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”12946″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]The three-nave interior of the Church of the\u00a0 Santissima Annunziata, one of the most beautiful Renaissance temples in Arezzo[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13299″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]Our Lady of Tears<\/em> by Michele da Firenze (first half of the 15th century) protagonist of the miracle of 1490[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”13446″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]Deposition of Christ<\/em> by Giorgio Vasari, an early work influenced by Rosso Fiorentino (1536-37)[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”12950″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]14th-century wooden crucifix of the Tuscan school, originally in the Church of San Maria di Murello[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”12952″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]Ricciardi Chapel with the beautiful Adoration of the Shepherds by Niccol\u00f2 Soggi, oil on panel dated back to 1521[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”12954″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]Spadari Chapel with the Madonna and Child between the Sts. Francis and Rocco by Agnolo di Polo (1526- 27)[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”13335″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]St. Francis in Ecstasy, valuable oil on canvas dating back to 1641 by Pietro Berrettini, known as Pietro da Cortona[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”12958″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]Canvas with the Madonna in Glory<\/em> between St. Donatus and St. Francis<\/em>, by an anonymous Tuscan painter from 1665[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13391″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]Annunciation<\/em> by Spinello Aretino or Andrea di Nerio, in the tabernacle outside the church (c. 1370)[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”60px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text]Share[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”15px”][vc_column_text]