Santa Maria delle Grazie is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic basilica church located in the town of Este in the province of Padova, region of Veneto, Italy. Within the shrine is the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Graces, transferred from the ransack of Constantinople and ultimately crowned by Pope Pius VII in 10 December 1822.
A church at the site, but smaller and in a different orientation, was erected in 1478, patronized by the last will of Prince Taddeo d'Este. The original church was located outside of the city walls in association with a Dominican convent. The church was rebuilt starting in 1717 with a single nave. In 1736, demolition of the old church began, and led to discovery of a fresco depicting the Pietà, which became a source of veneration. In 1745 most of the interiors were complete. In 1770, however the monastic order was suppressed in Este, and the Dominicans expelled. By 1776, the church had been reconsecrated as parish church for the frazione of San Martino. Further work, including the construction of the octagonal dome was pursued, and completed in 1889 using designs by the architect Giuseppe Riccoboni. In 1924, the church was conceded the title of a basilica by Pope Pius IX.
The new main altar was inaugurated by Girolamo Bortignon in 1950. In 1965, a fire devastated the Sacristy.
The interior houses in the apse, the main altarpiece depicting a Byzantine (Cretan) icon of the Madonna of the Graces, given to Este by the Venice. A finely carved wooden choir stall is arrayed below in U-shape. The church also contains an altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of St Sebastian (circa 1700) by Alberto Calvelli. Along the nave are niches with 15 stone sculptures of saints, prophets and allegories, sculpted by Pietro Zandomeneghi (1806–1866) and Valentino Panciera, called Besarel. [1] The statues are meant to have presaged or relate to the Life of Virgin: they include Amos, Daniel David, Debora, Anne, Elisabeth, John the Baptist, Simeon, Maria Soror Moysis, Castitas (chastity), Costantia (constance), Oratio (prayer), and Humilitas (humility).
The nave has eight slightly indented side altars and two chapels. The altarpieces of St Dominic and St Thomas Acquinas were painted by Antonio Zanchi. The altar of the Holiest Sacrament is made of polychrome marble. The center of the nave has a late-19th century fresco depicting the Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni Battista Baldi. Baldi also painted the four evangelists in the spandrels of the dome, as well as the medallions along the nave depicting the doctors of the church (Leo the Great, Ambrosius, Augustine, and Jerome) and four allegories of virtues (justice, strength, temperance, and prudence). A canvas depicting the Consignment of the icon to the Dominicans (circa 1700) was painted by Nicola Grassi. [2]
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a Catholic religious order. Officially named Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù all'Argentina, its façade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture. The church served as a model for innumerable Jesuit churches all over the world, especially in the Americas. Its paintings in the nave, crossing, and side chapels became models for Jesuit churches throughout Italy and Europe, as well as those of other orders. The Church of the Gesù is located in the Piazza del Gesù in Rome.
Santa Maria delle Grazie is a church and Dominican convent in Milan, northern Italy, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The convent contains the mural of The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, which is in the refectory.
Sant'Andrea delle Fratte is a 17th-century basilica church in Rome, Italy, dedicated to St. Andrew. The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus S. Andreae Apostoli de Hortis is Ennio Antonelli.
The Dominican Church, also known as the Church of St. Maria Rotunda, is an early Baroque parish church and minor basilica in the historic center of Vienna, Austria. It is the third church built on the same site in the course of time.
Santa Maria in Vallicella, also called Chiesa Nuova, is a church in Rome, Italy, which today faces onto the main thoroughfare of the Corso Vittorio Emanuele and the corner of Via della Chiesa Nuova. It is the principal church of the Oratorians, a religious congregation of secular priests, founded by St Philip Neri in 1561 at a time in the 16th century when the Counter Reformation saw the emergence of a number of new religious organisations such as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the Theatines and the Barnabites.
Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari, also known simply as Giuseppe Chiari, was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome.
San Nicola da Tolentino agli Orti Sallustiani is a church in Rome. It is referred to in both Melchiori's and Venuti's guides as San Niccolò di Tolentino, and in the latter it adds the suffix a Capo le Case. It is one of the two Roman national churches of Armenia. The church was built for the Discalced Augustinians in 1599, and originally dedicated to the 13th century Augustinian friar Saint Nicholas of Tolentino.
Cesare Mariani was an Italian painter and architect of the late-19th century, active in Rome and Ascoli Piceno.
Padua Cathedral, or Basilica Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, is a Catholic church and minor basilica located on the east end of Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the bishop's palace in Padua, Veneto, Italy.
The Ancient Royal and Eminent Basilica Collegiate of Our Lady of the Alms, better known as Basilica della Colleggiata, is a church in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Finished in 1794, it is an example of Sicilian Baroque.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Humility or Madonna dell'Umiltà is a Renaissance-style, Roman Catholic Marian basilica in Pistoia, region of Tuscany, Italy.
The church of Santa Maria Assunta, known as I Gesuiti, is a religious building in Venice, Italy. It is located in the sestiere of Cannaregio, in Campo dei Gesuiti, not far from the Fondamenta Nuove.
The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Brescia is located on at the west end of Via Elia Capriolo, where it intersects with the Via delle Grazie. Built in the 16th century and remodeled in the 17th century, it still retains much of its artwork by major regional artists, including one of its three canvases by Moretto. The other two are now held at the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo. The interior is richly decorated in Baroque fashion. Adjacent to the church is the Sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a neo-gothic work.
The Church of Santa Sofia is a Roman Catholic church in the city of Lendinara, in the Province of Rovigo, region of Veneto, Italy.
The Church of Our Lady of the Graces is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church in Varallo Sesia, province of Vercelli, region of Piedmont, Italy. The church was built, together with the adjacent Franciscan convent, by padre Bernardo Caimi between 1486 and 1493. At this time, the construction of the Sacro Monte was also beginning. In December 1931, Pope Pius XI gave the church the title of Minor Basilica.
San Francesco is a late-Renaissance, Roman Catholic minor basilica church located on via Terranuova in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Santa Caterina d'Alessandria or Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a Roman Catholic church with a main facade on Piazza Bellini, and a lateral Western facade facing the elaborate Fontana Pretoria, in the historic quarter of Kalsa in the city of Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. In front of the main facade, across the piazza Bellini, rise the older churches of San Cataldo and Santa Maria dell'Ammiraglio, while across Piazza Pretoria is the Theatine church of San Giuseppe and the entrance to the Quattro Canti. Refurbished over the centuries, the church retains elements and decorations from the Renaissance, Baroque, and late-Baroque (Rococo) eras. This church is distinct from the Oratorio di Santa Caterina found in the Olivella neighborhood.
The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Chieri is a late-Gothic Roman Catholic collegiate church, and the principal church or duomo, in the town of Chieri, Province of Turin, region of Piedmont, Italy.
Santa Chiara all'Albergaria refers to a church and former monastery located in piazza Santa Chiara, in the quarter of Albergaria in the city of Palermo, region of Sicily, Italy. The church is located near the busy outdoor Ballarò marketplace.
The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, better known as the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and also known as the Baroque church of the Jesuits, is a religious building located in Trieste, in the province and diocese of Trieste; it is the seat of a parish included in the deanery of San Giusto Martire.
