Santa Maria della Quercia

History

In 1417, a local artist painted an icon of the Virgin following the design of a local painter Maestro Martello. The image was placed on an oak tree in the countryside, and became a source of veneration, which only increased in 1467 during a scourge of the plague. Miracles were attributed to the icon, and the image was ensconced in a chapel.

An altar was erected in 1467 and a chapel commissioned by Pope Paul II. The chapel was initially affiliated with the Gesuati order, a Tuscan order which specialized in the aid to pilgrims. Within a few years, Franciscan monks substituted the priests of the Gesuati order and commissioned this larger church, built between 1470 and 1525. On the 8 of April 1578, the church was consecrated by the Cardinal Francesco de Gambara, who is buried in the church. The event was celebrated with a cycle of frescoes at the Palazzo dei Priori, Viterbo. The sanctuary acquired many patrons, including popes.

The facade is built with rustic stone. The three portal lunettes have terracotta decorations depicting the Madonna, Saints and Angels (1504–1508), completed by Andrea della Robbia. The bell tower has three orders of columns. The interior has a central nave and two aisles with a ceiling designed by Antonio da Sangallo the younger, depicting the symbols of the Madonna, Pope Paul III, and the Lion symbol of Viterbo. The Campanile, built in 1481–1505 by Ambrogio da Milano, was demolished in the 17th century.

The counter-facade has a fresco (1636) depicting the Miracle of the Priest of Canapina by Angelo Pucciati. The walls of the chapels have 17th and 18th-century frescoes detached from nearby suppressed or destroyed churches. In the presbytery is a small tempietto structure (1490) by Andrea Bregno, surrounding paintings were completed Michele Tosini, nephew of Domenico Ghirlandaio.

The apse has intarsia in the wooden choir stalls, and there is a tondo in the vault displaying a Madonna della Quercia (1519) by il Truffetta. The main altarpiece in the choir depicts the Coronation of the Virgin completed by Mariotto Albertinelli. …