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Church of Santa Maria della Spina
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Santa Maria della Spina is a small church in Pisa, a masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture and an extraordinary example of particularly Pisan Gothic. Its name comes from “spina”, a "thorn" in Italian, and refers to a Thorn from the Crown of Christ on the Cross that was conserved in a church from the XIV to XIX century and later was moved to another church of Santa Chiara.
The temple built previously in 1230 by Gualandi family originally had a name of Santa Maria del Pontenovo (Saint Mary of the New Bridge) due to the road that connected city streets with the nearest bridge, collapsed in the XV century.
Originally the church was projected with one unique loggia and a gable roof atop. The works started in 1323 by Lupo di Francesco and later continued by famous Andrea and Nino Pisano were completely finished in 1376. Within the centuries the church was reconstructed and rebuilt many times due to its close position to the Arno river. Finally, after the Italian unification in XIX century a special commission formed by the Fine Arts Academy decided to move Santa Maria della Spina some meters higher and to the east for security. All the stones were numerated to dismantle and to reassemble the church on another level.
Santa Maria della Spina has a rectangular form and is totally covered with polychromatic marble. The roof is covered with numerous steeples, the church is decorated with the tympani and tabernacles and a complex of rose-windows and statues by Pisan artists of XIV century – Lupo di Francesco, Andrea Pisano and his sons Nino and Tommaso, and Giovanni di Balduccio. The statues of the exterior are the copies, the originals are conserved today in the National Museum of San Matteo.
In contrast to rich and ornate external, the single-room interior of the church is rather simple. In the centre of the presbytery you can admire a masterpiece of the Gothic sculpture by Andrea and Nino Pisano – the Madonna of the Rose. The statue of Madonna del Latte by the same sculptors was moved to the San Matteo Museum. The north wall contains the tabernacle of the XVI century by Stagio Stagi where the Thorn from the Christ’s Crown was placed before. The ceiling of the church was painted in XIX during the reconstruction works.
The temple built previously in 1230 by Gualandi family originally had a name of Santa Maria del Pontenovo (Saint Mary of the New Bridge) due to the road that connected city streets with the nearest bridge, collapsed in the XV century.
Originally the church was projected with one unique loggia and a gable roof atop. The works started in 1323 by Lupo di Francesco and later continued by famous Andrea and Nino Pisano were completely finished in 1376. Within the centuries the church was reconstructed and rebuilt many times due to its close position to the Arno river. Finally, after the Italian unification in XIX century a special commission formed by the Fine Arts Academy decided to move Santa Maria della Spina some meters higher and to the east for security. All the stones were numerated to dismantle and to reassemble the church on another level.
Santa Maria della Spina has a rectangular form and is totally covered with polychromatic marble. The roof is covered with numerous steeples, the church is decorated with the tympani and tabernacles and a complex of rose-windows and statues by Pisan artists of XIV century – Lupo di Francesco, Andrea Pisano and his sons Nino and Tommaso, and Giovanni di Balduccio. The statues of the exterior are the copies, the originals are conserved today in the National Museum of San Matteo.
In contrast to rich and ornate external, the single-room interior of the church is rather simple. In the centre of the presbytery you can admire a masterpiece of the Gothic sculpture by Andrea and Nino Pisano – the Madonna of the Rose. The statue of Madonna del Latte by the same sculptors was moved to the San Matteo Museum. The north wall contains the tabernacle of the XVI century by Stagio Stagi where the Thorn from the Christ’s Crown was placed before. The ceiling of the church was painted in XIX during the reconstruction works.
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