Page 271 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

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poly gonal San Sepolcro, E Pinacoteca
the most appealing of the Nazionale
quartet. Also dating from the Via delle Belle Arti 56.
11th century, its centrepiece Tel 051 420 94 11. Open
is the tomb of St Petronius, 9am–1:30pm Tue & Wed;
a marvellously overstated 2–7pm Thu–Sun & hols.
affair modelled on the Holy Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 15 Aug,
Sepulchre of Jerusalem. 25 Dec. & 7
The courtyard contains the Bologna’s principal art
so-called Fontana di Pilato, gallery, and one of
an 8th-century basin. northern Italy’s most
The 5th-century Santi important collections,
Vitale e Agricola is the oldest stands on the edge of
church in the city. It was rebuilt the city’s university
in the 8th and 11th centuries. district, a bustling area
Inside are the sarcophagi of of bars, bookshops and
saints Vitalis and Agricola, cheap restaurants. The
martyred in the 4th century. gallery is mainly dedi ca-
Santa Trinità features a small ted to work by Bolognese
museum of minor paintings painters, notably Vitale
and religious artifacts, da Bologna, Guido Reni,
including wooden statues Guercino and the
of the Adoration of the Magi Carracci family. Members
painted by Simone dei of the Ferrarese School The Ecstasy of St Cecilia (c.1515) by Raphael in Bologna’s
Crocifissi (c.1370). are also represented, in Pinacoteca Nazionale
particular Francesco del
Cossa and Ercole de’ Roberti. The churches. Begun in 1221, after
Bell tower
two highlights are Perugino’s St Dominic’s death, it was built
Madonna in Glory (c.1491) and to house the body of the saint,
Raphael’s famous Ecstasy of St who died here and lies buried
Cecilia, painted around 1515, in a tomb known as the Arca di
both artists having worked San Domenico. A magnificent
in Bologna. composite work, the tomb’s
statues were executed by Nicola
E Museo delle Cere Pisano; the reliefs of scenes from
Anatomiche the Life of St Dominic were the
Via Irnerio 48. Tel 051 209 15 33 or 051 work of Nicola Pisano and his
209 15 56. Open 10am–1pm, 2–6pm assistants; the canopy (1473)
Mon–Thu, 10am–1pm Fri. Closed 1 Jan, is attributed to Nicola di Bari;
Easter, 1 May, 25 Dec, pub hols. 8 while the figures of the angels
The Museum of Anatomical and saints Proculus and
Waxworks is one of the more Petronius are early works by
memorable of Bologna’s Michelangelo. The reliquary
smaller museums, featuring (1383) behind the sarcophagus
occasionally gruesome visceral contains St Dominic’s head.
waxworks and numerous
models of organs, limbs and
flayed bodies. Sculpted rather
than made from casts, they
have an artistic as well as
scientific appeal. The models
Choir Stalls The exquisite
inlaid choir stalls of the Chapel were used as medical teaching
of the Holy Sacrament were made aids until the 19th century.
by Raffaello da Brescia in 1521. Exhibits from the 18th century
are in Palazzo Poggi, which
also contains the Geografia
e Nautica collection.
R San Domenico
Piazza di San Domenico 13. Tel 051
640 04 11. Open daily. 7
Bologna’s San Domenico can lay
claim to being the most impor- Arca di San Domenico in the Basilica di
tant of Italy’s many Dominican San Domenico

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