Oratory of the Battuti, Oratory and church in Bologna, Italy
The Oratorio dei Battuti is a small church on the first floor of a building in the historic center of Bologna, part of the Santa Maria della Vita complex. Its walls and ceiling are covered with Baroque paintings and frescoes, and it holds a terracotta sculpture group by Alfonso Lombardi as its main artwork.
The Confraternita dei Battuti founded a church on this site in the 13th century to care for the sick and welcome pilgrims passing through Bologna. After an earthquake in 1686 destroyed the original structure, it was completely rebuilt in the Baroque style.
The oratory is open Tuesday through Sunday and closes on Mondays and certain holidays. It sits close to Piazza Maggiore, making it easy to reach on foot from the city center.
The main sculpture inside, the Transito della Vergine by Alfonso Lombardi from around 1519, includes a scene where an angel stops a man from knocking over the Virgin's tomb. The figures are nearly life-size and shaped from clay, giving them a raw presence that is rarely seen in works of that age.
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