San Michele Arcangelo, Romanesque church in Volterra, Italy
San Michele Arcangelo is a 13th-century Romanesque church on Via Guarnacci in Volterra. Its gabled facade, dating to around 1285, has a lower register of two-tone marble and pietra dura arches on carved capitals, repeated in the upper register, and a deep recessed portal. The interior was rebuilt in neoclassical style between 1826 and 1827.
The church is first recorded in 987. The present building dates to the 13th century, with the Romanesque facade of marble and pietra dura striations completed around 1285. The Scolopi order, owners since 1711, had the interior rebuilt in neoclassical style between 1826 and 1827.
The church has belonged to the Scolopi order since 1711, and their 1820s renovation gave the interior its neoclassical look. In the presbytery, a marble tabernacle by the Balsimelli workshop of Settignano frames a glazed terracotta Madonna and Child by Andrea della Robbia. The nave altars hold a Holy Family by Carlo Maratta and a Madonna of the Redemption fresco attributed to Cenni di Francesco.
San Michele Arcangelo stands at Via Guarnacci 6, directly across from the medieval Palazzo Maffei-Guarnacci (Casa Torre Toscano), so it is reached on foot within Volterra's centre. The interior was remodelled in the 1820s, so expect a neoclassical hall rather than a Romanesque one.
The interior was completely remodelled in the 1820s on the orders of the Scolopi, who had owned the church since 1711, so the neoclassical hall no longer matches the 13th-century facade. The oratory of Saint Christopher holds a Madonna and Child fresco attributed to Vincenzo Tamagni.
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