Santissimo Crocifisso, Baroque church in San Miniato, Italy.
Santissimo Crocifisso is a Greek-cross church with a dome on a drum, built in San Miniato between 1705 and 1718 to a design by Antonio Maria Ferri. Its exterior is plain, while the interior walls are covered with frescoes of scenes from the life of Christ by Anton Domenico Bamberini. A monumental staircase with a statue of the Risen Christ by Francesco Baratta (1636) links it to the Rocca, the duomo and the town hall.
The church was built between 1705 and 1718 to a design by Antonio Maria Ferri, to house a 13th-century wooden crucifix held to be miraculous. It stands in the space between the Rocca, the duomo and the town hall, linked to them by a scenographic staircase whose centre holds Francesco Baratta's 1636 statue of the Risen Christ.
The name comes from the 10th-century wooden crucifix kept in the tabernacle of the high altar, inside a panel painting of the Risen Christ by Francesco Lanfranchi dated 1525. The interior walls carry frescoes of scenes from the life of Christ by Anton Domenico Bamberini, and the dome pillars hold 19th-century statues of the four Evangelists by Luigi Pampaloni.
The church stands in the space between the Rocca, the duomo and the town hall, reached from the town centre by a scenographic staircase with a statue of the Risen Christ by Francesco Baratta (1636) at its centre. The exterior is sober, so look for the entrance off this stepped approach rather than a facade on the street.
The name refers to the Crucifix, not the Holy Cross: the church was built between 1705 and 1718 to Antonio Maria Ferri's design to house a 13th-century wooden crucifix held to be miraculous. That crucifix is kept in the tabernacle of the high altar, inside a panel painting of the Risen Christ by Francesco Lanfranchi dated 1525.
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