Sant'Agostino, Massa Marittima, Gothic church in Massa Marittima, Italy.
Sant'Agostino is a church in Massa Marittima begun in 1299 for the Augustinian order. Its plain stone facade, whose only ornament is the splayed portal, contrasts with the pentagonal apse completed around 1350 to a design by Domenico d'Agostino, crowned with small hanging arches and opened by tall Gothic windows. Inside, a wide single nave is covered by a wooden roof carried on pointed transverse arches and ends in three chapels with pointed arches.
Bishop Orlando Ugurgieri began Sant'Agostino in 1299 for the Augustinian order. The apse was finished around 1350 to a design by Domenico d'Agostino, and the cloister followed in 1410, the bell tower in 1527. The church once kept Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Maestà, rediscovered in 1867 in the attic, cut into five pieces.
The church is dedicated to Saint Augustine and belonged to the Augustinian order, which began it in 1299. Its most famous artwork, Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Maestà, stayed here for years but was found in 1867 in the church attic, badly damaged and cut into five pieces; since 2005 it has been kept in the nearby Museum of Sacred Art.
The church sits in the heart of Massa Marittima and is easy to reach on foot from the main piazza. Visitors should know that active worship times may affect access, and hours of opening can vary throughout the year.
The Maestà by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, now in the nearby Museo di Arte Sacra since 2005, was rediscovered in 1867 in the church attic, badly damaged and cut into five pieces. It was probably painted for the smaller nearby church of San Pietro all'Orto.
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