Tuscany 2012 – Pistoia

We venture out of the Lucca neighborhood on Satuday, April 21, with a drive east to the small city of Pistoia, about halfway on the road to Firenze (Florence). Like in Lucca, Pistoia’s churches dazzle with striped facades (here dark green and white). The market day is about over when we reach the piazza in front of the duomo, c. 1220. Across from it is octagonal baptistry, c. 1350, the inside of which is quite spare. But the baptismal font, c. 1226, has delicately carved and inlaid square panels enclosing circular reliefs. Of all the striped facades in Pistoia the one on San Giovanni Fuoricivitas is the most brilliant example. This repetition of diamonds and arches and stripes is so stunning in large part because it’s so long. The orientation of the nave of the church is parallel to the street, as opposed to being perpendicular as in the case of most churches. So San Giovanni’s most-ornamented facade is actually the side of the church.

Perhaps Pistoia’s most unusual and most precious facade belongs to the Ospedale del Ceppo, a hospital founded in 1277 and still operating (pun intended). It’s remarkable feature is a frieze, c. 1514-25, of glazed terra-cotta figures running above a street-level arcade. They’re by Giovanni della Robbia, a member of the della Robbia clan celebrated (especially his father Andrea) for mostly white glazed terra-cotta sculptures. The Walters Art Museum has fine examples.

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