The construction of the Concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, the Cathedral of Pontremoli, was decreed by the Pontremoli General Council on July 7, 1630. The decision was made to build “a grand, noble temple large enough to accommodate as much of the people as possible.” Based on a design by the Cremonese architect Alessandro Capra in 1633, the work began in 1636 in the area created by demolishing the old oratory of St. Mary of the Square (or of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary) and other adjacent buildings. It was completed only in 1687. Recognized as a Collegiate Church in 1699 and consecrated by the Bishop of Brugnato in 1732, the church was finally established as a Cathedral in 1787. In 1988, it became the Concattedrale of the Diocese of Massa Carrara – Pontremoli.

As part of the intense renovation that characterized the sacred architecture of the city, this is the most significant example for its size and full adherence to the principles of the Counter-Reformation Church, as decreed by the Council of Trent and exemplified in Jesuit structures. The Cathedral of Pontremoli follows this layout with a single large nave, side chapels, a short transept, and an exceptionally high and luminous dome at the intersection of the arms.

The frescoes on the vault of the nave and transept, painted by Francesco Natali in the late 1600s, were replaced by stuccoes in the mid-1800s, while the stuccoes of the presbytery and choir date back to the mid-1700s. The Neoclassical chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (1828) and the façade (1878-1881), made of white Carrara marble and designed by the Florentine Vincenzo Micheli, also date from the 19th century.

The church’s rich pictorial furnishings form a kind of anthology of 18th-century Italian painting. Commissioned by “Benefactors and Devotees of the Great Protector, the Blessed Virgin Mary of the People,” the important Marian-themed paintings in the presbytery and choir arrived first: “The Birth of the Virgin” by Gian Domenico Ferretti, “The Visitation” by Vincenzo Meucci, “The Marriage of the Virgin” by Giuseppe Peroni, and “The Assumption” by Giuseppe Bottani. These works demonstrate how the patrons’ attention was directed toward Tusco-Emilian artists such as Ferretti and Meucci—one more inclined to revive stylistic elements from his master Sebastiano Galeotti, the other with a stronger Bolognese accent—and also toward academicians, both in the Emilian version infused with Lombard motifs by Peroni and the typically Roman interpretation of Bottani. Bottani, a prominent member of the Accademia di San Luca, represents the pinnacle of this academic tradition, rich in classical references, and adapted according to the style of Maratta. Another example in the Cathedral is the “San Vicino” by Pierre Subleyras, perhaps arrived through Bottani’s influence, who likely also played a significant role in guiding the subsequent commissioning choices in Pontremoli.

For the completion of the paintings in the transepts, the commission turned to Roman-style artists interpreting the now-dominant Neoclassicism: Jacopo Berger, Giuseppe Collignon, and Domenico Corvi.

Also influenced by Roman culture is the “Oath” by the Pisan Giovanni Battista Tempesti, donated in 1792 by the Caimi family. This large canvas, depicting the vow of the people of Pontremoli to the Virgin to ask for her help during the plague of 1622, represents the last devotional tribute to the Madonna del Popolo, depicted in the ancient revered wooden statue, dressed in rich 18th-century garments, placed in a niche at the center of the choir.

fotografie: arch. Elia Santini