Oratory of Sant'Antonio Abate, Pescia

facade

The Oratory of Sant'Antonio Abate is a 14th-century, Roman Catholic prayer hall located on Via di San Francesco, adjacent to a convent of the same name and now Hospital of Santi Cosma e Damiano, in the town of Pescia, region of Tuscany, Italy.

This church once belonged to the Canons Regular of St Anthony of Vienna, known as the Antonines, a congregation founded in 1095 or so, with the purpose of caring for those suffering from the common medieval disease of St Anthony's fire. The order resided in the adjacent convent till 17th-century. The hospital, once Ospedale Leopoldino, was built in 1764.

The simple exterior is made of semi-rough stones with an oculus. The interiors have frescoes on the Life of St Anthony Abbott (1407) by Bicci di Lorenzo. One of the frescoes, Temptation of St Anthony, depicts a vista of 15th-century Pescia. A 13th-century wooden sculptural group depicts the Deposition.[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ Comune of Pescia itinerary including church.
  2. ↑ Beni Culturali of Italy, entry on church.

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