Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita
| Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita | |
|---|---|
| Basic information | |
| Location | Bologna, Italy |
| Geographic coordinates | Coordinates: 44°29′36″N 11°20′41″E / 44.493398°N 11.344617°E |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | Gothic and Renaissance |
The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita is a late-Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church in central Bologna, near the Piazza Maggiore.
History
The construction of the present Baroque church began in 1687-1690 under the designs of Giovanni Battista Bergonzoni, who built the elliptical plan with a dome designed by Giuseppe Tubertini, completed in 1787. The facade was not added till 1905. The sanctuary houses the sculptural group of Sorrow over Dead Christ (1463) by Niccolò dell'Arca. In the adjacent oratory, designed in 1617 by Floriano Ambrosini is a Madonna with child and Saints (1550) by Nosadella and a Transit of the Madonna (bodily assumption), a group of 14 statues in terracotta (1522) by Alfonso Lombardi. On the niches of the walls are statues of St Proculus and St Petronius by the famed sculptor Alessandro Algardi, as well as by Giulio Cesare Conventi (St Francis and St Domenic).