Oratory of San Bernardino, Siena

The Oratory of San Bernardino is a small Roman Catholic prayer hall or independently standing chapel, located on via Vallerozzi in Siena, region of Tuscany, Italy.

The oratory has frescoes from various 16th- and 17th-century Sienese painters. It is dedicated to the 13th-century preacher San Bernardino da Siena. The oratory is almost adjacent to the Basilica of San Francesco, Siena.

Interiors

The upper oratory was decorated in 1496 with engraved wood panelling and ceilings. The wall frescoes were completed a team of painters, and include:

• Il Sodoma:
  • St Ludovico
  • Presentation of Mary at the Temple
  • St Francis of Assisi
  • Visitation of Mary and Anne
  • Coronation of the Virgin
• Domenico Beccafumi
  • Marriage of the Virgin
  • Glory of the Virgin
  • Madona in Glory with Saints
• Girolamo del Pacchia
  • Birth of Mary
  • St Bernardino
  • Archangel Gabriel of the Annunciation
• Sano di Pietro
  • Madonna

There is a marble bas-relief of the Madonna with Angels, by Agostino di Giovanni.

The lower oratory contains 16th century terracotta statues depicting St Bernardino and St Catherine of Siena, as well as Andrea del Brescianino’s Madonna and Child With Saints Ansanus and Bartholomew. The lower oratory has frescoes depicting Life of San Bernardino.

The Diocesan Museum is next door to the oratory.

References

• Painting in Late Medieval and Renaissance Siena, 1260-1555, by Diana Norman, page 261.
• The Story of Siena and San Gimignano, by Edmund Garratt Gardner, page 285.