Former oratory of the Virgin of the Assumption

The Oratory of the Vergine Assunta (Virgin of the Assumption), a masterpiece of late 14th-century Pistoia painting, is known to the inhabitants of Serravalle Pistoiese as the House of Pictures.
Following the suppression of religious companies and oratories in 1789 - ordered by the bishop of Pistoia, Scipione de' Ricci - the building was used as a civilian residence and was divided into four rooms arranged on two floors, remaining hidden for centuries under the plaster of a house until, some renovation work brought the paintings back to light.
On the wall of the façade is the Crucifixion while, on the counter façade, is the sinopia with the Dormitio Virginis and the Assumption of Mary (from which the building takes its name).
On the left wall is the Passion of Christ and on the right is the Last Judgment, which features a monumental scene with Jesus the Judge in the center, divided into three registers: the lower one depicts the damned under the control of the Archangel Gabriel holding a sword; in the middle register, the Apostles hold scrolls and their symbols in their hands; and finally, in the upper register, there is the Madonna with Jesus, preceded by angels in flight with the symbols of the Passion.