Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Popiglio
An interesting encounter between Tuscan tradition and Roman Baroque on the Pistoia Mountains
In the town of Popiglio, part of the municipality of San Marcello Piteglio, you can find the parish church dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta. Completed in 1271, it's an important example of Romanesque art on the Pistoian Mountains.
On the outside, it maintains a medieval exterior, evidenced by the gabled façade, sandstone masonry and stone sculptures decorating the entrances and windows.
Inside, embellishments from later eras differ from its initial appearance. From the 16th century onwards, the building was enriched with numerous works of art, first thanks to the parish priest, Girolamo Magni, then to the Vannini family of Popiglio origin, who had settled in Rome as traders.
In the parish church, you are greeted by many treasures: two sixteenth-century panels by Sebastiano Vini from Verona, the Assumption of the Virgin and the Last Supper; a magnificent Baroque 17th century organ by the pontifical organ builder Giuseppe Testa; the Crucifixion by Giacinto Gimignani (1663) and a marble group sculpted by Francesco Pincellotti depicting the Madonna and Child with Saints Francis of Assisi and Paola.
The sixteenth-century sacristy, one of the rooms where the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Popiglio has been set up, houses the fourteenth-century altarpieces that once adorned the altars of the church. You can also admire a wood sculpture of Saint Lucia from the fourteenth century, a medieval choir with miniatures by the Florentine painter Pacino di Buonaguida and numerous jewelled objects, including furnishings from the Roman Baroque.
From the sacristy, you can access the Chapel of the Annunciation, commissioned by the Vannini family. Six marble busts decorate the walls, coming from a Roman workshop close to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The altar vaunts the Annunciation by Sebastiano Vini.
The Parish of Popiglio is part of the Sacred Art Itinerary of the Ecomuseo della Montagna Pistoiese.
