CENTRAL TUSCANY - Florence and Tuscany - page 206

Ghirlandaio (1475) telling the
life story of St Fina; legend
has it that she spent most of
her short life in prayer. The
towers of San Gimignano
feature in the background
of the funeral scene.
Under an arch to the left of
the Collegiata is a courtyard
containing the loggia to the
Baptistry, frescoed with an
Annunciation painted in
1482 by Ghirlandaio.

Pollaiuolo, dated 1483, and
the choir is entirely covered
in a cycle of frescoes of The
Life of St Augustine (1465), by
the Florentine artist Benozzo
Gozzoli and his assistants.
In the Cappella di San
Bartolo, on the right of the
main entrance, is an elaborate
marble altar completed by
Benedetto da Maiano in 1495.
The bas-relief carvings show
the miracles performed by St
Bartholomew, all topped by
flying angels and a roundel
of the Madonna and Child.

T

Rocca
Piazza Propositura.

daily.
The Rocca, or fortress, was
built in 1353. It now has only
one surviving tower following
its dismantling by Cosimo I
de' Medici in the 16th century.
It encloses a public garden
filled with fig and olive trees,
and commands superb views
over the vineyards where
wine has been produced for
hundreds of years.

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The ceiling of the Collegiata, painted
with gold stars

of Adam and Eve , Noah and
his Ark, Moses Crossing the
Red Sea and The Afflictions
of Job , finished by Bartolo
di Fredi in 1367. On the
opposite walls are scenes
from the life of Christ, dated
1333-41, now attributed to
Lippo Memmi, a pupil of
Simone Martini. At the back
of the church, on the nave
walls, are scenes from The
Last Judgment , painted by
Taddeo di Bartolo (1393-6).
They depict the souls of the
damned being tortured in hell
by devils relishing their task.
The tiny Santa Fina chapel,
off the south aisle, is covered
with a cycle of frescoes by

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Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino. Tel 0577 90
70 12.

Detail from The Life of St Augustine

7am-noon, 3-7pm Tue-
Sun (from 10am Dec-Mar).

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7
This church was consecrated
in 1298 and has a simple
façade, contrasting markedly
with the heavily decorated
Rococo interior (c.1740) by
Vanvitelli, architect to the
kings of Naples. Above the
main altar is the Coronation
of the Virgin by Piero del

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Museo Ornitologico
Via Quercecchio. Tel [phone].
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Apr-Sep: 11am-5:30pm daily. &

The museum is in an
elaborate 18th-century
Baroque church. This is in
total contrast to the sturdy
cases of stuffed birds that
form the collection, put
together by a local dignitary.

Fresco from the early 14th-century Wedding Scene cycle by Memmo di Filippucci in the Museo Civico