Church San Paolo - Pistoia - Tuscany

The original church was oriented with the facade towards the then Via della Spada, now Via della Rosa. The expansion started in 1136, with the expansion to the south and the commissioning of the space outside the Porta Caldatica. Above the portal, Moses David is carved in bas-relief. On the facade, to the right of the portal, two stone arches bear the coat of arms of the Banchieri family, whose palace was at the back of Via Amati.

The glazed panel behind the apse was replaced in the 1990s by a work by sculptor, painter and ceramicist Umberto Buscioni depicting the Conversion of Paul. In 2011, again by the same artist, four stained glass windows were added, depicting the four parts of the day: dawn, morning, afternoon, night. Each stained glass window contains a 'mystical' flower, which recalls the virtues of the Virgin Mary. The choice of this theme for the stained glass windows is also related to the four time blocks (also divided according to the four parts of the day) during which the Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the side chapel of the church, in which the faithful are kept day and night, every day. of the year without interruption in prayer. The chapel, an inner room at the base of the bell tower, was originally used by the bell ringer to operate the church bells. There are still some fragments of decorations dating from around 1700.

Willem Vandenameele