Church San Lorenzo - Pistoia - Tuscany

The large Augustinian complex was desired by the Bishop of Pistoia Guidolaste Vergiolesi, who laid the foundation stone on July 3, 1278. There was a large organ that was enriched with registers in the 1600s. In the 16th century, the monastic complex was completely renovated with the construction of the rectangular cloister of Saint Augustine and the C-shaped cloister with dispensation, which communicates with the vegetable gardens. The interior spaces were renovated and refurbished.
The church and monastery suffered from heavy monomissions because the state designated them as barracks. Despite the discovery of important frescoes, work continued and the complex housed first the Francesco Ferruccio barracks from 1881 and then the military district until 1945. After a long period of vacancy at the monastery, the former church was used as a municipal depot and carpentry workshop, which were later abandoned. After a long dispute over the property, which was divided between the municipality and the state, a restoration campaign began in the 1990s that saved the cloister and the roof of the church from total destruction, important fresco cycles were discovered on the interior walls of the church Unfortunately, the work stopped.

Its importance is reflected in the decoration of the church's walls, with frescoes by 14th-century Pistoiese artists, including Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani, the author of Saint Christopher, and 15th-century artists, including Niccolò di Mariano da Siena and Bernardino del Signoraccio, with the Holy Conversation between Saint Sebastian and Tobiolo and the Angel and with the Nativity.

Willem Vandenameele