Church San Giovanni Fuorcivitas - Pistoia - Tuscany

The church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas, dedicated to John the Evangelist, is a very special building. The long side of the building, ie the northern side wall, actually acts as the facade of the church, while the real facade is tucked away in an alley. The pseudo facade is also beautifully decorated with alternating bands of white and green marble, blind arches, windows and two colonnades one above the other. The real facade in Via della Misericordia Vecchio, on the other hand, is not much and consists mainly of brick. The church also has a bell tower with a spire that is just visible from Via Camillo Benso Cavour. A bush grows on top, which is probably indicative of the state of maintenance of the tower. The tower can be seen better from the bell tower of the Duomo of Pistoia, which is 250 meters away.

The name of the church refers to the fact that in the time of the Lombards (568-774) it stood just outside the city walls of what was then Pistoia. Fuori civitas literally means 'outside the community', that community being formed by the people who lived within the walls. In present-day Pistoia, the church stands right in the center of the city, from which we may deduce that the Pistoia of the early Middle Ages was little more than a large village. In 1119, Bishop Ildebrando of Pistoia (1105-1131) noted that the church from the Longobard period was in a dilapidated state. He probably then ordered the rebuilding. With the decoration of the north wall mentioned, the San Giovanni received its famous pseudo facade in 1323. The back was decorated in 1344. With that, the church was completed. The building is largely built in Romanesque style, with some Gothic elements here and there, such as the window in the rear and the spire.

The Romanesque facade with bands of white and green marble is typical of churches in Tuscany. Above the entrance we see a beautifully carved architrave depicting the Last Supper. Jesus and his disciples are seated at a long table. The Messiah sits in the center with the young John, 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. He has laid his head on Jesus' shoulder. Judas is also present, by the way, but he is on his knees on the other side of the table and so clearly does not belong to the exalted company.

The San Giovanni Fuorcivitas is a single-aisled and rather dark church. The building is also quite small, but in that small area it houses a considerable number of interesting objects. Close to the official entrance is a beautifully carved holy water font usually attributed to Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250-1315), although that attribution is far from certain. The vessel is carried by three women who represent the theological virtues: faith, hope and love. The vessel itself has four female heads representing the cardinal virtues.

Opposite the side entrance, on the right-hand side of the church, is a magnificent pulpit from 1270. The pulpit, carried by lions, bears the symbols of the four evangelists in the center. The winged ox, lion and man symbolize Luke, Mark and Matthew respectively. John's eagle towers over them. Of course, because the church is dedicated to John. The bearded men on the corners of the pulpit may also represent the evangelists, but in their 'normal' guise. Otherwise they are undoubtedly certain apostles. The front and sides of the pulpit are decorated with beautifully carved reliefs depicting scenes from the life of Christ, including a dramatic crucifixion.

In a niche to the left of the pulpit is a famous glazed terracotta statue made in 1445 by Luca della Robbia (c. 1400-1482). It represents the Visitation, that is, Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth. During and as a result of the visit, Elizabeth became filled with the Holy Spirit and became pregnant with John the Baptist. The story is described in the Gospel of Luke and so it is fitting that the creator of the statue was also named Luke (Luke in Italian).

The church also has a few paintings that are worth seeing. The damaged and largely disappeared frescoes in the back are attributed to the mysterious Maestro del 1310. The Madonna and Child is central to the polyptych. It is flanked by James the Greater and John the Evangelist on the left and Peter and John the Baptist on the right.

Willem Vandenameele