The Romanesque exterior facade was originally simpler, but with the rise of architectural influence from Pisa, a dramatic series of arches surmounted by three sets of horizontally crowned porticos was added to the lower floor. The interior opens into a wide nave, or main aisle, with two smaller aisles. The broad apse, or rounded end of the sanctuary, is very wide with a line of slightly pointed or ogival pre-Gothic columns surrounding an area for the clergy built above a crypt. The church boasts the famous multi-panelled painting or polyptych entitled Madonna with Child, Annunciation, and Assumption painted in 1320 by Pietro Lorenzetti for Arezzo’s 61 st bishop, Guido Tarlati. Lining the wall is the fresco titled Saints Francesco and Domenic by an early 14th century student of Renaissance master Giotto. Also here resides a 14 th century bust of Saint Donatus (San Donato), who was born in Arezzo in the 4th century and is now the patron saint of the city and province. Of the church’s wonderful sculptures, the 13 th century dedication to the Virgin Mary in the lunette (or archway) over the main door and the low relief carving from the same period portraying the passing of the months are both exceptional. The Campanile dalle Cento Buche, or Bell Tower with a Hundred Holes, built in 1330 offers an unusual contrast to the horizontal flow of the rest of the exterior. It gets its name from the 40 double arched mullioned windows, divided into five sections, which accentuate the ancient tower’s reach as it stretches upward almost 60 meters high.[1]


Parrocchia Dei Santi Donato E Pietro In Cattedrale
Indirizzo: 1 Piazza Del Duomo, Arezzo, AR 52100

Santa Maria della Pieve, the bell tower and façade. The bell tower, finished in 1330, is in Romanesque style.

This great polyptych, commissioned by the Ghibelline Bishop of Arezzo, Guido Tarlati, is Pietro Lorenzetti’s earliest documented work. The contract, signed on 17 April 1320, still survives. Local citizens made donations towards the cost, which continued until January 1324. The polyptych contains twenty panels, with glowing gold grounds. The lowest course shows the Virgin and Child in a patterned white gown lined with ermine (centre, more than life size), St John the Evangelist and St Donatus (left) and the Baptist and St Matthew (right). Above the centre panel is the Annunciation and above that, in a pinnacle, the Assumption of the Virgin. Other panels show half-length figures of saints, about half life-size. St Luke, the bearded saint to the left of the Annunciation, may be a portrait of the artist. Signed on the lower frame; another inscription (Petrus me fecit) was discovered on St Reparata’s sword during a restoration in 1979. The predella, mentioned by Vasari (who was himself responsible for removing the polyptych from the high altar), is lost, as are the frescoes of the Life of the Virgin in the apse of the church. Despite being dismantled and relocated several times, the remainder of the polyptych is largely intact and in tolerably good condition. 

Art in Tuscany | Tarlati Polyptych

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