Pistoia - Madonna dell'Umiltà

The Church of the Madonna dell'Umiltà, begun in 1495, was built by Ventura Vitoni, in the manner of Brunelleschi, to house a miraculous image of the Virgin which had begun to perform wonders in 1490. It replaced the earlier Church of Santa Maria Forisportae. The ground-plan of the church is highly unusual. A domed central octagon lies beyond a wider vestibule, and to the rear is a rectangular chapel. The barrel vaulting and the vaulting of the central dome over the vestibule are coffered, and the four successive levels of the central octagon are foreshortened to give an effect of perspective. On the high altar is the miraculous image of the Virgin.