Oratory of Sant'Antonio Abate, Pescia
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Oratorio_di_Sant%27Antonio_Abate_%28Pescia%29.jpg/220px-Oratorio_di_Sant%27Antonio_Abate_%28Pescia%29.jpg)
The Oratory of Sant'Antonio Abate is a 14th-century, Roman Catholic prayer hall located on Via di San Francesco, adjacent to a convent of the same name and now Hospital of Santi Cosma e Damiano, in the town of Pescia, region of Tuscany, Italy.
History and Description[]
This church once belonged to the Canons Regular of St Anthony of Vienna, known as the Antonines, a congregation founded circa 1095, with the purpose of caring for those suffering from the common medieval disease of St Anthony's fire. The order resided in the adjacent convent till 17th-century. The hospital, once Ospedale Leopoldino, was built in 1764.
The simple exterior is made of semi-rough stones with an oculus. The interiors have frescoes on the Life of St Anthony Abbot (1407) by Bicci di Lorenzo. One of the frescoes, Temptation of St Anthony, depicts a vista of 15th-century Pescia. A 13th-century wooden sculptural group depicts the Deposition.[1][2]
References[]
- ^ Comune of Pescia itinerary including church.
- ^ Beni Culturali of Italy, entry on church.
Coordinates: 43°54′12.73″N 10°41′27.84″E / 43.9035361°N 10.6910667°E
- Roman Catholic churches in Pescia
- 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy