Church of Santa Maria della Vita

The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita, located in the heart of Bologna, represents an extraordinary testimony of the city’s history and religious art. Its origins date back to the 13th century, when the movement of the Disciplinati, known as the Flagellants, arrived in Bologna from Perugia led by Blessed Raniero Fasani. Initially, the complex included a hospital for the sick and pilgrims and a small Romanesque church dedicated to San Vito. The transformation of the sanctuary over the centuries has been significant. By the end of the 14th century, the church gained increasing importance, thanks to the numerous miraculous healings attributed to the image of the Madonna with Child and Saints, painted on the altar. This fresco, attributed to Pietro di Giovanni Lianori, was rediscovered in 1614, further strengthening popular devotion. A dramatic event marked the history of the sanctuary in 1686, when the collapse of four bays of the fifteenth-century church made a total reconstruction necessary. Architect Giovanni Battista Bergonzoni was commissioned for the project, which included an elliptical central plan. The dome, added a century later, was designed by Antonio Galli da Bibbiena and executed by Giuseppe Tubertini in 1787. With its 52 meters in height, this dome is one of the tallest in Bologna and gives the sanctuary an imposing grandeur. Inside, the sanctuary is a masterpiece of Bolognese Baroque. The central plan is crowned by the elliptical dome, decorated with stuccoes and coffers. In the pendentives are large high reliefs depicting the four Sibyls, the work of Luigi Acquisti. The main chapel, designed by Angelo Venturoli, houses the miraculous fresco of the Madonna with Child, placed in a neoclassical niche surmounted by stucco angels. The sanctuary is especially known for the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, a terracotta sculptural group by Niccolò dell’Arca, commissioned in 1463. This masterpiece of fifteenth-century sculpture represents six life-size figures surrounding the recumbent Christ, expressing intense dramaticity. The work, originally placed near the entrance of the ancient sanctuary, is now visible in the chapel to the right of the presbytery. The Oratory of the Beaten, on the upper floor, was built between 1604 and 1617 according to a design by Floriano Ambrosini. This Baroque space, dedicated to the Madonna and Blessed Raniero, is decorated with golden stuccoes and paintings depicting miracles and scenes from the life of the blessed. Among the works in the oratory stands out the Death of the Virgin, a group of fourteen terracotta statues created by Alfonso Lombardi in 1522, inspired by Raphael’s School of Athens. The Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Vita is not only a place of worship, but also a cultural center. It houses the Museum of Health and Assistance, opened in 1999. This museum, located in the spaces of the ancient hospital, collects a series of precious objects, including two paintings by Gaetano Gandolfi, Coriolanus and his mother and The Continence of Scipio, donated to the museum in 1922. The facade of the sanctuary, completed in 1905 thanks to the bequest of Don Raffaele Mareggiani, is an example of neoclassical architecture. Designed by engineer Luigi Leonida Bertolazzi, the facade is enriched with decorative details and sculptures by Tullo Golfarelli, depicting the Blessed Raniero Fasani and Bonaparte Ghisilieri.