Mogliano (Macerata), church housing Lotto masterpiece reopens after earthquake

In Mogliano (Macerata), a municipality nestled among the beautiful landscapes of the Marche Apennines, the important church of Santa Maria Assunta di Piazza, which houses a masterpiece by Lorenzo Lotto, the Madonna in Glory with Child and Saints from 1548, has reopened. Erected in the mid-18th century, next to the ancient oratory of the Madonna of Mercy, it underwent from 2022 to 2023 a profound restoration that made it possible to make the structure seismically safe, in addition to extensive work on the masonry and decorative apparatus. The church had in fact become uninhabitable following the earthquake that struck central Italy in 2016, and Lotto’s work had been temporarily moved to the small local museum.

The work cost one million euros and returned to the community its church, which has ancient origins: in fact, the first building dates back to the 16th century, and was later replaced by the current one, completed in 1774, after a journey that lasted more than 30 years (in fact, plans for a new church began in 1742, in 1750 the city council approved the design by Milanese architect Giambattista Ruschi, and in 1759 the foundation stone was laid). For the reopening of Santa Maria Assunta di Piazza on Saturday, October 28, the city council organized two days of religious, cultural and social gatherings. Also present at the inauguration was Undersecretary Vittorio Sgarbi, accompanied by Mayor Cecilia Cesetti, aldermen and councilors. It was Sgarbi himself in 2001, again as undersecretary, who had the famous altarpiece reunited with its original frame. “I was the ’priest’ of this wedding,” he said during the inauguration.

“It is for all of us a moment of extreme happiness,” the Municipality of Mogliano declared instead in a note, “since a monument that is not only the physical center of the town, but also the emotional one, is returned to the city. It represents the place of union for our community and the symbol of rebirth: a Church of living bricks able to inhabit the street and the heart of us Moglianese!”

Mogliano (Macerata), church housing Lotto masterpiece reopens after earthquake

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