Church of Sant'Agostino
Church of Sant'Agostino features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Modena. Give it roughly ~45 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Modena Modena guide
About Church of Sant'Agostino
Modena's baroque Church of Sant'Agostino contains one of the most dramatic sculptural ensembles in Italy: Guido Mazzoni's terracotta "Compianto sul Cristo Morto" (Lamentation over the Dead Christ), a masterpiece of 15th-century realism.
The Church of Sant'Agostino in Modena is a baroque church built during the 17th century, but its most remarkable treasure predates the current building by more than a century. The "Compianto sul Cristo Morto", a lamentation group, or pietà ensemble, is a magnificent terracotta sculpture group by Guido Mazzoni (known in French as "Modanino"), a Modenese sculptor who worked in the second half of the 15th century. The group consists of seven life-sized polychrome terracotta figures arranged around the dead body of Christ: Mary, Mary Magdalene, John the Evangelist, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and two other mourning figures. The faces of the mourners are rendered with extraordinary psychological realism, their grief is immediate, raw, and utterly convincing. Some art historians believe that the faces are portraits of real people from Modena's society in the 1470s. The group is considered one of the finest examples of north Italian terracotta sculpture of the Renaissance period, and visiting it is one of the most emotionally affecting experiences available to the art lover in Modena.
Did you know? Guido Mazzoni's lamentation groups were so powerfully realistic that contemporaries described viewers weeping in front of them, a testament to the psychological intensity that set his work apart from all his contemporaries.
How long is a visit to Church of Sant'Agostino?
Set aside roughly ~45 min for Church of Sant'Agostino. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Church of Sant'Agostino worth your time?
Church of Sant'Agostino is among the 18 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Modena, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Modena
Hear the story of Church of Sant'Agostino
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