Monastero di Sant'Antonio in Polesine

The Benedictine monastery of Sant'Antonio in Polesine preserves a remarkable group of medieval frescoes beside a Baroque church in Ferrara. The complex is associated with Beatrice d'Este, who entered the convent with companions in 1258, and with the tomb that became the focus of her local cult.

Why it matters

The monastery grew from an Augustinian hermitage dedicated to Saint Anthony, traditionally placed around the year 1000 on an island among branches of the Po. In 1257, the Este acquired the site; the following year Beatrice d'Este and her companions established a Benedictine community there. The monastery's later history was interrupted during the Napoleonic suppressions. In 1910 the municipality bought the complex and returned it to Benedictine nuns.

What to notice

The church's Baroque nave has a ceiling fresco by Francesco Ferrari. The nuns' choir preserves three chapels with paintings dating from the late thirteenth to the mid-fourteenth century. The side chapels contain Giotto-school frescoes, including scenes dated around 1315–1320; the central chapel brings together Ferrarese painting and a fifteenth-century Annunciation by Domenico Panetti.

In the cloister, the marble tomb of Blessed Beatrice is associated with the devotional tradition known as the “tears,” recorded from the late 1520s. The complex's art and architecture reflect both its medieval origins and later centuries of religious use.

Context and history

The name “in Polesine” recalls the river island where the early religious house stood. Beatrice died in 1262, and devotion to her became part of the monastery's identity. The surviving frescoes, tomb and later church preserve distinct layers of the community's history, including its restoration under Benedictine care in the twentieth century.