Chiesa di Santa Chiara (Santuario della Madonna della Misericordia)

Santa Chiara in Rimini is associated with the shrine of the Madonna della Misericordia. A painting by Giuseppe Soleri Brancaleoni, dated 1796, became the focus of devotion after reports of movement in the Virgin's eyes in 1850.

Why it matters

The shrine developed within a church whose origins lie with the Poor Clares in the fourteenth century. The later devotion connects the older convent setting with the religious life of nineteenth-century Rimini.

What to notice

The image presents the Virgin half-length, with her head inclined and eyes raised. Its elaborate setting includes a gilded radiance and a precious frame associated with Pope Pius IX's support for the devotion. Dome frescoes by Guglielmo Bilancioni add another phase of decoration to the church.

Context and history

The Missionaries of the Precious Blood received the church and part of the suppressed convent in 1824. The painting had been placed on the high altar in 1810, before the reported events of May 1850. Rebuilding in neoclassical forms during the mid-nineteenth century gave the church a later architectural character distinct from its medieval foundation.