Basilica di San Sisto

The Basilica of San Sisto in Piacenza began as a Benedictine foundation established by Empress Angilberga in 874. Its Renaissance rebuilding by Alessio Tramello is associated with Raphael's Sistine Madonna, originally painted for the church's high altar.

Why it matters

San Sisto's story joins a major monastic foundation with one of the most celebrated altarpieces of the Renaissance. The Benedictine community commissioned Raphael's painting, which remained in the church until its sale in 1754. The present building, designed by Tramello, is one of Piacenza's significant Renaissance works.

What to notice

At the high altar, a restored copy of the Sistine Madonna, signed with the initials G.M., marks the place of Raphael's original. Turn toward the choir to see perspectival intarsia panels made in 1514 by Bartolomeo Spinelli da Busseto and Giampiero Panbianchi da Colorno. The right transept holds the tomb of Margherita of Austria, and the Chapel of Santa Barbara contains a painting by Palma il Giovane. Bernardino Zacchetti completed frescoes in the transept dome in 1517. The adjoining cloister preserves twenty-one arches on granite columns.

Context and history

Angilberga founded the monastery in 874 and served as its abbess. In 1112 the community passed to Benedictine monks under Matilde di Canossa; from 1425 it followed the Cassinese congregation. The monks commissioned a new church, built between 1499 and 1511 to Tramello's design. Raphael's altarpiece was in place by 1513 and remained there until the Benedictines sold it to Augustus III in 1754. The painting entered the royal collection in Dresden, while a copy took its place in Piacenza.