Chiesa di San Silvestro o dei Disciplini

San Silvestro, also known as the church of the Disciplini, stands beside Iseo's Pieve di Sant'Andrea. Its Romanesque fabric and rediscovered Dance of Death fresco bring together medieval architecture and the confraternity's concern with mortality.

Why it matters

The church is cited in an episcopal property inventory of 1296 and may have served as a bishop's private chapel. It later became associated with the Disciplini of the Holy Cross, whose charitable duties included preparation for death and funerals.

What to notice

The semicircular apse is articulated by pilasters, narrow windows and blind arches. Inside, the brown-and-ochre Dance of Death occupies the lower apse in eight framed panels, showing a dancing corpse accompanying people of different social ranks. Seventeenth-century paintings depict the Finding of the True Cross and the Baptism of Constantine.

Context and history

The Dance of Death dates from the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century and was uncovered in 1985. The lower chamber became known as the Carnerio after receiving the remains of victims of the 1630 plague in 1647. The confraternity was suppressed in 1797; the deconsecrated building later served as a warehouse and carpentry workshop.