Chiesa di Santa Maria Nuova (Gubbio)

Santa Maria Nuova in Gubbio preserves Ottaviano Nelli's Madonna del Belvedere within a church shaped by medieval foundations and later remodelling. The fresco is an important expression of International Gothic painting in the city.

Why it matters

Nelli's painting survived when later alterations covered much of the church's medieval decoration. Its preservation, alongside other surviving images, reveals the artistic richness concealed beneath subsequent changes.

What to notice

The Madonna del Belvedere depicts Mary and the Child with angels, saints and kneeling donors. A Saint Michael on the counter-facade is attributed to the Salimbeni brothers, while a Saint Anthony Abbot is attributed to Mello da Gubbio. The single-nave church also retains a medieval facade with a rose window and pointed portal.

Context and history

The church was founded in the later thirteenth century and appears in a papal bull of 1292. Nelli's fresco belongs to the early fifteenth century. Seventeenth-century changes introduced new architectural and decorative features while covering other wall paintings. Furnishings and paintings from other Gubbio churches were brought here in the early twentieth century, and restoration in 1998 helped recover the surviving frescoes.