Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta

Asolo's principal church, Santa Maria Assunta, is a collegiate parish church rather than a bishop's seat. It brings together a long building history and an important group of works, including Lorenzo Lotto's signed 1506 Assumption altarpiece.

Why it matters

The church has served Asolo since at least the tenth century. Its art includes the early Lotto altarpiece, a canvas by Jacopo da Ponte, called Bassano, and sculpture by Giuseppe Bernardi. Together, these works reflect the town's religious and artistic life across several centuries.

What to notice

The church has three aisles divided by stone columns. Lotto's Assumption, dated 1506 and showing Saints Anthony Abbot and Louis of Toulouse, is one of its central works. The church also contains an altarpiece by Jacopo da Ponte, two angels by Giuseppe Bernardi beside the main altar, and a hexagonal baptismal font dated 1491 bearing the arms of Caterina Cornaro.

Context and history

A document of 969 records a church dedicated to the Virgin on this site. After a roof collapse in 1606, rebuilding altered the apse and main altar. Architect Giorgio Massari reorganised the interior in the mid-eighteenth century, and Pietro Saccardo completed the present facade in 1889. The cathedral treasury is displayed in Asolo's Civic Museum.