Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta

The Duomo of Santa Maria Assunta is Montagnana's principal church, though not a bishop's seat. Its late Gothic exterior and Renaissance interior reflect a building campaign that extended from 1431 to 1502.

Why it matters

The church preserves an important group of works associated with artists active in the Veneto. Among them are Paolo Veronese's signed Transfiguration altarpiece and frescoes of David and Judith attributed to Giorgione and his workshop.

What to notice

In the apse, Giovanni Buonconsiglio's Assumption of the Virgin is set above the high altar with Veronese's Transfiguration. The frescoes of David and Judith flank the portal; their attribution to Giorgione is based in part on comparison with the artist's red-chalk drawing of Montagnana's castle. The Rosary chapel contains a late-fifteenth-century astrological fresco.

Context and history

The present church was built over the foundations of an earlier pieve. Construction began in 1431 and was completed in 1502, spanning the transition from Carraresi to Venetian rule. The long campaign helps explain the contrast between the late Gothic exterior and the Renaissance forms of the interior. The white marble portal is traditionally attributed to Jacopo Sansovino.