Oratorio della Santissima Trinità

The Oratory of the Santissima Trinità in Arquà Petrarca joins a medieval religious foundation with the history of local government. Beside the Loggia dei Vicari, it served as a gathering place for the community as well as a chapel.

Why it matters

Documented from 1181, the oratory formed part of the civic life of the vicariate. Its association with Petrarch's attendance during his residence in Arquà adds another strand to the village's literary history.

What to notice

The single nave contains medieval frescoes and a polyptych of 1370 attributed to Jacobello di Bonomo. A Trinity painting of 1626 by Palma il Giovane adds a later artistic phase. The holy-water font incorporates an ancient urn on a trachyte column, while the leather altar frontal depicts the risen Christ.

Context and history

The nave was enlarged and frescoed during the fourteenth century, followed by the addition of an apse in the fifteenth. Later paintings, including Giovanni Battista Pellizzari's representation of the transfer of the vicarial insignia, linked the religious interior with the civic institutions of Arquà.