Sant'Agostino

About

The chiesa di Sant'Agostino (Church of St Augustine) is the second largest church in San Gimignano, Italy, after the Collegiata. It is owned by the Order of Saint Augustine. Sant'Agostino is an imposing 13th-century building.

The interior is a large hall dominated by the seventeen-panel fresco cycle on The Life of St Augustine in the apse around the high altar, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli between 1463 and 1467. By Benozzo is also a votive fresco of Saint Sebastian commissioned by the Augustinians after the 1464 plague. Unlike traditional depictions of the saint as a martyr, he is shown in a tunicle and large cloak, shielding the population praying at his feet.

A painted inscription on the floor dates the work to July 28, 1464. There are a number of other Quattrocento frescoes in the church. The Renaissance altarpiece by Piero del Pollaiuolo depicts the Coronation of the Virgin (1483).

The Cappella di San Bartolo houses the remains of the eponymous saint (1228–1300), a lay Franciscan who died of leprosy. The magnificent altar in the chapel was created by Benedetto da Maiano.