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Church of San Giovanni Battista
From "Signa Itinerario Storico Artistico"
Text by di Andrea Baldinotti and Roberta Barsanti
On the east side of Piazza Cavour (Cavour Square) we can see the wide stone façade of the Romanesque church of San Giovanni Battista, which, since ancient times, seems to have been given the privilege of administeringthe Sacrament of the Baptism.
The presence of an ancient fountain would attest it, which was there even in 1724; the fountain was a recurrent element nearby a pieve (parish), as a source of water supply for the Sacrament.
The building was constructed between the 7th and 9th century. On July 964, the church of San Giovanni and the pieve of San Lorenzo were donated by Bishop Rambaldo to the Florentine Chapter (church organism).
The original size of the church was considerably smaller thanthe modern one. According to Monsignor Bonardi, author of an essay about the pieve of Signa, the church had three naves, that occupied the equivalent space of the present right nave, the premises of the current sacristy and the chapel with the christening font. Besides, there ismemory , of an ancient graveyard located in the area which, later, was reserved for the churchyard.
The church is called “Beata” by the inhabitants of Signa because its fame is due to the presence of the remains of the Beata Giovanna.
Around 1348 people started veneratingthe patron, in a small chapel destined to become, quite soon, the central point for the devoted. In 1361, the architectural structure of the chapel should have already been completed, as the will of Michele of Guiduccio (17th Marchof the same year) attests; that document mentions a legacy of 12 gold florins to cover the chapel walls with frescoes; nevertheless, it is unknown if it had really been performed. A following document of 1386, attesting a restoration of the roof, makes us suppose that a chapel was rebuilt outside the church. Three years later and in the period from 1394 to 1400, further restoration works were made.
In 1441, four episodes of Beata Giovanna’s life were frescoed on the left wall; in the same year its body was carried toFlorence, in procession, for the occasion of peace with Milan. In 1462 after a long interruption, the decoration was completed with four new scenes on the opposite wall. On the walls of the main altar chapel, we can see the whole succession of the painted episodes; in the first twenty years of the 16th century, the small chapel was consecrated to the devotion of the patron of Signa by the construction of a new nave. In 1539, the Florentine Chapter deliberated to beat down houses of its property in order to create a square in front of the church; in 1662, as the tombstone on the façade attests , the overlooking space occupied by the cemetery was paved. The church was remodelled in the course of the 18th century and a considerable intervention of reorganization was concluded in 1908: the first nave was closed, except for the space, today reserved, to the Christening font. The central section was raised and broadened, the interior became brighter because of the increasing light filtering through the middle door, the terrace above was brickedup, the present left nave was createdon the place of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a third door was opened on the façade in correspondence of the new nave to make, it more symmetrical. In 1949 the last substantial intervention was made, which was the total whitening of the interior of the church. On the lintel of the right doorway, the sculpted coat of arms of the Commune of Signa (1393 ), were made representing a tower and a bridge with seven archs, similar to the one that really is upon the Arno. On the right side of the façade of the church, a grave bringing the Mori-Ubaldini coat of arms attests the presence of the ancient cemetery. On the door leading to the cloister, we can see the emblem of the Chapter of Florence representing a cherub, the presence of it reminds us that the church was given to the Florentine Chapter by the Bishop Rambaldo. On the inside wall of the façade, the outstanding Chapter coat of arms made of glazed terracotta was performed by Andrea della Robbia (1498 – 1503). At the beginning of the left nave Sant'Antonio from Padova, is stone a relief by Giuseppe Santelli. On the left of the main altar, of the chapel, dedicated to the Madonna, above the altar is a wooden sculpture (1714) representing the Dead Christ, by Umberto Bartoli. On the vault, Angels frescoed by Giuseppe Santelli in the 30s. On the front of the large central arch, is a modern stained-glass window with the image of the Beata Giovanna; next to the main altar, a wooden crucifix by the sculptor Bartoli. The chapel of the main altar preserves the fresco representing the succession of the patron’s life scenes, by two different artists: the frescoes on the left wall were attributed to the so-called “Maestro del 1441”
The inscription placed under the four scenes on the left wall says: “Anno Domini MCCCCXXXXI Di Marzo a Dì 28.Questa storia ha fatto dipingere a sue spese Andrea di Sandro di Palazuo vocanti Pucciarelli”, "Anno Domini MCCCCXXXXI, 28th March. Andrea di Sandro of Palazuo vocanti Pucciarelli ordered and purchased this scene "; on the right "MINIATO LOR CAMARLINGO A. D. MCCCXXXXXXII", makes us think that the succession was purchased by a Religious group. Under it,we can make out a light trace of a Greek inscription, in Latin characters: "AGIOS 0 TREOS AGIOS SCHIROS AGIOS TO THANATOS ELEIMAS".
In 1673 a wrought iron railing was put around the chapel of the Beata patron; today a part of it surrounds the chapel containing the christening font, the other part decorates the side door of the premises of the Santissimo Sacramento in the church of San Lorenzo. In 1716 the Florentine Antonio Bastiano Liberati drew a project to renew the altar of the Beata Giovanna. Three years later the grand duke Cosimo III, devoted to the Beata as the whole of the grand-ducal family, Lorenzo del Rosso and the community of Signa, participated in the expenditures to change the coffin containing the body of the patron. In 1738 the chapel “fu abbellita di nuove pitture del Pillori, dal Paci e dal Giarrè”," it was adorned with new paintings by Pillori, Paci and Giarrè".
Today the remains of the Beata Giovanna are preserved in the chapel placed on the right of the main altar and can only be visited on Easter Monday for the occasion of the celebration of the patron. The sepulchre is decorated with marble and with a plaster bust of the Beata, performed in the 18th century.
The right nave ends with the chapel containing a small tabernacle in stone (pietra serena) and the valuable marble christening font (l480), purchased by Father Domenico di Filippo from Gangalandi. Both the works are probably by Bottega dei "da Maiano" (shop).
The statue representing San Giovanni Battista is a copy made in Signa by “Manifattura”, copied from the original one by Benedetto da Maiano, it is preserved in the Sala dei Gigli (Room of the Lilies), in Palazzo Vecchio, in Florence.
In 1976, a painting representing the Martyrdom of a holy abbot, by Orazio Fidani, was carried to the Rondò di Bacco (Bacchus Rotunda) of Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace). In the cloister, reached by entering the sacristy doorway, on the right side of the church, some coats of arms are kept. On the left side of the church, there is the gallery that rose, in 1724, thanks to the Compagnia della Vergine Maria, (Company of the Virgin
Mary) and the Opera della Beata Giovanna.
The mezzanine, floor already present in the original project, was used for banquets that were held for special occasions such as the celebrations of the patron on Easter Monday and 9th November, on the anniversary of Her death.
Nuovo orario Polizia Municipale