The Church of the Madonna
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The Church of the Madonna

The altars of the Nations

The so-called Church of the Madonna (it is actually named after the saints Maria, Giulia and Francesco) is the symbol of Livorno multi-culturism. It stands on the street that bears the same name, in the heart of Livorno, just a few metres from the United Greek Church and the ruins of the Armenian church. 

Construction dates back to 1607. 

Over time, the church became the reference point for the many foreign communities in Livorno, and the particular nature of this place of worship is that, over time, the various communities have erected “altars”, each dedicated to a different “Nation”.    The rectangular internal space has a single nave, onto which the foreign nations’ altars open up. The six lateral altars, from the first half of the seventeenth century, are all based on the same model with variations in the details of each.  

The oldest is probably the first on the right as you enter the church, placed under the patronage of the Inghirami family, now houses a black crucifix attributed to Ferdinando Tacca.

The next altar is the French Nation's dating back to 1613. The painting in the centre, by Matteo Rosselli, was donated by the Grand Duke Cosimo II in 1615; some people maintain that the portrayed subject is actually Cosimo himself. 

The next altar is the Corsican Nation's, previously Genoan, which contains a seventeenth-century painting portraying St John the Evangelist, by Francesco Curradi (1620-1630 ca).

The Portuguese altar is on the left. This too dates back to the seventeenth century. It has also housed the statue of St Anthony of Padua since 1728, which up to that point was placed in the church’s counter-façade. 

The last altar on the left side, dedicated to Saint Andrew, belonged to the Dutch-German Nation, which mainly comprised Catholic members at the start.

The painting of Saint Andrew with the Martyr is by Giovanni Bilivert. A sophisticated confessional bearing the stem of the Netherlands stands next to the altar. 

The confessional houses a stone in remembrance of the fact that the famous Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy, who died in Livorno in 1643, was buried here.