With its architectural qualities and substantial historical and artistic heritage, the Insigne Collegiata di Sant’Andrea, Carrara’s cathedral, is one of the city’s, if not the entire province’s, most relevant monuments, and a stop within its ancient walls, laden with spirituality, is a must when visiting the marble city.
Set among the narrow streets of the historic center, the building has a history rooted in the remote era when ancient Luna, a Roman city located near the mouth of the Magra River, was prey to Saracen raids. The suburban churches of that ancient settlement moved to safer centers away from the coast, and the early parish church of Carrara may well be considered the ideal continuation of the baptismal church of St. Andrew of Luni.
The earliest records of the church date back to 1035, but its present appearance is due to several construction phases, which followed one another until the 14th century. The majestic gabled façade is dominated by the precious rose window, set in a refined loggia worked with fine marble tracery; the motif is closely reminiscent of the façade of Santa Caterina in Pisa, completed in 1350, the date to which this construction phase of Sant’Andrea is also traced. The lower register is earlier, and the portal sculptures, of the Parma school, are believed to be the oldest in Carrara (1070-1080).
Access is through the St. John’s door, on the side of the church, and at the entrance one is greeted by a very recent panel equipped with a touch screen station, from which one can navigate to the cathedral’s website with detailed information on the history and works preserved in the abbey, and the possibility of illuminating the various sections of the church for a small fee.
The building has a rectangular floor plan, with a semicircular apse, and is divided into three naves; its structure is entirely of white marble excavated from the nearby mountains, the aisles have cross-ribbed roofing, while the large truss ceiling of the nave, was rebuilt following damage sustained in World War II.
On the left, in the counter façade, one is greeted by the altar of the Santi Quattro Coronati (1861), an early work by Pietro Lazzerini (1837-1917): the cult of the four martyred saints, protectors of stonemasons, was very much alive in Carrara, a city historically devoted to sculpture, and the base on which the figures rest is adorned with the symbols of the arts.
Following in the right aisle, beyond the altar of St. Ceccardo, patron saint of the city, is the 14th-century sarcophagus of the saint, held up by two 17th-century putti, and the “Cassanelle” group, a very elegant Annunciation in the French taste. The origin of the two valuable statues, which have been called “one of the great enigmas of 14th-century sculpture in Italy,” is still unknown, but they may be the work of an artist from beyond the Alps, who may have come to Carrara to buy marble.
The nave is concluded by the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, the erection of which was entrusted in 1524 to a company composed of Battista da Carona (in a mainly organizational role) Domenico del Sarto (for architecture and carving) and Giovanni del Mastro (for figures). The work, completed in 1527, testifies to the new figurative culture spreading in Carrara in the first decades of the 16th century, and is of great significance as the first important achievement entrusted to local workshops. Based on the model of this altar, the altar of the Body of Christ in St. Peter’s in Massa and the one called “del Portello” in the same Carrara cathedral were made. The sculptures in the niches, and the upper pediment, can be traced to later phases.
The chancel area is bordered by two elements of the dismembered 16th-century choir, made by Domenico del Sarto in 1534, while the 17th-century high altar is surmounted by a magnificent 14th-century crucifix on panel, attributed to Lucchese painter Angelo Puccinelli.
Also noteworthy is the marble pulpit, which bears the date 1544, the last work of the aforementioned del Sarto executed with the help of Matteo Marasi; the access staircase, on the other hand, was added in 1593 by Tommaso di Pietro Sarti, nephew of the sculptor Domenico.
At the head of the left aisle, near the portal that leads into the sacristy, is the altar of the Assumption (or of the Portello), the execution of which (1579) is due to Andrea Pelliccia, for the architectural part, and to Prospero Sogari from Reggio Emilia (1516-1584), for the sculptures.
Nearby are fragments of the sculpted polyptych that the Florentine Andrea Guardi (1405-1476) made for the high altar between 1460 and 1465; the central group, with theMadonna and Child, is flanked by the figures of St.Peter, St. John the Baptist, St.Andrew and St. Paul. The high step below is decorated by reliefs with (from left to right), Crucifixion of St. Peter, Beheading of the Baptist, Crucifixion of St. Andrew and Conversion of St. Paul, alternating with figures of Doctors of the Church and the figures of the patrons in the act of prayer. The polyptych was reassembled, in its present state, in 1947-48, but the relief with theCoronation of the Virgin, placed a short distance away, and additional elements preserved at the local Academy of Fine Arts are also part of the ensemble.
This isfollowed by the altar of Our Lady of the People, venerated as queen and patroness of the city, the beautiful baptismal font from 1527, recently relocated, and the altar of the Holy Annunciation, with Renaissance architecture, wooden crucifix from the school of Ferdinando Tacca (1619-1686) and marble group of theAnnunciation, an early 18th-century work from the workshop of the Baratta family (who had their burial place at the foot of the altar) .
Going around the baptismal font, one enters the premises of the oratory known as the Compagnia Grande, where one is greeted by the altar of the Ransom, by Giovanni Antonio Cybei (1706-1784); the ensemble is accompanied by a marble relief, finished by 1768, illustrating the particular mission of the Trinitarian order. Founding saints Felix Valois and John de Matha intercede with the Holy Trinity to obtain the liberation (ransom) of the two kneeling slaves on whom the angel lays his hands. The particular cult spread throughout Tuscany, from its mother house in Livorno, and reached Carrara in 1744, shortly after the order freed a Carrarese man imprisoned in Algiers.
Cybei himself, sculptor and priest, Canon Primicero in Sant’Andrea and first director of the Academy of Fine Arts, was very attached to the cult: he erected the altar at his own expense and asked to be buried at the foot of it. Theelderly abbot’s wish could not be completely fulfilled, but his burial, which still exists today, was carried out in the same room, a few meters away, in front of the high altar, surmounted by the splendid Virgin of the Rosary (1739), a large processional machine made by Cybei, on the occasion of his entry into the priesthood.
At the opposite end of the oratory, among various fragments from inside the church, is a valuable chalice-shaped baptismal font, hexagonal in shape, enriched with fine carvings and a statue of the Baptist: it was completed before 1584.
The visit ends with a stop in the courtyard of the rectory, a harmonious building dating from 1549, from where the tall bell tower, dating from the second half of the 13th century, can be admired.