Sacristy

An atmosphere of Renaissance sacredness fills the solemn sacristy of the Church of San Pietro built from 1538 onwards. The large rectangular hall is entirely covered by a vault, designed in 1578 by Girolamo da Vignola, and painted with intertwining branches laden with leaves and fruit, all converging toward the majestic figure of Christ the Redeemer at the centre.Now look at the walls. A painted frieze by the same Vignola artist, imitating frames and sculpted reliefs, extends around the perimeter of the sacristy at the top. The oval panels instead host the four Evangelists, with the addition of Saint Benedict, while the outer ones open onto landscape views of the Modenese territory.The sacred garments of the canons of St Peter were kept in the precious cupboards lining the walls. Most of these were made by Gianfrancesco Brennona of Cremona around 1548. Using the technique of marquetry - that is, juxtaposing tesserae of different varieties of wood like a jigsaw puzzle - the artist creates scenes of ideal cities. Immediately below... don’t the compartments look as if they contain real objects? Instead, they are a trompe-l'oeil, a virtuous illusion that quite literally deceives the eye! On the right wall of the sacristy, the oldest cupboards were integrated in the mid-19th century with new elements from the Modenese workshop of Andrea Pagliani, and again in the following century by Remo Masetti. Find the door marked with the cross and the inscription 'PAX'. It is on that side that the 19th-century inlays were added, showing five views of the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino and a sixth of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.The sacristy finally finds its focal point in the silk-draped altar, above which stands the 16th-century Adoration of the Magi by the Bolognese painter Bartolomeo Cesi.