According to tradition, St Francis had visited Pistoia in 1220. Soon after, a few adherents of St Francis had grouped themselves in a small monastery attached to a small church called Santa Maria del Prato or Santa Maria Maddalena, located at about the location of the present church. The property appears to have been granted to them by the canons of the cathedral. As the monastery grew, a new church, representing the present structure, was begun by 1294, dedicated to the Holy Cross, and manned by the Order of Friars Minor Conventual. While the single nave structure with a number of lateral altars was completed by 1340, modifications and refurbishment proceeded for centuries. The lateral windows are thin and tall. The facade was only added in 1707.
The convent was suppressed in 1808 by the Napoleonic government, but the friars were allowed to return in 1819. In 1866, the monastery was again suppressed, this time by the Italian State and its buildings passed into property to the Commune. In 1926 the convent was again returned to a community of conventual friars.[1] In 2016, the Franciscans ceded the property and church to the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram.
Description
The description of the interiors in 1853 by Tigri, recalls the following interior decoration:[2]
To the right of altar from entrance
1st altar (Lafri family) had an altarpiece with an Adoration of the Magi by Gismondino Lafri or his son Jacopo.
2nd altar (Sozzifanti dal Duomo family) had an altarpiece with an Annuciation by Lazzaro Baldi
4th altar (Sanmarini family) had an altarpiece with an Immaculate Conception attributed to followers of il Poppi
5th altar (Arrighi family) had an altarpiece with a Mary at the Temple attributed to il Poppi
6th altar (Bracciolini family) had an altarpiece with a Virgin and Saints attributed to school of Andrea del Sarto.
In the presbytery
7th altar (Gatteschi family) has an altarpiece with a St Jacob by Pietro Marchesini
8th altar (Pazzaglia family) had an altarpiece with a St Anthony of Padua by Francesco Leoncini
9th altar (Baron Bracciolìni and main chapel) had frescoes depicting Life of St Francis attributed to Lippo Memmi or Margaritone
On the left of the altar
10th altar (Fioravanti family) had an altarpiece with a San Giuseppe da Covertino by Francesco Artizzoni
11th altar (Visconti family) had an altarpiece with a St Roch and other Saints (1638) by Giacinto Gimignano
13th altar (dedicated to Prior Sozzifanti) has an altarpiece with a Resurrection of Lazarus by Bronzino
14th altar (Franchini family) had an altarpiece with a Wedding at Canna by Gregorio Pagani and completed by Matteo Rosselli
15th altar (Desideri family) had an altarpiece with a St Francis receives stigmata by Giovannone Zeti
16th altar (Gallo family) has an altarpiece with a copy of a Virgin by Reni by Elisabetta Sirani
17th altar (Bracciolini dalle Api family) has an altarpiece with a Refuge in Egypt by Aurelio Lomi
Other chapels had frescoes by Nanni di Jacopo and Bartolomeo di Giovanni Cristiani, Bonaccorso di Cino and the master of the Bracciolini Chapel. In the chapter hall are 13th-century frescoes attributed to Antonio Vite.[3] A polyptych at this church by Lippo Memmi depicting Virgin between St. Paul, St. John the Baptist, St. James, St. Francis, St. Louis, St. Mary Magdalen, and Santa Chiara was described by Vasari, but is no longer present.[4]
