Tolentino: Marches Town of the Porticoes, Post-Earthquake

My post-earthquake (August and October, 2016) mantra remains the same: “No, art is not eternal.” I’m more than ever convinced to assiduously continue taking in the infinite bounty of the artistic gems of Italy. The earthquake devastation has underscored the need. Grazie a Dio, Pino and I had visited Marches jewel Tolentino, damaged in the recent earthquake.

We’d headed there on Pinos’ moto Guzzi; highlight of our day, the visit to the splendid Basilica di San Nicola da Tolentino where Saint Nicholas is buried and the adjacent Augustinian monastery where he lived for thirty years – and died in 1305. The monastery was damaged in the October 2016 earthquakes and the Augustinians are temporarily housed in the courtyard adjacent to the Basilica, also closed.

Tolentino mayor Giuseppe Pezzanesi has confirmed some damage to the church apse and – alas! – detachment from the wall of fragments of the stunning 14th-c frescoes of the life of San Nicola da Tolentino (by an unknown master, follower of Giotto).

May the damage to that pictorial wonder, considered one of the greatest fresco cycles in the Marches region, be limited.
See images of the fresco splendor here (scroll…):

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…and here are a few other photos of our “Tolentino day”…

Tolentino is now a zona rossa town: evacuated. No access to anyone. May the wounded buildings soon be reconstructed, the artistic treasures restored.