Pieve of San Gennaro

The Churches of the Lucchese Plain

The churches of the Lucchese plain, often located at the head of extensive ecclesiastical districts, were generally rebuilt on the foundations of earlier structures. San Gennaro, too, was reconstructed during the 12th century on a previous building. Its geographically strategic position—on the border between the Lucca plain and the Valdinievole—favored the formation of a village around the church throughout the Middle Ages.

The Pieve of San Gennaro was probably founded during the time of San Frediano (6th century), although the first written record dates back to 980. In the past, the local population was divided into the communities of Castello and Borgo.

The current Pieve, after reconstruction work begun in the 11th century, reached an exceptional overall harmony by the 13th century. It features three naves, three apses, and a sloping façade. On the exterior north side, within the only surviving apse and on the capitals of the left nave, decorative elements recall the earliest phase of its construction. The capitals of the right nave belong to a later phase.

In the 17th century, the central apse and the southern apse were destroyed and replaced by differently shaped structures. The façade also underwent significant changes over time, including the loss of decorations on the two slopes and the replacement of those in the central section.

The pulpit from 1162, signed by Master Filippo and perfectly preserved near the presbytery, is one of the most important examples of Romanesque art found on the outskirts of the city. Originally, it was placed beside the altar and supported by four columns.

The bell tower, standing alone to the north of the building, was constructed much later, in 1840, as indicated by the inscription on its wall.

Among the interior furnishings, notable are the panel depicting the Madonna and Child by Vincenzo Frediani and Raniero di Leonardo (1507) and a painting of the Madonna by San Tofanelli.

However, special mention must be made of the terracotta statue representing an angel, approximately one meter and twenty centimeters tall, which Professor Carlo Petretti (a professor at the University of California, director of the Hammer Center for Leonardo studies, and the world’s leading expert on the art and life of Leonardo da Vinci) has attributed to the greatest figure of the Italian Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci.

According to the distinguished scholar’s research, the statue was created in Leonardo’s youth, around 1470, in the workshop of Verrocchio. Supporting this attribution, the angel displays numerous distinctive features of the Master: from the drapery of the arm to the hairstyle, from the face to the body’s posture, which suggests movement. Archival documents report that the statue was accidentally damaged by a sacristan using a ladder and underwent minor restoration in 1773.