Santa Maria della Scala

Museum paths

The Cappella delle Donne (Women’s Chapel) was built in the mid-14th century as the new women’s pilgrim hospice inside the big corner building that closed the façade of Santa Maria della Scala in the Piazza del Duomo. It consists of two spans that were decorated in the early 15th century with frescoes by various artists whose prevalent theme is the celebration of Christ. They include Martino di Bartolomeo’s Trinity with Saints Phillip and Lawrence with a praying nun in the lower section, almost as if to reiterate that this part of the complex was dedicated exclusively to women, and some fragments with the Pious women at the tomb and The Sermon in the Garden, referable to an artist near to Bartolo di Fredi.
We can probably attribute to Andrea di Bartolo the Crucifixion, found in the first span directly across from the entrance, and the Madonna of Mercy beneath it (the bottom part of which is lost), with angels holding up her mantle and two groups of the faithful invoking her protection.