Chapel of the Magi
This chapel long served as the cathedral’s baptistery. Chapel of the Magi
Chapel of the Magi
Like a precious casket, this chapel preserves a jewel of Baroque art.
The chapel itself formed part of the old Romanesque-Gothic church of Saint Peter, which was demolished in the late 1830s to make room for a Seminary. It is a perfect fusion of Baroque architecture, sculpture and painting.
Restructured and refurbished after 1648 by Girolamo Cervasi and his son Egidio, one of the founders of the Pergolese congregation of Saint Filippo Neri, it boasts a marble altar with an Adoration of the Magi by Aurelio Lomi of Pisa (1556-1622), the brother of Orazio Gentileschi. The chapel is named after this painting.
The statuary, made up of gilt stuccoes and eight plaster statues of the Prophets and Sibyls, is by Tommaso Amantini of Urbania (1625-1675).
In the vault are a Cortonesque style Eternal Father and a painting of the four Evangelists. The church also preserves the Baptism of Jesus and the Wedding of Cana, dated around 1740, by Giovanni Francesco Ferri of Pergola (1701-1775), and John the Baptist pointing to the Lamb of God by Ercole Ramazzani of Arcevia (circa 1535-1598).