CHURCH OF SANT’ANTONIO

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION

The small church, dedicated to Sant’Antonio, dating back to the mid-seventeenth century, stands in via S. Maria. The building has undergone various alterations in different eras: the facade was rebuilt in the 1930s based on a project by Angelo Santocchi. The bell tower, leaning against the church, in the past was equipped with a spire, which has now fallen for several years. The interior consists of a single rather simple room, in which the space reserved for the presbytery decorated with stucco and characterized by an apse opening prevails.
At the entrance to the building, on the right marble stoup, you can see a plaque with the following inscription: “The new facade of this church built on the designs of Cav. Angelo Santocchi on the auspicious anniversary of the first s. pastoral visit of the diocesan bishop Mons. Santino Margaria will always remind posterity of the faith and love of the great thaumaturge of Padua, May 23, 1934 “. At the back of the building, not far from the entrance, two wooden confessionals are placed on the right and left wall, facing each other.
At the center of the right wall stands an altar of clearly Baroque forms, whose aedicule encloses, between two Corinthian columns, the splendid painting on canvas with the Archangel Raphael leading a child. At the top, at the end of the architectural composition, a coat of arms appears.
A balustrade divides the presbytery area from the rest of the church. The main altar, like the others inside the building, is in Baroque style, characterized by precious marbles that enclose the picture with St. Anthony and the Child Jesus. A frame decorated with golden rays guards the image of the Virgin Maria, located at the end of the aedicule, close to the apse. Two statues have been placed inside the niches on the sides of the altar. Of particular importance is the eighteenth-century painting placed on the right side of the presbytery, depicting the Madonna and Child, S. Domenico and Santa Caterina, surrounded by angels, a work attributed to the painter Polish Taddeo Kuntze. Continuing the visit of the church, you will notice the statue of Saint Anthony, which occupies the corner space between the presbytery and the left wall; then a third Baroque altar rises, surmounted at the top by a coat of arms. At the center of the aedicule there is a canvas showing the Virgin and Child with Saints. Along the counter-façade, finally, a wooden balustrade identifies the part of the choir.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

D’ARCANGELI V., Monumenti archeologici e artistici del territorio di Soriano nel Cimino e delle zone limitrofe, Soriano nel Cimino (Vt) 1967.
D’ARCANGELI V., Soriano nel Cimino nella storia e nell’arte, Viterbo 1981.