Egisto Bellini e il ripristino ‘in stile’ della Collegiata di San Quirico d’Orcia | Egisto Bellini and the ‘Stylistic’ Restoration of the Collegiate Church of San Quirico d’Orcia

Abstract

The Collegiate Church of Saints Quirico and Giulitta in San Quirico is a religious building of medieval origin considered one of the most important in the Val d’Orcia. Its renown stems primarily from its magnificent Romanesque portals – one of which is attributed to Giovanni Pisano – which have long attracted the attention of scholars. In the extensive historiographical literature, however, the alterations made to the structure over the centuries have remained in the shadows compared to certain highly significant construction projects, such as the expansion of 1653, the renovations commissioned by Cardinal Anton Felice Chigi Zondadari in the 1720s, and the restoration carried out by Egisto Bellini between 1935 and 1944. Regarding this last restoration, there are thirteen unpublished drawings by the Sienese architect, belonging to the collection of drawings preserved at the Archive of the Superintendency of Siena, whose catalog was published in 2008 by Felicia Rotundo and Rosario Pagliaro. This article examines the ‘in-style’ restoration of the Collegiate Church through an analysis of this valuable iconographic source and a comparison with other unpublished documentary sources related to the construction site.