Mortara PV

Basilica of San Lorenzo

The Basilica di San Lorenzo, built in Lombard Gothic style between 1375 and 1380, is often attributed to the architect Bartolino da Novara, though there are no definitive documentary sources to confirm this attribution. The basilica houses numerous valuable artworks, including paintings and sculptures of notable significance. Among its treasures is an anonymous fresco depicting the Madonna in Majesty with Child. The basilica also features a canvas from 1524 representing the Madonna between Saints Roch and Sebastian, attributed to Gerolamo Giovenone. Noteworthy is the wooden statue of Saint Lawrence from 1592, created by Virgilio Del Conte. On the right side of the church, visitors can find Bernardino Lanino’s 1579 painting of the Madonna of the Rosary with Saints and Devotees, and, in the second chapel, the large altarpiece of Saint Ambrose from 1610, painted by Giovanni Battista Crespi, known as Il Cerano. In the left nave, the baptismal font, renovated in the last century, is topped by a copy of Paris Bordon’s “The Baptism of Christ,” donated by the Pinacoteca di Brera in 1937. The grand polyptych of Saint Joseph from the 15th century is of particular interest; it is a Nativity scene created by Lorenzo da Mortara and is considered one of the most important examples of Lombard Renaissance wooden sculpture. Also on the left side of the basilica, one can admire a 15th-century six-panel polyptych and two notable works: the altarpiece of the Immaculate Conception with Saint Bernardino, attributed to Carlo Francesco Nuvoloni, and the Sacred Heart by Ludovico Pogliaghi. The Sacred Heart painting is a replica of one created for the Sacro Cuore University in Milan.