Oratory of St John Beheaded

The Oratory of St John Beheaded is located in the namesake street intersecting Via F.lli Rosselli, near the patrol paths of the outer ring of walls, bordering three public streets. Built in the early 17th century by will of the Confraternity of the Good Death which had its headquarters on the site, it features an elegant brick facade surmounted by a tympanum resting on two corner pilaster strips with projecting mouldings.

The entrance portal, very wide for facilitating the passage of the Procession of the Dead Christ, is surmounted by an oval rose window with a noteworthy terracotta brick frame. The facade was probably designed by Giuseppe Costantini, under the supervision of the then chaplain and treasurer of the confraternity, Don Camillo Storoni, and erected by master Domenico Costantini in 1759. The interior was altered in the 18th century, when the wooden plank ceiling was barrelvaulted, and has a vaguely rectangular shape adapted to the area’s layout. The sides are lined with pilasters and include three windows illuminating the room.

Several works of art embellish the interior. The walls contain four oval medallions with a clearly unified theme, completed by an unknown artist from the Marches in 1760: on the right, Tobias and the Angel and the Annunciation, on the left St Andrew Avellino and St Dominic. The entrance portal is flanked by paintings of St Catherine and St Bernardine of Siena, attributable to the workshop of Andrea Sacchi (17th century), while the Stigmata of St Francis (18th century) hangs above the display case with the Dead Christ. The large processional statue of the Dead Christ, made of gilded and carved wood (17th century), constitutes one of the site’s major attractions. It is carried through the streets of the town centre during the solemn procession on Good Friday, which starts and ends at the Oratory of St John. Another noteworthy work is the fine painting, of the Emilia school, depicting Salome with the head of St John the Baptist on the left wall near the main altar. In the centre of the latter, which features impressive gilded and carved wooden Baroque decorations, hangs the superb Crucifixion (17th century), while an octagonal painting on wood (18th century) of the Dead Christ among Angels lies beneath the altar itself: the paintings on the sides, featuring the Angels with the symbols of the Passion, are particularly interesting.

A lavish canopy houses the painting of the Immaculate Conception, placed here ever since the confraternity permanently handed over the venerated image of Our Lady of Mercy to the Collegiate Church of St Justine, where it now lies in the Chapel of the Most Holy Sacrament.