It is certainly not the most famous and visited church in Bergamo, but the Chiesa del Santo Spirito (Holy Spirit Chuch) is one of the hidden jewels the Italian city. The exterior is an incoherent mix of styles spanning a period of 400 years, from the 14th to the 18th centuries, but the interior is a treasure trove of works of art.
Although most of the guides place emphasis on Lorenzo Lotto’s Altarpiece of Santo Spirito, in which a Madonna and Child surrounded by Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, Sant’Agostino, San Sebastiano and Sant’Antonio abate stands, is the left nave that exhibiting most of the notable works.
Among all, the Pentecost Polyptych, painted by that Ambrogio da Fossano called Bergognone. Andrea Previtali, a friend of Lotto, painted San Giovanni Battista and the Saints (San Nicola, San Bartolomeo, Giacomo da Bergamo and San Giuseppe).
In the third chapel, where the Previtali’s painting was initially exhibited, today there is the fifteenth-century painting depicting a delicate Madonna and Child, by an unknown artist, but covered with a legend according to which many faithful would have seen moving her eyes. For this “miracle” being recognized, the owner family, the Rota, donated it to the town church.
