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Baglioni Chapel

Pinturicchio's jewel-toned 1500-1501 frescoes in Spello's Baglioni Chapel, with a Deruta maiolica floor.

  • Spello
  • Church
Plan your visit
Where
Spello
Best for
Pinturicchio's frescoed chapel
Allow
30 minutes

Pinturicchio spent 1500 and 1501 frescoing this small chapel inside Spello's Santa Maria Maggiore, his last major Umbrian commission before he moved on to Rome and Siena, and he used the assignment to paint some of his richest color of any surviving cycle.

Three scenes from the childhoods of Mary and Jesus, the Annunciation, the Adoration of the Shepherds, and the Dispute with the Doctors, cover the walls in the crowded, jewel-toned detail that made Pinturicchio a favorite of Renaissance patrons, and he is thought to have inserted his own portrait among the onlookers in the Annunciation. Later in the sixteenth century, the chapel floor was paved in maiolica tile from nearby Deruta, completing what many consider Umbria's single most concentrated room of Renaissance beauty.

Sources and citations (7)
  1. Comune di SpelloCappella BaglioniDescription and linked-place section: chapel in Santa Maria MaggioreRead source
  2. Ministero della CulturaCollegiata di S. Maria MaggioreDescription: chapel on left church wall after second left altarRead source
  3. Umbria TourismChurch of Santa Maria Maggiore - SpelloChurch description: Baglioni Chapel location and separate church furnishingsRead source
  4. Umbria TourismThe Baglioni Chapel in the Church of St. Maria Maggiore - SpelloOpening paragraph: late summer 1500 to spring 1501 and Troilo commissionRead source
  5. ICCD - Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la DocumentazioneSpello - Chiesa di S. Maria Maggiore, Cappella Baglioni, autoritratto di PinturicchioCatalogue title and subject: Baglioni Chapel self-portrait of PinturicchioRead source
  6. Unità Pastorale di Santa Maria Maggiore - San Lorenzo Martire - Santa Lucia Vergine e Martire in SpelloSanta Maria MaggioreChurch page: chapel frescoes and 1566 floor alongside separate museum and furnishingsRead source
  7. Unità Pastorale di Santa Maria Maggiore - San Lorenzo Martire - Santa Lucia Vergine e Martire in SpelloPrenotazione visita alla Cappella Baglioni / Baglioni Chapel Visit BookingVisitor notice: photography and video prohibition inside church and chapelRead source

Five things worth finding

If you see nothing else, see these.

  1. The AnnunciationPinturicchio, 1500 to 1501

    Mary looks up from her book as the angel arrives, in a Renaissance loggia opening onto a detailed landscape. Under the shelf of books in the corner is Pinturicchio’s self-portrait, with his jeweled signature.Left wall

  2. The Adoration of the ShepherdsPinturicchio

    A stable in foreshortened perspective, expressive shepherds in the Netherlandish manner, a peacock on the roof for immortality and a miniature city behind.Central wall

  3. The Dispute with the DoctorsPinturicchio

    The boy Jesus among the wise men before a domed Temple of Jerusalem, with a portrait of the patron Troilo Baglioni on the left.Right wall

  4. The Deruta maiolica floorDeruta workshops, later 16th century

    Glazed tile from nearby Deruta, which completes the jewel-box effect.Chapel floor

  5. The Sibyls on the vaultPossibly Bartolomeo Caporali

    Four seated Sibyls with cartouches announcing Christ’s coming, now heavily repainted.Cross vault

Plan your visit

Everything you need before you go.

Booking
No booking needed
Time needed
30 minutes
Best time
Mid-morning, when daylight through the windows best shows the fresco colors
Getting there
Inside Santa Maria Maggiore on Spello's main street, an easy walk from anywhere in this small hill town.

As part of an active parish church, modest dress is expected, and visits may pause briefly around Mass times.

Bring a few coins for the light meter box: the chapel is otherwise dim, and the frescoes need the extra light to show their color properly.

Get directionsGoogle MapsApple Maps

Good to know

How long should you spend at the Baglioni Chapel?

About half an hour. The chapel is small, and three main scenes plus the vault repay a slow look. The rest of Santa Maria Maggiore is worth a few minutes too.

Is the Baglioni Chapel worth visiting?

Yes. Many people call it Umbria’s most concentrated room of Renaissance beauty. Pinturicchio painted it in 1500 and 1501, at the end of his Umbrian career, and the colors are rich and crowded with detail.

Where is the Baglioni Chapel in Spello?

Inside the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, on Spello’s main street, an easy walk from anywhere in the small hill town. Go mid-morning, when daylight through the windows shows the fresco colors best.

More to see nearby

Same city first, then the nearest across the region.

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