Facciata Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina e Lungarno (A. Matteucci)
Church of Santa Maria della Spina
Facciata Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spina e Lungarno (A. Matteucci)In 1871, due to the constant damage caused by the floods of the Arno, the church was completely dismantled and reassembled in the place where we see it today. An operation that upset the critics of the century, who unleashed ferocious (and perhaps well-targeted) attacks. The architect who carried out this transformation was Vincenzo Micheli, with the approval of the commission of the Academy of Fine Arts of Pisa. The works lasted until 1884. During the works, the Spina was rebuilt on 3 steps, its walls were raised by one meter, the original sculptures were replaced with casts (the originals are now kept in the Museum of San Matteo) and the sacristy, once facing the Arno, was never rebuilt. During his stay in Pisa, John Ruskin (1819-1900), English writer, poet, painter and art critic, openly expressed his disagreement with the dismantling and rebuilding of the church by swinging his cane in the air. The first of Ruskin's frequent visits to Pisa dates back to the autumn of 1840. Some distinguished voices:
Quot. Dante's river was transfigured, shining with brilliance as if the bank was lit by Beatrice's laughter, filled to the brim like an eternal plenitude that had no mouth but originated in the sea and poured into the heart of the pious city kneeling before the rectangular urn where it has kept a handful of holy land for centuries. _ Madonna Pisa! The great heron obeyed that sigh as he surmounted the pink river. _ Pisa Madonna of the Burning Thorn! A clear peace was in the air; but the lover's chest swelled with a fervour that was as severe as breathlessness. In all that light of joy it seemed that she felt the thorn of passion kept in the marble tabernacle and of prayer suspended on the bank, and that her blood revived the relic. She could no longer keep her soul in the lock of her bones, the rapture was so strong...
Gabriele D'Annunzio, Maybe yes, maybe no, 1910
Quot. The smallness of the dimensions, the exquisite execution and proportion of the construction justify, perhaps, the naive exclamation of a very fine and very rich English lady who said to her husband in front of the church of the Spina: “Please, love, buy me this beautiful little object and let's take it with us, I'd like to put it in our garden...
