It can be seen from far across the Polesine plain. The bell tower of the Duomo di Santa Sofia, Lendinara’s main church, is 92.5 metres high including the angel on top. The Regione del Veneto lists it among the tallest in Italy. For the FAI, Italy’s National Trust, it is the second tallest in the Veneto, after the campanile of San Marco in Venice.
From oratory to Duomo
The church has ancient roots. According to the tradition reported by the regional listings, it rose on the remains of a pagan temple and was built in 1070 as an oratory of the Cattaneo family. Over the centuries it fell into decay. In the 18th century it was enlarged and rebuilt. Today’s façade reflects the original design only in part, because of alterations between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Inside there are three naves, ending in a large apse topped by a dome. The frescoes were begun in 1796 by the Veronese painter Giorgio Anselmi. According to the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Anselmi died on 30 March 1797 while frescoing the parish church of Lendinara.
A Madonna from Venice
The Duomo’s most debated work is a panel: the “Madonna Enthroned with Child and a Music-Making Angel” by Domenico Mancini, signed and dated 1511. It is the painter’s only known work. It repeats, with minimal variations, Giovanni Bellini’s altarpiece of 1505 for San Zaccaria in Venice. The face of the angel playing the lute, by contrast, recalls a fresco by Titian for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi.
The panel was not made for Santa Sofia. It was the central part of a triptych in the church of San Francesco in Lendinara. After the Franciscan convent was suppressed in 1769, the triptych was split up. The centre panel passed to Santa Sofia, where it is recorded in 1795. The two side panels are now lost.
The tower and the angel
The tower was designed by the architect and priest Francesco Antonio Baccari, who submitted two projects: the one with a square base was chosen. Work began in 1797 and moved slowly because of the marshy ground. According to the FAI, the tower was completed in 1824, with the belfry and its mullioned windows, the small temple-shaped lantern and the dome. The eight bells were blessed in 1857.
At the top stands a 4-metre angel clad in copper, the work of Silvio Soà and Ignazio Bardani. The original was destroyed by lightning in 1973 and later replaced. Up to the angel’s feet, the tower measures 88.5 metres.
