St. Michael's Oratory is all that remains of an ancient church once dedicated either to St. Michael or the archangel saints. The foundations probably date back to the era of the Byzantine fortifications, between 569 and 602. The history of the building reflects the stormy events that occurred here, behind the walls of Castelvecchio. In 1390 the structure was damaged by the war that broke out between the armies of Francesco Novello and the Visconti, who came under attack near Torlonga. Renovations included the construction of a chapel dedicated to St. Mary. In 1393, Pietro Bovi, an official of the Carraresi Mint, commissioned frescos by Jacopo da Verona. The remaining parts of the decoration are the fragments of a painting scheme that once extended from the 'Bovi Chapel' to other parts of the church. By 1815 the church was in poor condition and was demolished, saving only the chapel, which then took the name 'St. Michael's Oratory'. Jacopo da Verona's execution of the frescos is proven by a marker stone. The cycle begins with an Annunciation painted above the arch that once linked the chapel to the church. The sense of spaciousness in the scenes recalls Jacopo's teacher, Altichiero da Zevio: Jacopo had followed Altichiero da Zevio to Padua at the time of the latter 's work on the decoration of St. George's Oratory. The Archangel Michael, with a balance for weighing souls, fills the space below the Annunciation. The east wall bears a Nativity and Dormitio Virginis. In the under-arch area there are a Bishop, a Doctors of the Church, and the Symbols of the Evangelists. The works by Jacopo di Verona were one of the last of a series of great pro}ects that gave Padua the greatest wealth of frescos in 14th century Italy. Jacopo worked in a synthesis of the spatial and courtly languages of Altichiero, the more archaic accents of Giusto and the narrative liveliness of Jacopo Avanzi.
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