Basilica di San Nicola da Tolentino

Basilica of Saint Nicolas of Tolentino Basilica di San Nicola a Tolentino (Italian)
Facade of the Basilica di San Nicola a Tolentino
Basic information
Location	Tolentino, Italy
Geographic coordinates	43°12′28.5″N 13°17′5.9″E / 43.207917°N 13.284972°E / 43.207917; 13.284972Coordinates: 43°12′28.5″N 13°17′5.9″E / 43.207917°N 13.284972°E / 43.207917; 13.284972
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
District	Marche
Country	Italy
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Minor basilica
Website	www.sannicoladatolentino.it
Architectural description
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Baroque

The Basilica of Saint Nicolas of Tolentino (Italian: Basilica di San Nicola a Tolentino) is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica that is part of the Augustinian monastery in the hill-town of Tolentino, province of Macerata, Marche, central Italy. The church is a former cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tolentino, suppressed in 1586.

It contains architecture and art from the 14th through the 17th century. The imposing marble facade of the church was constructed over the centuries, and was completed in the 17th century.

The Cappellone di San Nicola is a Gothic chapel that opens to the cloister. The walls and ceiling are covered with early-14th century, Giottesque frescoes, attributed variously to the Master of Tolentino, the Master of the Magi of Fabriano, or Pietro da Rimini, depicting scenes from the Life of St Nicholas of Tolentino, Life of the Virgin, and episodes of the life of Christ. The spandrels of the chapel depict the four evangelists and four doctors of the church. The altar has a 15th-century polychrome stone statue of the saint, attributed to Niccolò di Giovanni, atop a funereal memorial. The saint's tomb lies in the crypt. The frescoes appear to have been completed within a few decades of the saint's death in 1305.

This chapel was erected for the veneration of the relics of the saint's arms. It is entered through a 17th-century portal, which enters what was once the sacristy and leads to the 15th-century chapel, reconstructed in 1670 to accommodate more pilgrims. In 1819, the walls were decorated with polychrome marble in scagliola by Stefano da Morrovalle. In 1850 the ceiling was decorated with stars by Emidio Pallotta. In 1662, the dome had been decorated with a stuccowork depicting Paradise by Marco Antonio Baraciola, an artist from Como. The lateral walls have two large canvases: a Fire in the Ducal Palace of Venice by Matteo Stom and a Plague affecting a Venetian city by Giovanni Carboncino. They were donated in the 17th century, and erected as allegories for the miraculous interventions of the saint. The walls are replete with ex voto donations. Six statues in stucco and bas reliefs beside the windows allude to the Virtues of the saint are by Giambattista Latini da Mogliano, based on designs by Pallotta.