DIOCESE OF CORTONA. - In Tuscany, in the province of Arezzo, immediately subject to the Holy See. The date of foundation of the episcopal church of Cortona is not very ancient, since the city was included in the territory of the very vast diocese of Arezzo until the 14th century. The civil and religious disputes of the commune of C. (Guelph) with the bishops of Arezzo (Ghibelline) led to a definitive separation: John XXII declared the city of C. independent and established there the episcopal see, to which he also annexed some parishes of the neighboring Città di Castello, in 1325. This year coincides with the transition of the free commune into the lordship of the Casali and with the formation of the city statute. The first bishop was Rainerio Ubertini; afterward Luca Grazio, an influential member of the Council of Florence (1438), Matteo Concini (1560) and Girolamo Gaddi (1562), present at the Council of Trent, distinguished themselves.
Several famous men brought luster to the city in the past, such as Fra Elia da C. (v.), companion of St. Francis, the cardinals Egidio Boris and Silvio Passerini, and especially the popular St. Margaret (v.; 1248-97).
S. Maria di Farneta, one of the largest and most famous Italian abbeys, which flourished in the 11th century, but whose origin is not exactly known, was situated in the territory of the city and after 1325 incorporated into that of the diocese. When in the 18th century it was suppressed by the grand-ducal government, its properties were assigned to the Cathedral Chapter.
C. possesses a great number of monumental sacred buildings, without taking into account those notable ones that reflect its finest civil history in the past. The Cathedral, dedicated to Mary Assumed, preserves few traces of the ancient parish church of the 11th century: the entire interior was renovated in the 15th century and subsequently (Giuliano da Sangallo); the bell tower is a construction of the 16th century. In the other buildings it may be said that all the ages of Christian architecture are worthily represented. A fine group of churches belongs to Gothic art: S. Francesco, S. Domenico, S. Antonio, S. Agostino. To the Renaissance: S. Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio with its dome, a luminous, harmonious building, begun in 1485, a model of style; S. Maria Nuova with a central plan, from the mid-15th century. The art of the 17th century is represented there by the churches of S. Spirito and S. Filippo. A famous sanctuary is the temple of S. Margherita, dedicated to the saint of Cortona, begun in the 13th century, but rebuilt in the last century: it encloses the ogival tomb of the Saint, sculpted by Angelo and Francesco di Pietro (1362), artists of Cortona.
Notable for quantity and quality are the works of sacred art. Mentioned are: the paintings of the great Cortonese Luca Signorelli (1441-1523), of whose works a singular picture gallery (pinacoteca Signorelliana) is today collected in the church of the Gesù in C., and of the other Cortonese Pietro Berrettini or da Cortona (1596-1669), of whom some paintings are preserved in the Civic picture gallery (palazzo Pretorio). Archival material of some interest is preserved in the Capitular archive and in the Municipal library.
At present the diocese, with an area of 340 sq. km., comprises 52 parishes, 61 diocesan priests, 38 regulars and 32,861 inhabitants, of whom 32,847 are Catholics (1948). - See plates XXXV-XXXVI.
Bibliography5 works
Serafino Prete