Recanati, Diocese of

RECANATI, Diocese of. - City in the province of Macerata. The diocese extends partly in the province of Macerata and partly in that of Ancona; it has 42,707 inhabitants, all Catholics, with 23 parishes, 6 male religious communities, 10 female religious communities. Diocese immediately subject [to the Holy See].

I. ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Gregory IX, on 22 Dec. 1240, by suppressing the diocese of Osimo, erected the Castle of R. into a diocese and the church of St. Flavian as its cathedral, withdrawing it from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Umana. In 1263 Urban IV took away from R., which supported the party of King Manfred, the title of city and subjected it once again to the bishop of Umana; but the title and the episcopal see were restored to R. by Nicholas IV, from the Marches, in 1289. From Avignon John XXII (R. was torn by struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines, and the latter, victorious, had driven out Bishop Federico Niccolò di Giovanni, a native of Recanati, together with all the Guelph families) united R. with Macerata, erected into a diocese on 18 Nov. 1320; but in 1357 the diocese of R. was once again re-established, united under a single bishop with Macerata. Sixtus V in the Consistory of 5 Nov. 1585 proposed the erection of the diocese of Loreto, which he carried out on 17 March 1586 with the suppression of the diocese of R., assigned to Loreto. But on 18 Dec. 1591 the diocese of R. was once again re-established and united aequae principaliter with Loreto. In 1934, with the suppression of the diocese of Loreto, the municipalities of Castelfidardo, Montelupone and Montecassiano became part of the diocese of R., which previously comprised the municipalities of R. and Porto-R.; the apostolic administration of the sanctuary of Loreto, by decree of the S. Congreg. Concistoriale of 11 Oct. 1935, received ordinary jurisdiction over the city and territory of the municipality of Loreto, the jurisdiction of the Ordinary of R.-Loreto thus being suspended there.

II. FIGURES

R. was the birthplace of Monaldo Leopardi, of his son Giacomo, of the musician Persiani and of not a few illustrious figures ancient and contemporary, among them the goldsmith and engraver Giacomo Braccielarghe; mention is then made of Antonio Colombella (d. at Ancona in 1466), a preacher of fame, doctor at the Sorbonne, master of theology at Paris and Louvain, and finally bishop of Senigallia, and of Card. Lorenzo Nina, Secretary of State of Leo XIII. Worthy of particular remembrance are certain bishops, such as Angelo Cino of Bevagna, elected bishop of R. and Macerata in 1383, under whose episcopate the Cathedral was enlarged and restored (1384) and R. earned the title of «Iustissima civitas» as a reward for a famous code of laws compiled there and accepted for the government of the city. Cino was afterwards named by Gregory XII cardinal legate of the Marca and his vicar, and died at R. in 1412. Another illustrious bishop was Card. Agostino Galamini, b. at Fognano di Brisighella in 1552, master general of the Dominicans, cardinal in 1611 and from 1613 bishop of R.

Gregory XII, before being elected pope (30 Nov. 1406) by Innocent VII, was named pontifical delegate of the Marca (Apr. 1405) and governed the church of R. through the bishop Martino di Tocco. On 4 July 1415 he made solemn renunciation of the pontificate and was named bishop of Tusculum, perpetual legate of the Marca, administrator of R. and of Macerata, and remained until his death (17 Oct. 1417) at R., where he is buried in the Cathedral. In the church of S. Vito of R. is buried Fr. Nicola Bobadilla, one of the first 9 companions of St. Ignatius, d. at Loreto on 23 Sept. 1590: a final recognition of his remains was made on 23 Aug. 1926.

III. RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS

It is not known when the present Cathedral was built; it already existed in 1240, when the diocese of R. was established. The ancient church in Gothic style was enlarged and restored by Bishop A. Cino in 1384; it has three naves, and the central one, 45 m long and 8 m wide, has a coffered ceiling decorated in gold with panels in the shape of a Greek cross and octagonal panels: the former have paintings in the background (angels, Virtues), and the middle octagon bears, carved in wood in full relief, the figure of St. Flavian; the octagonal panels bear the coat of arms of Paul V, of Card. Borghese and of Card. Galamini, under whose supervision the work was executed (1623) by Andrea Costa, of Bologna. The apse, originally octagonal in shape, was reduced to its present form around 1633 by Card. Giulio Roma, bishop of R. The rest of the church likewise underwent a radical transformation in the 18th century. In the chapel of the Sacrament in the cathedral of R. are the painting of St. Lucy by Guercino (1665), and in the chapter hall the painting of the Holy Family by Mantegna (late 15th century). Several paintings by Lorenzo Lotto are preserved in R.: a St. Vincent in the church of St. Dominic, in the municipal Picture Gallery a Transfiguration and a polyptych: Madonna with Child, St. Dominic, Angels, and in the church of the Sopramercanti the Annunciation and St. James. In the church of the Capuchins, the painting of the Holy Family also called The Madonna of the Salad, attributed to Michelangelo da Caravaggio, and that of the Madonna of Loreto by Pomarancio. Worthy of note are the portals of the church of St. Dominic and of St. Augustine, executed, after a design by Giuliano da Maiano, by Giacomo Giovanni delle Fiandre, and the church of St. Mary in Castelnuovo, with its Romanesque facade and a fine portal of 1235. To be noted at Montelupone is the painting of the Madonna of the Milk by Mastro Antonio da Faenza and the Romanesque church with three naves and a crypt dedicated to St. Firmanus, abbot of that abbey (951-92); at Montecassiano, a terracotta altar by Mattia da Fiorenza, the most celebrated of the minor Robbias, dedicated to Sts. Roch and Sebastian; the work was executed at Montecassiano in 1527; at Castelfidardo, a Supper, a valuable work by Tibaldi, of 1591.

In R. there flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries a school of sculpture and casting, begun by the brothers Girolamo and Aurelio Lombardi, pupils of Sansovino, who settled in R., summoned by Clement VII for the works of the sanctuary of Loreto.

Belonging to this school were: Tiburzio Vercelli of Camerino, Antonio Calcagni (d. 1593), author, among other things, of the statue of Sixtus V at Loreto (he is buried in R. in the church of St. Augustine), Pier Paolo Jacometti and Tarquinio Jacometti. Pier Paolo was a sculptor, painter (his master was Pomarancio) and architect: one of the side doors of the basilica of Loreto is his work, and a bronze bas-relief (1634) depicting the Translation of the Holy House, by him, is preserved in R. on the civic tower (tower of the Borgo).

Alfredo Bontempi