Basilica of San Domenico
Gothic-Romanesque church holding a marble saint's tomb carved in stages by masters spanning five centuries.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna follows a payment of thirty ducats in the autumn of 1494 to a homesick, unknown nineteen-year-old named Michelangelo Buonarroti, freshly fled from a dangerous Florence. It traces how a local nobleman found him the unlikely job of finishing the unfinished marble work of the sculptor Niccolo dell'Arca, who had died partway through carving the ornate crown above Saint Dominic's tomb. The guide follows what the young sculptor added beside Niccolo's saint, and how later historians have read those additions. Look closely at the smallest figure tucked into the corner of the tomb.
This audio guide was created using AI.