Truck knocks down portion of Renaissance portico of Pontormo's parish church in Carmignano

In Carmignano, in the province of Prato, a garbage truck hit the Renaissance portico of the parish church of St. Michael and St. Francis, which houses Pontormo’s celebrated "Visitation," currently in Florence on loan for an exhibition at the Pitti Palace.

The driver of the vehicle was reversing into the widening in the square, but made a wrong maneuver and ended up hitting the porch of the building causing extensive damage to the structure. All this happened during the first round of garbage collection, around 6 a.m., so when no one was passing through the streets (fortunately, because usually local children pass through there on their way to school).

Andrea Pessina, superintendent of fine arts and landscape of Florence, Pistoia and Prato, said, “There was a partial collapse of the Renaissance portico: now the priority is to secure the building. Certainly the damage is very substantial. We have sent an architect and an assistant since this morning, giving instructions that the portico be shored up and the supports consolidated. Then we will take care to analyze in detail the extent of the damage. And by the way, we have already notified the Carabinieri of the cultural heritage protection unit as well.”

Mayor Edoardo Prestanti said, “The most important thing is that there were no injuries even though for our territory it represents a wound to the heart. In the afternoon we will take stock of the situation with the other agencies to assess the damage and study the necessary interventions to secure and restore. We will constantly monitor the situation and provide the population with all relevant updates.”

Photo by Elena Petrioli

Truck knocks down portion of Renaissance portico of Pontormo's parish church in Carmignano

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