1. SAN LORENZO CHURCH TORINO
APE ITIS PININFARINA
Powerpoint Templates

2. Considered one of the best baroque churches in Europe, neither the facade nor the dome seen from the outside can give you an idea of its beautiful interior. F A Ç D E

3. Why is this Royal Chapel dedicated to San Lorenzo (St. Lawrence)?
In 1557, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and his cousin Phillip II, King of Spain, were fighting the French at Saint-Quentin in Flanders.
They made a votive offering to build a church in the name of the saint whose feast fell on the day of their eventual victory; that victory came
on 10 August, St. Lawrence’s day.
Unable to build a church at once, Emmanuel Philibert returned to Turin (4,800 inhabitants) in 1562, fortified the city and restored the ducal chapel “Santa Maria ad Praesepe” (Holy Mary of the Crib), dedicating it to St. Lawrence. This is the chapel at the entrance to today’s church.
St. Lawrence
martyred on a gridiron
by Tiziano

4. In 1563 Turin became the capital of Savoy and in 1578 Emmanuel Philibert brought the Holy Shroud for the first time from Chambery to Turin, where it has remained, to encourage the pilgrimage of St. Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, who came on foot to worship the Holy Shroud in thanks for the end of the plague.
For the occasion, the Shroud was placed on the altar in the chapel of San Lorenzo. The poet Torquato Tasso was at the Mass and he wrote a commemorative poem.
Full length negative of the shroud

5. It was not until 1634 that the first stone was officially laid for the new church, designed by Vitozzi and Castellamonte.
In 1666, the Duke of Savoy asked Guarino Guarini, priest and architect, to build a new church dedicated to St. Lawrence.
The church in baroque style was inaugurated on 12 May 1680, the construction of the complex structure required more than 13 years.

6. The architectonic and geometric structure of the church of San Lorenzo follows a symbolic vertical path over several levels towards the light
The lower part of the church is dark, windowless and with frescoes only in one part: it represents humanity’s terrestrial life. The first light comes at the level of the four loggias, that represent the four elements in nature: air, earth, fire and water.
Looking up, we can see that the cupola gets brighter and brighter, moving towards the light of Our Lord.
THE CHURCH

7. The architectonic structure is based on an octagonal; in the cupola we can see crossed arches that form a flower of light with eight petals: eight is a symbolic number; in the Christian tradition it was much used for baptisteries and indicates the perfect day, the day of Christ’s victory and return, a day without end, after the seven-day cycle of our week. 
In the cupola central part there is a six-pointed star which is a Guarini’s hallmark: God created man on the sixth day and Guarini built it as a sign of thanks for the intelligence and creativity received by God.

8. The Cupola

9. BY: 3AF – Itis Pininfarina
Bibliography:
Text adapted and translated from:://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_di_San_Lorenzo_(Torino)
Pictures:
Courtesy of: // (authorized)
Free: / /it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_di_San_Lorenzo_(Torino)
Page 8: //it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cupola_di_San_lorenzo_a_Torino.jpg/ author: Salvatore Gioitta
BY: 3AF – Itis Pininfarina