Asola, Church of Beata Vergine Maria Assunta and St.Andrew the Apostle

The Parish Church of St Andrew the Apostle (fifteenth century) maintains the dignity of a cathedral (Asola was actually the seat of the diocese until 1818) and was originally an abbey. It is an imposing Church-art gallery, with a considerable heritage of art and furniture.
The cathedral (in late Gothic-Lombard style) has two façades. The façade onto Piazza del Comune is anomalous, without doors; it is really just one side of the church, livened up by a decorated rose window, a big window and a clock. The majestic interior has a nave and two aisles (the central nave standing 20 metres high). The flooring was done in marble in 1599. The huge stained glass windows of the choir are by Giovanni Bertini, a nineteenth century stained glass window painter, also responsible for those in Milan Cathedral. The church has numerous paintings, the most notable of which are the canvases and tablets of Romanino (Girolamo da Romano, also known as Romanino, Brescia 1484/87-after 1559), which decorate the organ and pulpit: the "Vergine che appare ad Augusto" (the Virgin that Appears to Augustus), "Il sacrificio di Isacco" (Isaac's Sacrifice), "Figure di santi, profeti e sibille" (Figures of Saints, Prophets and Sibyls). The abbey choir is the work of Mario Piantavigna, a carver from the end of the sixteenth century, who also did the choir of St Benedicts in Polirone. On the right-hand wall, a remarkable Da Vinci-like copy of the Last Supper, dated 1516 and done, possibly by Romanino, while Leonardo was still alive. The church also has paintings on display by Moretto, Palma il Giovane, Guido Reni, an important polyptych called "della Misericordia" (of the Mercy), the work of an unknown Venetian (late fifteenth century). Next to the Cathedral is the G.B. Tosio Museum where furniture and ancient liturgical objects are kept (open Saturday afternoons or on request).