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The Church of Santa Maria delle Nevi is located in the historic center of Siena. The church of Santa Maria delle Nevi was built between 1471 and 1477 at the behest of Giovanni Cinughi, first bishop of Pienza and member of one of the oldest Sienese noble families, as a noble chapel, linked to the cult of the bishop's family. Giovanni Cinughi, who was a close friend of Pope Pius II, wanted this sacred space isolated, outside the structures of his palace which was nearby, in the heart of the city of Siena, along the ancient route of the Via Francigena. The bishop pledged all his assets for the construction of this building which was not completed. The church is dedicated to the Madonna delle Nevi, the Virgin who announced the miraculous snowfall of August 5 in the year 352 AD, suggesting to Pope Liberius the place to build the Roman basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. The construction of this church in Siena helped to spread the cult of the Madonna delle Nevi in the city both among aristocratic families and among the people. We do not know the name of the architect who built it of the church, which still presents itself in its original form, with its Renaissance characters in the shape of a small temple, but an important figure present in Siena after 1450, perhaps Lorenzo di Pietro, is hypothesized. known as il Vecchietta, who was also a painter and sculptor, a pupil of the great Francesco di Giorgio. The stuccoes on the sides of the altar with San Giuseppe and Santa Maria Maddalena de'Pazzi are attributed to the Sienese sculptor Giuseppe Maria Mazzuoli (1727-1781).

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