Concert for the Holy Cross | Santa Croce sull’Arno

The traditional concert for the Holy Cross, now in its 17th year, takes place on 13 September in the Church of San Lorenzo Martire featuring soprano Maria Luigia Borsi. Brad Repp on violin and Roberto Barrari on piano.  Concert begins at 9.30 p.m.

The area where the first settlements arose on the banks of the Arno (already witnessed from the 8th century), belonged at the time to the diocese of Lucca, where the veneration of the Volto Santo (Holy Face), the famous wooden crucifix depicting the body of Christ alive on the cross, dressed in a long tunic, was widespread. Legend recounts the discovery of the cross in Palestine by bishop Gualfredo, who sent the simulacrum on a boat by sea in the hope that it would reach a Christian land, thus averting its destruction. In 782, the ship approached Luni, landing spontaneously only when Bishop Giovanni arrived in the area after being warned in a dream by an angel. From here the cross was transferred to Lucca (still preserved in the Cathedral of San Martino) and devotion to the sacred image was unstoppable

The object of worship linked to the founding of the town is today in the Church of San Lorenzo, built in the 16th century on the pre-existing church dedicated to the Holy Cross.  The imposing polychrome statue, which, according to critics, dates back to the 13th century and is the work of an anonymous artist from Lucca, is made up of several parts assembled with plaster and glue, painted with tempera paint, and depicts the living image of Christ, characterised by a severe and solemn physiognomy of the face, with the head slightly protruding due to the forward inclination of the neck. The somatic features are inspired by the Holy Face of Lucca, but are not completely identical.