Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel), Savona (must see)

The Sistine Chapel of Savona, dating back to the 1480s, is a remarkable yet lesser-known counterpart to the famous chapel in Rome. Commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV, this funerary chapel was built within a Franciscan convent to honor his deceased parents, Leonardo Della Rovere and Luchina Monteleone. The original design was a rectangular hall with a square-based apse, decorated with a painted dome depicting a starry sky, creating an atmosphere of solemnity and celestial symbolism.

Much of the early artistic work was carried out by Giovanni Mazone, an Alexandrian painter who adorned the chapel with an apsidal pictorial cycle and an altar polyptych, though the latter was later moved to the Petit Palais in Avignon. In the 19th century, a triptych by Santino Tagliafichi replaced the original artwork.

The chapel also housed a marble mausoleum, originally placed on the left side of the apse. This intricate structure, sculpted by Giovanni and Michele d’Aria, features Saints Francis and Anthony accompanying Sixtus IV’s parents in a solemn bas-relief composition, crowned by the papal coat of arms. Additionally, Sixtus IV’s nephew, Giuliano della Rovere—who later became Pope Julius II—commissioned Mazone to decorate the walls with frescoes of the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Journey of the Three Kings, which were later relocated during restorations.

In the 1860s, Francesco Maria, the last Della Rovere descendant, oversaw a major restoration that gave the chapel its current Rococo aesthetic. The structure was transformed into a modern aristocratic chapel, with a pseudo-elliptical vault, large bright windows, and lavish floral stucco decorations crafted by Lombard artisans. The centerpiece of the ceiling is "The Mystery of Redemption", a fresco by Paolo Gerolamo Brusco, enhancing the grandeur of the space.