Portinari Chapel at St.Eustorgio

     This is a chapel located at the eastern end of the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio.   It is located in the Northern Italy. According to the history, the chapel was originally meant to act as both mortuary to house the remains of Saint Peter of Veronica and at the same time to serve as a family chapel.

On top of the chapel's altar is a donor portrait. The portrait shows a figure of Pigello Portinari in what seems like he is kneeling in prayers before the figure of Peter Verona. The history has it that indeed Peter appeared to Pigello when he was in the middle of praying and instructed him to construct a chapel. In the chapel, he was to preserve his remains in that particular chapel.

The chapel is made up of the cubic roof. Its roofing appears to project square apse. The lower section of the apse seems to be surrounded by a structure that is octagonal in shape. The insides of the chapel are outlined by the orders and instructions of the architecture, moldings and a ribbed dome that appears to have all the structure retrieved from gray stone that contradicts with the traditional flat plasters.

The features of the chapel are richly ornamented with formal motifs. Several surfaces in the chapel are painted in fresco. The outlines of the walls depict scenes from the life of St. Peter of Verona. On top of the arch, there is an Annunciation. The dome showcases the entrance to the apse. There is also an Assumption of the Virgin that faces the arch. 

Several paintings of unknown Lombard artists are also located in the chapel.  Some of the paintings include the portrait of the martyrdom of St Peter and some frescoes like the great Miracolo dellanuvola e miracolo dellafalsa. The head of St. Peter rests in the marble shrine that acts as the chapel's focal point.

The chapel entrance showcases a huge room filled with hundreds of remains of the saints. The relics are stored and preserved in glass cabinets. It also has a very remarkable paleochristian cemetery. There seems to be an astonishing image of Virgin Mary and Jesus' with devil horns. According Furnari "Portinari Chapel or Chapel of St. Peter Martyr" (January 01, 1995); to the story behind those grotesque images showed that those were not the real Mary and his son Jesus but a pretense of the devil.

The chapel was built in a Renaissance style of architecture. There is a section in the channel that describes a story of a young man who had kicked his own mother and then cut off his leg in remorse and regret. The portrait shows St Peter miraculously healing the boy whose name was Narni. The ark of St Peter was known to be carved by a man known as Giovanni  diBalduccio. (FURNARI, January 01, 1995)

Reference 

FURNARI, M. (January 01, 1995). Portinari Chapel or chapel of St. Peter Martyr. 16.