New Cathedral

With its magnificent Baroque façade made of Botticino marble, the New Cathedral overlooks Piazza Paolo VI. It was designed by architect Giovanbattista Lantana and built between 1604 and 1825 on the remains of the old basilica of San Pietro de Dom (5th-6th century). The dome is the third highest in Italy. 

Built on the plan of a Greek cross, the single-nave cathedral houses important works of art. These include the 15th century wooden crucifix with the ‘Sacrifice of Isaac’ by Moretto painted on the lunette, the ‘Ark of St Apollonius’, Bishop of Brescia in the 3rd century, which was created in 1510 with high reliefs by Maffeo Olivieri. The altarpiece by Giuseppe Nuvolese, created as a votive offering for the end of the plague in 1630, is located in the Holy Trinity Chapel. On the left aisle is the monument to Giovanbattista Montini, the Brescian Pope Paul VI, which was created in 1984 by the sculptor Raffaele Scorzelli and is dominated from above by the organ paintings by Romanino, which depict the Sposalizio della Vergine (in English: ‘the Wedding of the Virgin’), la Nascita della Vergine (in English: ‘the Birth of the Virgin’), and la Visitazione (in English: ‘the Visitation’). 

The altarpiece of the Assumption, which can be seen in the background of the presbytery, is by Iacopo Zoboli (1773), while the painting of the Assunta venerata dai santi Carlo e Francesco e dal vescovo Marino Giorgi (in English: "The Assumption venerated by Saints Charles and Francis and Bishop Marino Giorgi") of the artist Palma il Giovanecan be seen in the altar on the left. 

The interior is permeated by a white-blue light created by the stucco and the white marble that covers all the surfaces.