The Cathedral Basilica of Rimini is one of the symbolic buildings of Italian Humanism, a masterpiece of solemn Renaissance forms that stands in the historic center of Rimini, better known, starting in the 1700s, as the “Malatesta Temple” in memory of the family of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, who around the mid-15th century profoundly transformed the building, entrusting the architect Leon Battista Alberti with the work.

Inside the Temple are Giotto’s crucifix (dated c. 1300) and an admirable painting by Piero della Francesca (1451) depicting Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta kneeling before St. Sigismund, with the features of Sigismund Emperor of Luxembourg, who in 1433, on his return from Rome, stopped in Rimini to knight the Malatesta.

The construction, both inside and outside, clearly appears unfinished: the interruption of the works around 1460-61 was due to conflicts between Pope Pius II (Piccolomini) and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, culminating in the latter’s excommunication in 1460, and the loss of much of the territories of the Papal States, including Romagna and Marche, under his direct control.

Certainly, the incompleteness of the building stands out as the distinctive feature of this remarkable monument. To the visitor approaching it from the outside, this incompleteness is evident especially in the facade, where the upper register above the columns “of the Temple” remains undefined. However, today this incompleteness can be seen as an added value, as a dynamic process in progress, where it is the visitor itself who, upon entering the Temple with the help of an app, “completes the vision” – a vision that is also subjective but legitimate – thus shaping a small interpretative stone molded through an experiential dimension lived within this place, each according to their own availability of time, whether for a fleeting visit or open to thematic exploration.

It should be noted that the first six chapels (including the two small symmetrical sacristies), which belong to the original project commissioned by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, should be viewed two by two, frontally, for their iconographic content.

This allows one to perceive what is a true itinerary of the mind towards God: an itinerary that, starting from the “fortification” of virtue, leads towards the “sphere” of perfect light. This is achieved through an articulation of the interior space that proceeds from the entrance door to the area where a large dome (never realized) was supposed to be placed at the end of the nave, beneath which the altar was to be located (a symbolic reference to Christ).

In front of the presbytery and under the dome, there was to be an iconostasis, above which Giotto’s crucifix was placed. This crucifix is currently located at the back of the 18th-century apse, which was reconstructed after the bombings of World War II.

From the entrance, this is the ordered sequence of spaces:

“space of virtue”,
“space of holiness”,
“space of praise”,
“space of contemplation”, and
“space of light” or the Glory of God.

After the fall of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, the Franciscans had to complete the building as best they could with their own resources, as it still lacked a roof, apse, and bell tower. Following the suppression of the Franciscans and the destruction of the old Cathedral of Santa Colomba, by order of Napoleon, the title of cathedral passed to the Malatesta Temple in 1809.

During the Second World War, the building was hit by numerous bombs that uncovered it and destroyed the apse, the 18th-century chapels, the sacristies, and the ancient liturgical furnishings, shattered balustrades and altars, damaged some bas-reliefs and the external facing. The adjacent Franciscan convent, largely converted into a Civic Museum at the time, was also destroyed. Reconstruction and restoration efforts, made possible in part by a significant contribution from the “American Committee for the Restoration of Monuments,” were completed with the reconsecration in 1950.

In preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000 – coinciding with the 450th anniversary of the official foundation of the building and the 50th anniversary of its reconstruction – a new comprehensive restoration, carried out with the support of the State and the Cassa di Risparmio Foundation of Rimini, restored the Malatesta Temple to its ancient splendor and allowed for the partial recovery of its original polychromy.

The entire external stone facing, completed between 1450 and 1460, is the result of the design intervention by the humanist architect Leon Battista Alberti. It was intended to lend “modern” solemnity and solidity to a simple Franciscan church that had long served as the burial place of the Malatesta family. Inspired by the construction principles and forms of imperial Roman architecture, which had left two highly admired examples in Rimini – the Arch of Augustus and the Bridge of Tiberius – it represents the first classical interpretation of a Christian church. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the adoption of the image of a temple on the façade of a church not only testifies to a humanism attentive to the rediscovery of classical heritage (which moves from the realm of humanae litterae to the sphere of architectural language), but also appears as a theologically coherent and contextual expression of the identity of Christ – the Temple, as explicitly stated in the Gospel of John, where Jesus, referring to his body, declares: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Moreover, in the Book of Revelation, it is written that in the heavenly Jerusalem there will be no temple, for “the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Revelation 21:22).

The interior features a single nave with exposed trusses, flanked by eight chapels and a spacious apse. It appears that Alberti had planned a barrel vault for the nave, and a large dome at the end of it. Now in the apse, reconstructed after the war, is preserved the only substantial work from the ancient 14th-century church: a large Crucifix painted on wood panel by Giotto around the year 1300. In the adjacent left chapel, also rebuilt, remains the sole testament to the church’s original dedication to Saint Francis: a canvas depicting Saint Francis receiving the stigmata, painted in 1548 by Giorgio Vasari for the apse.

The remaining six chapels are from the 15th century; they are characterized by tall and projecting marble balustrades, Gothic arches and windows, marble coverings, bas-reliefs, and statues. All the sculptural works in the Temple are attributed to the Florentine Agostino di Duccio, who, along with his craftsmen, worked on them for at least a decade until 1456; the architectural-decorative arrangement, however, is due to the Veronese Matteo de’ Pasti, a medallist, illuminator, architect, and overseer of all constructions commissioned by Sigismondo. The themes of the figurative decorations adorning the chapels were suggested by court scholars and developed based on research conducted by humanists such as Basinio da Parma, Roberto Valturio, and Poggio Bracciolini.

The Malatesta imprint is strong throughout the building, marked by heraldic elements, inscriptions, and Malatesta initials (“SI”). To this imprint and the display of classical forms and erudite references, the building owes its reputation as a “pagan Temple,” a notion embraced and expanded by Pope Pius II, who, among Sigismondo’s many – real and alleged – misdeeds, also criticized this construction. In reality, it represents a pioneering, unprecedented attempt to imbue classical forms into a Christian building and plastic representations traditionally Christian in meaning. Indeed, even apparently more secular images, those expressing the beauty and perfection of the cosmos (the planets and zodiac signs) and human endeavor (the liberal arts), were present in churches since the early Middle Ages, albeit never depicted in such imaginative and simultaneously laden with references to antiquity.

Giotto’s Crucifix, painted in tempera and gold on wood, is dated by critics to around 1300, between the experience of working on the Basilica of Assisi and the marvelous masterpiece of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. This work serves as a model in the Rimini area, capable of inspiring, together with the influence of an older Adriatic-Eastern Byzantine culture, the rise of that artistic experience known as the 14th-century Rimini school. This movement spread beyond the local confines of Romagna, extending to the Marche and Veneto regions. This Crucifix represents a remarkable novelty, not only for its anatomical and expressive realism, which would characterize subsequent Western artistic production, but for Giotto’s ability, more than others, to reinterpret the model of the Byzantine-derived Cristus Patiens, blending it into a simultaneously “human” and “divine” perspective, akin to the Franciscan spirituality—particularly of St. Francis—where the Crucifix “embodies” both the suffering humanity of the Savior and the moment of His Glory.

In the last chapel on the right of the Cathedral—part of the church built in the 18th century and reconstructed after the bombings of World War II—Piero della Francesca’s fresco (circa 1415-20 – 1492), originally from the Relic Cell and created in 1451, has been recently positioned. It depicts Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta in prayer before St. Sigismund. St. Sigismund is shown seated on a throne on a high podium on the left side of the painting, holding the sphere symbolizing royal dominion with his left hand and wielding a scepter with his right. Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, at the center of the painting, appears kneeling in prayer, portrayed in profile according to an iconography derived from Roman medals. On the right, in a round window, Castel Sismondo is depicted, a clear sign of Malatesta’s dominion over the city. Below the round window, two greyhounds, dogs for which Malatesta had a particular passion, are painted crouching. The entire scene is set within a particularly luminous hall, rich in decorative garments and punctuated by pilasters, which certainly reflect the interior of the Temple as Piero della Francesca must have seen it at the time of its construction.     

Regarding the Franciscan church, initially Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta’s intentions to transform it were much more modest than what was eventually carried out: the interventions were supposed to involve only the construction of two private chapels (commonly known as family chapels) on the right side, whose works had begun in 1447. Subsequently, it was decided – for reasons both of a devotional nature (a vow made by Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta), and celebratory (a place to celebrate Sigismondo and the Malatesta family), and also structural (the initially started works had jeopardized the stability of the construction) – to intervene on the entire building, requiring a broader project from Leon Battista Alberti, an architect-humanist closely associated with the Roman Curia and some of the major Italian courts, including the Este court.