the choir, is the tomb of pope Celestine V. Commissioned by a guild of wool workers in 1517, it is the work of Girolamo da Vicenza, and contains the remains of the Pope in a silver urn. The present urn was made at the end of the Second World War by Aquilan goldsmith Luigi Cardilli: it replaced an urn stolen by French troops in 1646, which itself replaced the first urn, removed by the Prince of Orange in 1530. The transept also includes two Baroque altarpieces, one of which includes a 14th-century statue of the Virgin, often attributed to Silvestro dell'Aquila, a pupil of Donatello. The interior of the church is not profusely decorated, or at least not much decoration has come down to us, but includes 14th- and 15th-century frescoes by an anonymous local artist, depicting scenes of the Virgin's life: the Virgin Mary between St. Agnes and St. Apollonia, a Dormition of the Virgin, and a Coronation. The church also contains a Crucifixion with St. Julian (who is specially venerated in L'Aquila), an early 16th-century frescoed niche of a Virgin with Child and Saints, and fourteen oversized 17th-century paintings by Karl Ruther, a monk of Gdańsk, representing episodes from the life of St. Celestine. References Sources External links Liceo Einstein of Teramo Abruzzo Heritage 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Burial places of popes Romanesque architecture in Abruzzo Buildings and structures in L'Aquila Celestine Order