San Bernardino was built in Gothic style from 1451 to 1466. The church's origin are connected to the presence of San Bernardino in the city from 1422, during which he founded a convent of nuns for the order of the Minor Friars and, later, another one for monks. He was canonized in 1450, six years after his death, and in 1451 his successor Giovanni da Capestrano started the construction of a large complex for the order in Verona thanks of the support of the Venetian doge Francesco Foscari.
This was consecrated in 1453, though the nave and its ceiling were completed only in 1466. Later a smaller aisle was added. The six bells in E are rung with Veronese bellringing art. The church has a nave and a single aisle. The simple façade is in brickwork, with a Renaissance portal decorated by three saints figures.
Notable is the collection of Veronese 16th-century paintings in the six chapels of the aisle. The first is that of St. Francis or of the Terziari, with frescoes by Nicolò Giolfino (1522) with the stories of St. John the Evangelist and St. Francis. The fourth chapel, dedicated to St. Antony, has frescoes by Domenico Morone (1511), in poor state. The fifth, includes a Cruficixion by Francesco Morone (1548). The sixth chapel was designed by Michele Sammicheli: its altarpiece, from 1579 (Madonna col Bambino and St. Anne) is by Bernardino India, while the lunette has an Eternal Father by Pasquale Ottino.
Frescoes by Domenico Morone and his son Francis can be found also in a hall of the annexed convent.
References:
