Padua's worst tragedy was the complete destruction of this church by Allied bombs in 1944; some art historians consider it the country's greatest artistic wartime loss. It has been remarkably restored to its original early-13th-century Romanesque style, but the magnificent frescoes by the 23-year-old Andrea Mantegna could not be salvaged, except for a corner of the Ovetari Chapel. Here you'll find enough fragments left in the rubble of the frescoes he painted from 1454 to 1457 to understand the loss of what was considered one of the great artistic treasures of Italy. Mantegna was born in Padua (1431-1506) and studied under the Florentine master Donatello, who lived here while completing his commissions for the Basilica di Sant'Antonio, as well as the famous equestrian statue that now stands in the piazza before it. Classical music concerts occasionally are held in the church.