Madonna del Pilone, Turin

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Church of Madonna del Pilone
Chiesa della Madonna del Pilone
Torino madonna del pilone.jpg
Façade of the church
Location map Italy Torino.png.jpg
Red pog.svg
Madonna del Pilone, Turin
Map of Turin
45°04′12″N7°43′26″E / 45.0700°N 7.7240°E / 45.0700; 7.7240 Coordinates: 45°04′12″N7°43′26″E / 45.0700°N 7.7240°E / 45.0700; 7.7240
Denomination Roman Catholic Church
Architecture
Groundbreaking 1644
Completed1645
Administration
Archdiocese Turin

The church (or Sanctuary) of the Madonna del Pilone is a seventeenth-century church in Turin, Italy.

Turin Comune in Piedmont, Italy

Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Turin and of the Piedmont region, and was the first capital city of Italy from 1861 to 1865. The city is located mainly on the western bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 878,074 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.

Italy republic in Southern Europe

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.

Contents

Background

Built in 1645, the church was constructed by wish of the Queen Regent Christine Marie of France to remember the miraculous rescue from the previous year of a girl from the river. The miracle was attributed to the intervention of an image of the Virgin of the Annunciation, which was placed on a votive pillar. The painting became such an item of devotion, that this church was built at the site, enlarged in 1779, and furnished with a baptistery in 1807. Repeated reconstructions have altered the interior, and the church retains only some of the original decoration consisting of the stuccoes attributed to Giovanni Andrea Casella and the cupola frescoes by Bartolomeo Guidobono. The main altar houses the miraculous icon dating from 1587, now thoroughly restored.

Giovanni Andrea Casella was a Swiss-Italian painter active in the Baroque period. He was born in Lugano. He was a pupil of Pietro da Cortona in Rome. He was patronized by House of Savoy in frescoes for palaces in Turin, and known to be active in 1658. He painted in the Veneria Reale some fables, assisted by Giacomo, his nephew.

Bartolomeo Guidobono Italian painter

Bartolomeo Guidobono (1654–1709) was an Italian painter known for his scenes with angelic looking figures bathing in soft lighting, which show the influence of Corregio. His elegant and graceful style was very popular in Genoa. He is also known as il Prete di Savona or Prete Bartolomeo da Savona.

Miracle

The miracle for which the church was built recalls that the riverbank nearby once housed a number of mills. A flour miller's daughter fell into the river at dusk. Her Mother, hearing her cries, but unable to see where she was to rescue her, knelt before a nearby shrine built next to the mill, depicting the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. Legend holds a miraculous shaft of light illuminated the spot where her daughter was, and allowed her to be rescued by neighbors. News of the miracle led to the erection of a church by 1645, which became a Parish church March 2, 1807. The picture of the Madonna behind the main altar recalls the event.

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