The Church of Our Lady of the Graces (Italian : Santa Maria delle Grazie) is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church in Varallo Sesia, province of Vercelli, region of Piedmont, Italy. The church was built, together with the adjacent Franciscan convent, by padre Bernardo Caimi between 1486 and 1493. At this time, the construction of the Sacro Monte was also beginning. In December 1931, Pope Pius XI gave the church the title of Minor Basilica. [1]
The interior is subdivided into spaces for the general public and for the friars, separated by a partition wall (tramezzo), supported by three round arches. The central arch opens to a hall reserved for friars, while the two lateral arches lead to two chapels. The fresco cycle scheme of the wall is traditionally attributed to Bernardino of Siena, and painted in 1531 by Gaudenzio Ferrari.
Similar decorative structures, with a partition wall entirely decorated with frescoes of the life of Jesus, were typical of the religious and artistic culture of the Friars Minor in Piedmont and Lombardy between the 15th and 16th centuries. [2]
By the end of the 15th century, the Franciscan convent was much larger than today. The ancient building consisted of two cloisters, the friars' cells, a refectory, a library and kitchens. The monks vacated the convent by the early 20th century, and restorations began. Since 1953 the complex has hosted the nuns Suore Missionarie di Gesù Eterno Sacerdote.
Common for Franciscan churches, the bare façade does not hint at the rich fresco decoration inside. In the cosy atmosphere of the church, with the gothic arches sustaining the ceiling trusses, the wall of frescos by Gaudenzio Ferrari are one of the masterpieces of Renaissance painting in Piedmont and Lombardy. They depict the life and passion of Jesus Christ on a surface of 82 m2 (880 sq ft): twenty equal frames narrate the main facts told by the gospels from the Annunciation to the Resurrection, working as Biblia pauperum . The Crucifixion, as the most important narrative scene, occupies the center with four frames.
The painter from Valsesia completed the frescos in 1513 (as it is written on the wall by the author himself, "Gaudenzius Ferrarius Vallis Siccidae pinxit"). He had worked in Varallo, at the Sacro Monte, for ten years and had already painted the polyptych of St Anne.
Ferrari's influences, for example in his orientation of the Last Supper include da Vinci's famous fresco in Milan. Ferrari's landscapes also recall Leonardo's style. But Ferrari had traveled to Rome, and met or saw the work of Bramantino in Milan or Perugino in Rome.
The most important model was Giovanni Martino Spanzotti, author of a similar decoration in the church of San Bernardino in Ivrea. The nocturnal Arrest of Jesus quotes from the same scene in Ivrea.
Despite the importance of his models, Ferrari also painted some figures (such as armors, horse heads, halos) in relief to give them particular prominence; an innovation perhaps prompted by the three dimensional tableaux of the Sacro Monte chapels.
Despite the focus on Ferrari's wall, there are other important artworks in the church as well.
The two chapels under the partition wall preserve other frescos by Ferrari, who painted here before the wall. These frescos are important to understand his artistic development. The Saint Margaret chapel was painted in 1507 with two evangelical scenes (Presentation at the Temple and the Debate with the Doctors) and the grotesque.
On the right is the Graces chapel with frescos, dating back to 1491, from the studio of the Milanese painter Giovanni Scotto, where Ferrari was an apprentice. [3] The paintings represent the birth of Virgin Mary, the marriage of Virgin Mary and the adoration of the Magi. The chapel also preserve the wooden statue of the Virgin with baby Jesus standing on her knees, very dear to the local devotees.
In the aisle is a fresco on the left wall, near the pulpit, by Fermo Stella, Ferrari's apprentice, who worked with his maestro at the Sacro Monte. The painting represents a rare scene, Jesus bidding his Mother farewell, inspired by a homily by John Chrysostom.
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a Catholic religious order. Officially named Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù all'Argentina, its façade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture. The church served as a model for innumerable Jesuit churches all over the world, especially in the Americas. Its paintings in the nave, crossing, and side chapels became models for Jesuit churches throughout Italy and Europe, as well as those of other orders. The Church of the Gesù is located in the Piazza del Gesù in Rome.
Gaudenzio Ferrari was an Italian painter and sculptor of the Renaissance.
The Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi, a town in the Umbria region in central Italy, where Saint Francis was born and died. It is a papal minor basilica and one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. With its accompanying friary, Sacro Convento, the basilica is a distinctive landmark to those approaching Assisi. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
Varallo Sesia, pronunciation (Vhuh-rahl-loh) commonly known as Varallo, is a comune and town in the province of Vercelli in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is situated in Valsesia, at 450 metres (1,480 ft) above sea level and some 66 kilometres (41 mi) north-northeast of Vercelli and 55 kilometres (34 mi) northwest of Novara.
The Sacri Montiof Piedmont and Lombardy are a series of nine calvaries or groups of chapels and other architectural features created in northern Italy during the late sixteenth century and the seventeenth century. They are dedicated to various aspects of the Christian faith and are considered of great beauty by virtue of the skill with which they have been integrated into the surrounding natural landscape of hills, forests and lakes. They also house important artistic materials in the form of wall paintings and statuary. In 2003, they were named as a World Heritage Site.
Gesù Nuovo is the name of a church and a square in Naples, Italy. They are located just outside the western boundary of the historic center of the city. To the southeast of the spire, one can see a block away the Fountain of Monteoliveto and the piazza of the church of Sant'Anna dei Lombardi. The square is a result of the expansion of the city to the west beginning in the early 16th century under the rule of Spanish viceroy Pedro Alvarez de Toledo. The square of Gesù Nuovo contains three prominent landmarks:
Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli was an Italian painter and draughtsman who was active in Milan. He is mainly known for his altarpieces, but his outstanding achievements are large decorative frescoes for the Sacro Monte di Varese and the Sacro Monte di Varallo.
Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo is a titular church in Trastevere, Rome. It is the official church of the papal order of knighthood Order of the Holy Sepulchre. A side chapel is dedicated to the Order and a former grand master, Nicola Canali is entombed there. It is located on the Janiculum. Since 1946, the church has been under the care of the American congregation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement.
Antonio d'Enrico, called Tanzio da Varallo, or simply il Tanzio was an Italian painter of the late-Mannerist or early Baroque period.
The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato is the Catholic cathedral of Genoa, northern Italy; its decoration employed the major baroque studios and artists in Genoa in the 17th century.
The Sacred Mountain of Varallo is a Sacro Monte overlooking the town of Varallo Sesia in the province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the oldest Sacro Monte, founded in 1491 by Franciscan friar Bernardino Caimi. It is built on a natural terrace on the rocky slopes of Monte Tre Croci, on the left bank of the Sesia river where it leaves Val Mastallone. It is 600 m above sea level, 150 m above the historic centre of Varallo.
Giovanni Stefano Danedi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. he is also known as Stefano Montalti.
Maestro della Cappella di Santa Margherita a Crea, or more simply Maestro di Crea, is the name given to the anonymous Italian painter who was engaged by Guglielmo VIII Paleologo, Marquis of Montferrat, to decorate the chapel of Santa Margherita in the Santuario della Madonna di Crea near Serralunga di Crea. The work was performed during the years 1474–1479. The sanctuary stands on the highest hill of the Basso Monferrato; later it would form the focal pont of the Sacro Monte di Crea.
The Sacro Monte di Varese is one of the nine sacri monti in the Italian regions of Lombardy and Piedmont which were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2003. It has an altitude of 807 metres above sea level.
Pietro Maggi was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period.
Giulio Cesare Luini was an Italian painter. Giulio was a colleague of Gaudenzio Ferrari in the decoration of the Sacro Monte di Varallo.
The Path of Saint-Charles is an historical, artistic and devotional route which follows the travels of saint Charles Borromeo from Arona, his native town, and Viverone, where the path joins the Via Francigena.
Bartolomeo Carlo Borsetti was an Italian painter of the late Baroque period, active in the Piedmont.
San Francesco is a late-Renaissance, Roman Catholic minor basilica church located on via Terranuova in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Fermo Stella was an Italian painter of Lombardy and Piedmont, mostly in rural churches and sanctuaries. Art historians from the 19th century cite erroneously Fermo as active at dates that range from the 15th century to 1577.
