Bagolino
The work of construction had a deceleration during the pest of 1630. For this reason, despite the fact that some parts of the aisle were already painted with frescoes by Palma il Giovane (the Young) and some altars were already placed, the church’s cupola of the aspe and the vault of the presbytery remained unfinished. This was until the works went on after the pest, using building material which had to be transported from Condino. In 1636 the church was completed and at this point the artists resumed painting the frescoes and finishing decorations.
From a higher position, the “Dome” domains the village of Bagolino, which seems to be wholly at its feet and shapes a semicircle. The two edges of the circle become larger and shape the two quarters: Visnà, on the right side of the church, and Cvril, on the left side.
The solid façade, has a shack style and is adorned with simple graffiti. It is interrupted only by a very simple mullioned window with three lights and is characterised by a pronaos, shaped by seven arcs that give a fascinating full effect in the high part and an empty effect in the lower part. The style was possibly influenced by Venice. The material and the manpower for the construction of the portico was provided by the Versa family. In fact, on the pilaster base of the left entry arc of the pronaos one can read: MARTI + VERSA – F. SVO – FILIOL? – DA – B. Also, in the same period, the Versa family donated the left portal.
In 1681, the bell tower was erected in substitution of a preceding tower that was located at the side of the right entry and has a cupola supported by an octagonal base at the top. Within anonymous and Moreschi paintings, one can see that the top finished with a high steeple, which was possibly destroyed by the fire of 1779.
THE INTERIOR
The interior is a large vain structured in an even barrel vault and is lit up by eight large semicircular windows in correspondence with the eight lateral chapels, four on each side. Among the windows and the chapels there are double pilasters which give a feeling of major height, otherwise lacking in a church structured in a single vain with barrel vault. The presbytery is also covered by the barrel vault and ends with a semi-cylindrical apse whose exterior has a polygonal shape.
By looking at the interior one can have a monumental sensation of vastness, emphasized by the architectonic squares by Sandrini and Viviani, and a sacred perception of meditation and concentration, created by the single aisle and by the high lateral large niches.
These feelings of centrality and magnificence are exemplary of post-Tridentino and 17th century styles. In fact, the provostal church of Bagolino is included in the numerous churches built in the province of Brescia (ancient Brixia) in the 17th century. They followed the composite and structural scheme of the churches of the late part of the 16th century characterised by single vain and barrel vault, style diffused after the Council of Trento.
THE FRESCOES
It is immediately evident that the fresco on the vault was painted in accordance with the typical 17th century preferences by Tommaso Sandrini (1575 – 1630), leader of the square movement in Brescia. He was able to create a perfect optical illusion with extraordinary ability by incorporating the eight large windows so that to double the height of the aisle. The columns of the loggias are supported by brackets which seem continuing in the double pilaster of the walls. In so doing they increase the perception of verticality of the aisle.
Camillo Rama (1585 – 1630?) is the artist of the frescoes inserted in the squares. In the first square is a portrayal of the martyrdom of Saint Vigilio, bishop of Trento (ancient Tridentum). In the second square is a portrayal of the glory of Virgin Mary. Both these squares are crowded with characters still in stereotyped attitudes to the contrary of the dynamic representation of the medallion contained in the third squares. Therein, the artist painted a simple but tragic scene with Saint Giorgio who kills the dragon. The last scene contained in the squares is the Holy Family, which was added by Gaetano Cresseri during the restoration in 1898.
The frescoes contained in the large niches and the scenes contained in between the double pilasters along the walls were painted also by Rama, pupil of Palma il Giovane.
In the first large niche to the right there is the soberest wooden altar of the church which is structured in three levels: the pure altar; the elevation that incorporates two paintings of small dimension (Saint Angela Merici and the blessed Versa da Lumi); and another base, above which two spiral columns support a trabeation adorned with three little angels.
The soasa, as with the painting, was likely displayed in the preceding church. The painting, which portrays Saint Agostino and Saint Monica with the Virgin and Child, has always been attributed to Pietro Ricchi, known as the Lucchese. However, the attribution by Ricchi becomes inappropriate if one compares such a painting with other artworks executed by the artist and located in Bagolino or in the province. Fappani attributes it to Pietro Marone, to whom there are several referable characteristics: the mannerism, typical in the province of Brescia in between the XVI and XVII century, and the Venetian style colours.
In the second niche to the right, in a Baroque wooden altar, there is inserted a painting portraying Saint Lorenzo standing between Saint Giovanni the Baptist and Saint Pietro. The painting was possibly illustrated by Francesco Torbido.
The altar testifies in a clear manner the preference for the 17th century “horror vacui”. In this artwork there doesn’t exist an even plan, on the contrary, the whole surface and also the columns are decorated with floral themes (ribbons and doodle), so mush so that it is hardly possible to see the three little angels who feign to hold the painting along with the other nine little angels and the three little heads contained in the exuberant soasa. Among the plait one can see delightful small figures: the dwarf with large 17th century trousers, to the right, and the woman with a red coral necklace (typical necklace among our rural women), to the left, at the bottom of the soasa. In a script set at the top one can read the year 1662, and the name of the buyer.
The attribution of the painting to Torbido was not easy, even if Vasari wrote on Torbido: “… and he created a wooden board which was brought to Bagolino, mountain village of the province of Brescia”. Subsequently, perhaps for an error in transcription, and confusing him with the nick name of the painter, Da Pozzo attributed the artwork to Battista del Moro, son-in-law and pupil of Torbido nicknamed, precisely, Moro. Besides, the visage of Saint Peter absorbed in reading is one of the best painted examples among the portrait paintings by Torbido, a skill for that he was particularly appreciated.
This painting is warm and luminous in colour and dates between 1525 and 1530 as it is not yet marked by the Mannerism intonations peculiar of Giulio Romano, who later influenced the painter. Torbido was eclectic, open to the most various art suggestions. In this painting one finds the influence of XXXlatti in the angels and of the Giorgione in the quiet serenity of the characters, underlined by the typical colours of the Venetian school, but the style and canon of the figures is slightly rough and more provincial.
At the side of the altar, the figures of Saint Geronimo and Saint Ilarione and the allegories of Charity, Faith and Hope stand out from the frescoes on the walls of the large niche. They are certainly attributable to Palma il Giovane who also worked on the frescoes on the large niches to the left (Saint Anna and Saint Gioacchino, the stories of Giuditta and Oloferne). Unfortunately, the artist could not finish his artwork because he died one year after the end of the construction of the church and was substituted by Camillo Rama. The charming figures of the Saints, proportioned and brightened by the peculiar light of Palma il Giovane, can not be confused at all with the inelegant and static figures in the frescoes of the remaining large niches.
Between the second and third large niches is a pulpit with a bass-relief portraying Christ preaching to the crowd. This handiwork is by an anonymous carver of the 17th century. Despite being criticised for the out of proportion figures, the tangle of characters, with their enlarged heads, recalls the ingenuous and childlike purity of the works of the Naïf school. The tradition says that the visage of the Christ is the portrayal of Father Borra who preached during the Lent in 1624.
In the third large niche there is a Baroque soasa. Four little angels stand on top of the soasa, which is shaped by two sturdy and richly decorated columns.
The central painting, moved from the church of Saint Lorenzo in 1804, was deprived of two strips at the sides altering the centering of the piece in order to adapt it to the altar. The artwork represents the Holy Family with Saint Rocco, Saint Aniano, Saint Marco and Saint Sebastiano. The artist is Pietro Rosa, pupil of Tiziano, but for its eclecticism the attribution of the work had been assigned to several painters.
In the painting one sees Saint Marco calling Saint Aniano from the disk of the cobbler. It is notable the simple yet effective Still Life style of the disk, painted with all the tools, which shows the peculiar mark of the Bresciano style painting. Saint Sebastiano, to the right, and Saint Rocco, to the left, flank the scene described above. Aloft, the Holy Family has a Tiziano style imprint.
At the base of the two columns are two small pictures which have a remarkable artistic value. The pictures portray Saint Gaetano, to the left, and Blessed Orsola, to the right. They were painted possibly by Bernardino Boni, an 18th century artist from the province of Brescia.
The altar of the fourth large niche is made with stucco and marble in a simple style, and adorned in the higher part with two little angels indicating the headstone placed in the center of the gable.
A painting portraying the risen Christ among the Saints stands out on the altar. This is a work by Giacomo Barbello as it is possible to read on the scroll coming out the book to the bottom left: “G. JACOBUS BARBELLUS CREMENSIS PINGEBAT 1643″. The light is very particular and different from the other paintings seen so far: in this painting the light is the protagonist, radiating from higher it shapes the exaltation of the speech in praise of the Christ and of the figures and it emphasizes the slim yet suitable colors of the mantle. This effect indicates the prominence of the artist from the school of Bologna.
The pipe organ, placed in the chancel “in cornu epistolae”, is a handiwork by the Serassi brothers, the most important family to make pipe organs in Lombardy in the 18th and 19th centuries. This organ substituted the organ made by the Antegnatis at the end of the 16th century, which was seriously ruined by the fire of 1779.
The squares of the apse and presbytery vault were made by Ottavio Viviani, after the death of the precedent artists due to the pest of 1630. The crowning of the Virgin Mary was painted by Lucchese and is well placed in the Baroque squares. These frescoes were also damaged by the fire of the pipe organ and, in the restoration of 1890 have lost their solemnity and gravity.
The high altar, artwork by the abbot Gaspare Turbini, is majestic and elegant mainly for the ancient green of the marble underlined by white marble and enriched with golden bronzes (1794 – 99). The altar-piece, as it is possible to read at the bottom, was donated in 1703 by the painter Andrea Celesti to the reverend Andrea Buccio and represents the Holy Trinity, upper, and Saint Giorgio killing the dragon, in the lower part. It is interesting to compare this scene and the one frescoed by C. Rama on the vault. In the 17th century fresco one can see motion, the colors are gloomy and, in addition to the essential characters, there is only a macabre touch in the skeletons scattered on the ground. Instead, in the Celesti painting, the characters are numerous: in the upper the Holy Trinity, in the lower part Saint Giorgio not caring anymore of the already wounded dragon, the typical dame of the 18th century not disturbed by the presence of the monster and a child holding the shield. On the background, an airy and handsome landscape creates an unreal and joyous sensation.
A frontal adornment of the high altar (not always exposed) portrays eight Saints, the Virgin with Saint Rocco and Saint Antonio among floral patterns. The handiwork is shaped by four leather rectangles sewn together. The artist was probably a local, considering the raw material used and the ingenuity of the composition. Nevertheless, this work shows important evidence of popular art.
In the fourth large niche to the left, a wooden Crucifixion is perfectly inserted in stucco and marble altar. In the center, on a dark and gloomy sky, a cross with an appreciable and proportioned figure of Christ stands out. The Crucifix composed and elaborated in the details contrasts with the statues standing at the foot of the cross. These statues are with bloated and deformed visages and are immobilized in a grimace of pain, perhaps to stress the difference between the peace of Christ and the perturbation and the passion of the men. This difference is likely unintentional considering that the artists are various. In fact the stocky figures, the thick hands, the more unkempt hair of the three believers remember the Trentina figures and can’t be accosted to the perfection of the Christ body, which is modeled in accordance with the style and the harmony of the Renaissance. In the cyma one finds a small painting by Lucchese portraying Saint Michele liberating the souls of the Purgatory.
The third large niche to the left contains different works. Therein, the Madonna of Saint Luca altar is located, which is also known as the altar of the Saint Rosario because the altar-piece is surrounded by the fifteen mysteries. The walls are painted by Palma il Giovane. The soasa is a masterpiece by Giacomo Faustini, carver from the Bassa Bresciana, and can’t compete with the comparison to his coevals, the Boscaí family, who were more skilled and famous. Two elegant statues, which are placed on two high plinths flanked by two small angels, hold without showing any effort a rich and elaborate cyma. All this is sustained by other caryatides on the knees, flanked by two small and pretty figures dancing in a bas-relief, facing towards the image of the Madonna of Saint Luca. In the center is a painting by Gandino, incorporated by a number of small pictures, each one with its own frame and representing the mysteries of the Rosary. In the low part there are a crowd of characters in the procession which flows between the figures of Saint Domenico and Saint Caterina. The legend tells that the painting of the Madonna of Saint Luca was taken to the castle of the counts of Lodron and afterwards destroyed during a rebellion of the Bagossi (people from Bagolino). Nevertheless, the painting kept returning to its original place and only after a solemn procession stayed in the church of Saint Giorgio. The painting is a work painted by one of the “Madonnari’”, a group of artists established in Venice from the 14th to the 19th century, who were specialized in painting images of the Madonna. The expert G. Panazza dates this painting back to the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, defining the artwork as “one of the most refined exemplars produced in this field”. The original painting is revealed every five years with solemn ceremonies, the one which is ordinarily exposed is but a copy of the original.
In the second large niche to the left, transported by Saint Rocco in 1804 and inserted in a simple 17th century soasa, one finds a painting attributed to Tintoretto, which, in the upper part, represents the Holy Trinity and, in the centre, Saint Basilio surrounded by Saint Sebastiano, Saint Bernardo, Saint Marco and Saint Rocco, all illuminated by the Holy Trinity. Nonetheless, the usual attribution of the work to Tintoretto is now disputed by several experts. Zenucchini sustains that the painting was commissioned by the Saint Rocco administrators of Bagolino to Tintoretto in 1585. Yet, Zanetti supports the theory that the painting was started by Tintoretto and completed by his best pupil, Marco Pellegrino. Finally, Panazza refers just to Marco Pellegrino. Most likely, the painting was conceived under the direction of the maestro, who drafted only the preparatory sketch.
In the first large niche to the left, again in a 17th century soasa, one finds a paining by Camillo Rama. The three figures, Saint Carlo, Saint Domenico and Saint Lorenzo, live in their own shape on a monochromatic background stressing even more their loneliness.
On the end wall of the church, above the main entrance, is a enormous painting (60sqm) by Pietro Marone, which was originally located in the refectory of the canons belonging to the parish of Saint Giovanni in Brescia and brought to Bagolino in 1804 after the monastery had officially ended in 1784. It is evident in this painting the influence by Veronese. The scene of the banquet contained in an architectonic environment, the joyous Conception, the limpid color and the matching of the natural and simple colors remind him clearly.
THE CHURCH OF SAINT ROCCO
THE HISTORY
The most ancient part of the church is the presbitery, that contains a cycle of frescoes by Pietro da Cemmo. Legend tells that it was built over the ruins of an Etruscan temple.
The whole body of the church was attached in order to dedicate it to Saint Rocco after the pest of 1577.
The statue representing the saint is conserved in the homonym ancon and is revealed only in August, on the Patron day.
THE INTERIOR
The altar of Saint Gennaro contains a painting by Cacetti, a Bolognese painter. In the niche in front is a painting by Anna Baldissera portraying Saint Borromeo along with Saint Giovita and Saint Faustino.The ancon of Saint Rocco is composed by elements of different epochs.
The painting of the Immacolata is a work by Clemente Bordiga, a painter from Bagolino who lived in the 17th century. In this painting it is interesting the vision of the village between Saint Rocco and Saint Francesco.
The martyrdom of Saint Stefano is a work of art by Itagliani.
The statue of Saint Antonio Abate dating the 15th century was created by the Zamara family studio.
THE FRESCOES BY G. PIETRO DA CEMMO
(commented by prof. Ginevra Zanetti)
Walking in the church of Saint Rocco one should not concentrate solely on the single pictures, but instead take a moment to stand in the center of the nave and direct attention to the architectonic and pictorial complexities of the artistic presbytery. One glance from this position will bring surprises.
In fact, only in this way can one discover the striking aspect of the Gothic structure from the 15th century, which appears like an open window to a rich and boundless scenery. In this scenery, the two main historical events are represented in an ingenious figurative form which links them to each other: “The Annunciation and the Crucifixion”. Through them it was possible the human redemption.
To the right of the entrance arch is a fresco representing the Announced Virgin (Mater Dei) which is clearly influenced by Pollaiolo, Piero della Francesca and Filippo Lippi. To the left, the Announcer Archangel Gabriele (Procurator Dei) is portrayed with a surprising influence from Sandro Botticelli.
On the highest part of the entrance arch one can see the figure of the main character of the Redemption drama, God the Father. In a lower level, the figures representing Angels and Prophets are still visible. They look out upon the mystery of the Incarnation, which is the prelude to the mystery of the Redemption. The theologian and painter Da Cemmo created magnificent figures of Sibille, being inspired by the portrays of the dames belonging to the most illustrious and princely Italian families of that epoch.
Painting these prophetesses of the pagan world, Da Cemmo wanted to present to the believers the universality of the wait for the Redeemer Messiah.
In the four vaults, on a blue and starry background, there are painted the grave and solemn figures of the Evangelists surrounded by the Angels. On the link areas of the vaults with the vertical columns there are painted the symbols of each of them and of the four doctors of the Western Church: Saint Gerolamo, Saint Ambrogio, Saint Agostino and Saint Gregorio Magno.
The Evangelists, as historians of the New Testament, constitute an ideal connection between the Annunciation (Prologue Mystery) and the great Crucifixion, considered by the theologian painter as the centre of the history of the humanity.
An immense crowd, constituted by several people, who are different in aspect and attitude, but nevertheless admirably unitary in the complex, is on the background of the Calvary to symbolize that from the Sacrifice of the Cross has arisen the Mystic Body of the Church, where each one preserves their own individuality. In some figures it is detectable the influence of Masaccio and in the figures representing the horses is detectable the resemblance with the horses by Paolo Uccello and Andrea Castagno.
In the lateral walls the main episodes of the life of Saint Rocco and Saint Sebastiano are painted.
This evocative pictorial complex was hidden for around three centuries because of the arbitrary exposition of large paints, which were eye-catching but not of great esteem. Later, between 1956 and 1958, the artistic value was increased by the wise restoration carried out by the professor Ottemi Dalla Grotta.
CHAPEL CONSACRATED TO BLESSED VERSA OF LUMI
The large structure that overhangs the village is the ancient convent founded by the blessed Versa of Lumi in 1517. Over the years it has been undergoing different changes and transformations and, at the present time, it is a rest home for the elderly.
It has inside a little church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where one can see the altar-piece of the church of Saint Jervis and Saint Protasius by Gianbattista Motella and an Assumption of Holy Mary to the sky by an anonymous artist.
CHAPEL OF SAINT ANTHONY
Under the left sacristy one can see the chapel dedicated to Saint Filippo Neri and Saint Antonio of Padua.
The frescoes on the vault are attractive to the eye.
The soasa of the only altar is rich and harmonious, and contains a painting of these two Saints and the Blessed Virgin, signed by A.R.
THE CHURCH OF SAINT LORENZO
THE HISTORY
The church of Saint Lorenzo, which in the past was a chapel of the ancient cemetery, conserves from the original construction the apse and the remains of two walled in Gothic windows. The church has been destroyed twice, in 1779 and in 1915, and has been recently restored maintaining the structure which was given in the reconstruction of the building in 1924.
THE INTERIOR
The first altar to the right has a painting by Itagliani portraying the martyrdom of Saint Lucia.
In the second altar one can admire an artwork by Ridolfi representing Saint Antonio Abate.
In front, is the most famous painting by A. Moreschi, a 17th century painter from Bagolino. It represents the Nativity and is a copy of the work by Savoldo, which is exhibited by the picture-gallery of Brescia.
In the first large niche to the left there is a walled in fanlight. This element comes from the Adamino family church and portrays the family itself offering the church to the Madonna. The altar-piece of the apse, whose painter is unknown, is contained in a valuable soasa, representing the Madonna between Saint Giuseppe and Saint Lorenzo. The painters of the other pictures are also unknown.
THE LITTLE CHURCH OF SAINT GERVASIO AND PROTASIO
The church is located on the homonym rock overlooking the village, 956 meters above sea level. In the documents of the archive, the church has been mentioned since the year 1598. The group of buildings include the church, the residence of the hermit (where the cistern, which in accordance with the legend, the children are born, is placed), the bell tower and another construction used by the pilgrims.
The façade of the church was made in a poor style. The interior has two parts that are clearly separated: the first is large and holds uncovered trusses, while the second, which has the function of presbytery, is plastered and painted with frescoes.
In 1653 the church was enlarged and embellished with frescoes and marbles, which shape the entrance arch with stars and flowers in relief. The steps of the altars are also in marble.
The altar-piece is a copy of the Madonna along with Saint Gervasio and Protasio by Giovanbattista Motella and represents the village in all its peculiarities: the old Council tower in the quarter of Cavril, the church dominating the settlement and, to the right, the quarter of Visnà. The original painting is placed in the rest home of Saint Giuseppe.
The soasa is sober yet elegant, even if, unfortunately the central part of the gable has been stolen. The frescoes inside the fanlight of the presbytery wall portray: Saint Gervasio and Protasio who keep wake of the sleep of Saint Ambrogio; the martyrdom of Saint Protasio; the martyrdom of Saint Gervasio; and the veneration of the two Saints. They are in good condition with colours of eccentric vivacity. Although some figures are disproportioned, the visages, particularly the ones of the jailers, are of grim and atrocious realism and remind us of the ones of Esine, painted by Romanino.
Le notizie di carattere storico, economico e geografico sono state tratte dal libro di Luciarosa Melzani:
Bagolino. Storia di una comunità, edito da GM & Ti di Ciliverghe (BS).Testo a CURA della BIBLIOTECA COMUNALE DI BAGOLINO
dall’opuscolo- guida realizzato da “Habitar in sta terra”
