Pertica Alta
PARISH OF BELPRATO
The church was built in 1744 and dedicated to Saint Antonio Abate. Previously on the site where the church is located there was a chapel dedicated to Saint Pietro dating back to 1335. The apse of the chapel was oriented towards the east and it was eventually enlarged in 1547.
From the original church, the remains of a tombstone dated 1354, with the name of Accursino de Patuciis, and the coat of arms of Saint Bernardo (a Host surrounded by six strips of fire, and in the centre the monogram of Christ) are able to be seen. While from the enlargement there is still an architrave, which nowadays is inserted in a private house. The bell tower was erected in 1833, following a plan by the engineers Cappa and Riccobelli.
The pipe organ, created in 1789, is a work by Gerolamo Zavarise of Verona. The frescoes of the sacristy date back to 1663 and are attributed to Antonio Zani. The altar-piece of the main altar was painted by Antonio Paglia in 1740, while the work of the lateral altar portrays Saint Bernardo, Antonio da Padova and Francesco d’Assisi and was painted by Giuseppe Noventa of Gavardo. The altar to the left, with the gracefully painted wooden plate was possibly crafted by the Bertoli family studio of Prato.
CHURCH OF NAVONO
The building of the church began in the early 17th century (1611 AD) and was completed as a consequence of the a popular consensus after the tragic pest in 1630. This church is consecrated to the Holy Name of God.
The ancient village, populated by noble and rich families, had commissioned the ornamentation of the temple to important artists of that epoch. In 1756 the icon of the Rosario altar, by Francesco Pialorsi, was replaced by the icon painted by G.B. Bonomi. The altars and the presbytery are of the year 1793. The organ was constructed by Francesco Doria of Desenzano and it was only in 1870 that this organ was placed in the choral area, which was executed by G.B Bonomi in the same year. The church preserves the G.maria Quistini paintings portraying saints. There are also intricate vestments dating back to the 18th century, which one believes were donated by the doge to the Quistini family. Moreover, the church contains wooden artwork by Francesco Pialorsi (elaborated in 1724) and marmoreal elements by artists coming from Rezzato, Paolo Bonpastore e Domenico Tagliani.
CHURCH OF SAINT ANDREA DI BARBAINE
In the past the thesis was that the church of Barbaine was built over the ruins of an ancient sacred area, being that of an ancient Roman votive chapel dedicated to the divinities. Later, more diligent research and the findings of documents inherent to the church have not allowed to sustain such a thesis.
The first attestation of the existence of the church dates back to the 14th century. An arbitration sentence of the year 1384 reports the obligation for the villages of Noffo, Lavino and Navono to deliver a part of the flour produced in the two wheel mill of Fusio. The curch was also quoted in the Catalogo Capitolare of the Brescia dioceses, written in 1410.
In these first documents the religious edifice of Barbaine was never defined as a parish but only as a church. In fact Barbaine, the same as all churches between Alone and Presegno, is subordinate the parish of Mura, whose origin was of the 7th century. The Italian word for parish, pieve, derives from the Latin word plebs, which means people. The function of the pieve was to be the matrix church of the local territory, hosting the Christian education and administrating the Baptism. The pievano (the holder of the pieve), had the control of a large territory and was directly subordinate the bishop. To highlight these rights and responsibilities towards the people, he was referred to as the vescovì (very similar to the Italian word for bishop, which is vescovo).
In the territory controlled by the parish church of Mura there were also many other churches, but they had not the same liberties. For example, there were many chapels dedicated to deacons, such as Saint Lorenzo or Saint Stefano in Alone and Lavino.
Around the middle of the 14th century, Avenone, Prato (Belprato) and Livemmo, already holders of their own churches, agreed to having a common parish and a church where all the communitarian functions could be administrated. The area called Barbaine, corresponding to the intersection of the roads of the three villages, was chosen as the place for the site of the church. The church was also endowed with legacies and revenues to guarantee its survival.
The church was bestowed to Saint Andrea, brother of Saint Pietro, in order to highlight the proximity to the pieve, considered as a small Cathedral of Saint Pietro, and from it the church of the three villages will be subordinate.
However, in 1491, the rector of Barbaine, preferred to live by the church of Livemmo and in 1574 the church lost its own entitlement of parish.
The decline is definitive in the 17th century when the parish was suppressed and a dismemberment in the three parishes – Prato, Avenone and Livemmo – occurred. Nonetheless, the activity of a single church continued during the whole of the 18th century, while the 19th century signs a period of abandonment, ending in 1985 with the start of a campaign of restorations.
Architecture
The actual structure of the church is the result of a number of arrangements and modifications made over the centuries. The materials used in the works are of local stone but also contain elements of fired brick.
The façade is extremely simple. It contains a small central niche above a monolithic portal. There are also interesting decorations with fired bricks in the mouldings of the façade.
The interior of the shrine is typical of the Lombardo style of the 14th century, with a single room, without subdivision in naves, whose walls were all painted with frescoes. The roof is structured with pointed arches. The apse has a quadrangular shape: between the 17th and 18th century it was covered with a cross vault, which was eliminated in the 1960’s. Originally, two altars dedicated to the Virgin and to Saint Andrea were located there.
Pictorial decoration
In the beginning the walls were wholly decorated with frescoes but were then covered with mortar. The rediscovery occurred during the restoration works in the middle of 1980’s. The concealment of the frescoes is usually attributed to hygienic reasons, but in this case the frescoes were hidden for other reasons. After the Council of Trento, when the cultural climate changed totally and the iconographies chosen and used for the adornment, the frescoes were not accepted any longer by the post-council clergy.
In fact, during the 18th century an altar-piece was created in perfect accordance with the new dictates of the Church in theme of art. The altar-piece was inserted afterwards in an altar characterised by the typical art of the Boscaì family studio.
The pictorial evidence belongs to different phases, nevertheless they date back to the same period between the 15th and 16th century. There are no unitary pictorial cycles, instead, there are ex-votive or small devotional frescoes.
The Crucifixion with Saints is very interesting and is attributed closely to the works by the Maestro of Nave. The most important characters are Saint Antonio and Saint Andrea, who are surrounded by Saint Lucia, Saint Lorenzo, Saints Filastrio and Apollonio (who are represented in an analog way in Tavernole). Finally, there is the image of the Blessed Simonino of Trento, which was a traditional iconography of the Camonica Valley and was often painted by Giovan Pietro da Cemmo.Valle Camonica, riproposta più volte da Giovan Pietro da Cemmo.
PARISH OF LAVINO
The church, dedicated to the Archangel Saint Michele, was erected during the period between 1713 and 1720 in place of the ruins of a small ancient church. The tabernacle of the main altar is a work by the artist Paolo Bonpastone of Rezzato (1772) and the wooden plate was made by Carlo Antonio Brognoni (1775). The soasa (1733) by Faustino Bonomi is of remarkable quality as with the 17th century altar-piece on the altar dedicated to Saint Rocco and attributed to Bagnadore (1725). In this image there is Saint Rocco venerated by Saint Sebastiano and the Madonna del Carmine. In the sacristy two painted, wooden plates dating back to 1541 are conserved.
PARISH OF ODENO
The church, dominating the valley of Tovere was rebuilt during the 16th century and consecrated to Saint Apollonio by Bishop Marin Giorgi in 1673.
It preserves a 17th century altar-piece by Giovan Battista Bonomini of Livemmo, in which Saint Cosma and Saint Damiano appear along with Saint Apollonio. The statue of the Madonna is coeval. A soasa, which was made at the beginning of the 18th century by Francesco Pialorsi together with the Bertoli and Obertini families, prominently stands out on the altar.
PARISH OF LIVEMMO
The parish church of Livemmo is the only parish dedicated to the Evangelist Saint Marco in Valle Sabbia. It was built in 1611, in the place where a small chapel of 1490 stood. The bell tower was constructed in 1548, by Giacomo Lascioli of Capo di Ponte.
The interior holds paintings by Pietro Marone such as the altar-piece of the main altar which is surrounded by a wooden frame of the Boscaì family studio. This represents Saint Andrea and Saint Marco with the Virgin and Infant.
The altar to the left, created in 1699, is dedicated to Saint Carlo Borromeo and Saint Francesco d’Assisi, who stand in adoration of the crucified Jesus. The elegant soasa surrounding the painting is attributed to Prandini of Nozza.
The altar of the rosary to the right, is valuable for the artistic soasa, which was made by the Boscaì family studio, as with the choir. The painting by Pietro Scalvini, which portrays the Madonna with Saint Domenico and Saint Gaetano, is also esteemed.
Other works by the Boscaì family are, the soasa of the altar dedicated to the Madonna del Carmelo and the entrance portal. On the vault of the shrine there are frescoes by G. Antonio Pansaldi and Abram Griscian, both of whom originated from Salò.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. GUERRINI, S. Andrea di Barbaine e le parrocchie di Livemmo, Avenone e Belprato in Valle Sabbia, in <
U. VAGLIA, Storia della Valle Sabbia, Brescia, s.d.,
Le Pertiche di Valle Sabbia. Civiltà e Arte, Brescia, 1987,
G. BIATI, Il Santuario dei Morti di Barbaine, Brescia, 1989,
THEMATIC BIBLIOGRAFY
G. KAFTAL, Saints in Italian Art. Iconography of the saints in the painting of the North West Italy, Firenze, 1985.
E. PANOFSKY, Tiziano, problemi di iconografia, Venezia, 1992,
M. LURKER, Dizionario delle immagini e dei simboli biblici, Milano, 1989,
J. DA VARAGINE, Legenda Aurea, Firenze, 1990.
Elaborazione testi Santuario di Barbaine a cura della Dott.ssa Federica Bolpagni
