Wedding at Cana
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Authors
Giovanni d'Enrico and workshop
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Wedding , Cana , Jesus , Virgin Mary , Miracle , Disciples
Alternative Title
Abstract
The twenty-nine sculptures inside this chapel are believed to be the last group Giovanni d'Enrico (c. 1560 - 1644) made for the Sacro Monte at Oropa. The artist is primarily known for his work at the first Sacro Monte, Varallo, but the sculptures in Chapels One, Five, and Twelve at Oropa are also attributed to him. Like these, the chapel of The Wedding at Cana was built in the first half of the seventeenth century. It was likely designed by Francesco Conti (dates unknown) and built under the supervision of Giulio Belletti (1576 - 1643), the Sanctuary's head builder between 1617 and 1643. The citizens of nearby Lessona, who funded the chapel, chose this scene of Jesus' first miracle (John 2: 1 - 11), because their village was known for its wine. It is an appropriate scene for a Sacro Monte dedicated to the life of the Virgin Mary, because she prompts her son to intervene when the host runs out of wine. Much like Jean and Nicolas de Wespin did at the Sacro Monte of Crea (1612), Giovanni d'Enrico imagined the Wedding at Cana as wedding banquet in a modern setting; the female guests, musicians, and servants, in particular, wear period-appropriate clothing. The musicians are grouped on a small balcony above the main group, which is how contemporary musicians would have performed at banquets. Giovanni d'Enrico designed a similar balcony as the focal point for his Ecce Homo chapel at Varallo (c. 1610) alongside his brother Melchiorre d'Enrico (1570/5 - c. 1657). He must have had that chapel in mind when designing this new scene for Oropa, although here the main action is at the viewer's eye level and the balcony group is secondary. The painted decorations probably added to the impression of modernity for Seicento viewers, but all of the original frescoes have been lost, and their author remains unknown. The statues have been altered and restored repeatedly, so it is likely that the walls were also repainted multiple times. Some of these alterations include the addition of flax or hemp hair to many of the male figures in 1723, a repainting by Pietro Giuseppe Auregio (1667 - 1740) in 1724, and another new coat of paint in 1969 with bright contrasting colors. At Varallo, Giovanni d'Enrico applied human or horsehair to his sculptures to create the impression of real hair. He seems to have used the same technique in Oropa's Chapel 12, but these figures are crowned with a plant-based material. It is extremely unusual to see a mix of figures with sculpted and applied hair in a single chapel at the Sacri Monti, unless the figures with applied hair were added later. The mix of techniques here and in Chapel Five may help differentiate between the original group and figures inserted by Pietro Giuseppe Auregio (1667 - 1740) decades later. The chapel is also unusual, because there is a second story above the devotional space. It is unclear what the room may have been used for. It is accessed by a steep stone staircase built into the eastern wall of the narthex. / The Sacro Monte at Oropa is part of a larger devotional complex dedicated to an image of the Black Madonna that has been venerated on this site since 1295. This sculpture is believed to be one of three dark-skinned and miraculous images of the Virgin Mary that Saint Eusebius brought back from the Holy Land in the Fourth Century. The other two figures are located in the Sanctuary at Crea, another Sacro Monte, and the Cathedral of Cagliari in Sardinia, where Eusebius was born. Black Madonnas were common throughout western Europe during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period. Modern Art Historians generally agree that the images darkened over time due to the soot released by nearby candles. Many of the sculptures have been repainted with light skin in recent years, including the examples at Crea and Varese. Unlike any of the other Sacri Monti Oropa was cared for by secular clergy throughout its entire history. The plans for a Sacro Monte to accompany the sanctuary date to 1620, the year that the new church building was finished, the statue of the Virgin was ceremonially crowned for the first time, and Duke Charles Emanuel I of Savoy declared himself the official protector of Oropa. The house of Savoy continued to fund and visit the elaborate sanctuary complex until the early twentieth century, even as they served as the Kings of Italy. The Sacro Monte, however, was built by local citizens, initiatives, and parishes. Only twelve of the twenty-eight chapels that were planned to illustrate the life of the Virgin Mary were ever completed. Primary documents detailing the Sacro Monte's construction are somewhat scarce compared to the records available at the other sites.
Description
Sacro Monte, Oropa
Citation
Franco Caresio, I Sacri Monti del Piemonte (Turin: Editurist, 1989), 200 - 219; Federico Fontana and Paolo Sorrenti, Oropa Sacro Monte (Biella: Valsesia Editrice, 1984), 162; Guido Gentile, Sacri Monti (Torino: Einaudi, 2019), 327 - 338; Santino Langé, Sacri Monti Piemontsi e Lombardi (Milano: Tamburini Editore, 1967), 37 - 40; Paolo Strobino, Guida alle Cappelle del Sacro Monte di Oropa (Biella, ATL Biella, 2000), 42 - 43; Geoffrey Symcox, Jerusalem in the Alps: The Sacro Monte of Varallo and the Sanctuaries of North-Western Italy (Turnhout: Brepolis, 2019), 222 - 229; Mario Trompetto, Storia del Santuario di Oropa (Milan: Arti Grafiche Ricordi, 1967), 81 - 82; Luigi Zanzi and Paolo Zanzi Eds., Atlante dei Sacri Monti prealpini (Milan: Skira, 2002), 91 - 93.