Visitation
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Authors
Agostino Silva
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Visitation , Virgin Mary , Gabriel , Holy Spirit , Conception , Jesus
Alternative Title
Abstract
This chapel is dedicated to Visitation, the second joyful mystery of the Rosary sequence, which is recounted in the gospel of Luke (1: 38 - 45). As is the case for Chapels One and Three at Ossuccio, it is not entirely clear when this chapel was built or when the decorations were completed. Some sources record that construction began in 1623, which would make this one of the earliest of Ossuccio's chapels, but records of a pastoral visit in 1644 clearly state that the bishop had not yet seen or approved of any architectural plans for the site. This chapel may have been funded by the Sanctuary itself, rather than an individual family or donor like many of the other chapels. The terracotta sculptures have traditionally been attributed to Francesco Silva because of the striking similarities between this group and Silva's depiction of the same narrative in Chapel Two at Varese (c. 1605 - 1624). In both scenes the statue of Saint Elizabeth is built to fit around a step in the chapel's floor. Her veil sweeps back over her shoulder as she reaches to grasp the Virgin Mary's right hand with her own. Mary's left hand reaches down at Ossuccio where it reaches up at Varese, but otherwise these sculptures too are remarkably similar. Joseph stands up straighter and his pose is more static at Ossuccio, but the sack he carries is almost identical to that carried by the servant boy in Varese's Visitation. The figure of Zechariah is also less active at Ossuccio. His right hand extends as if holding a wooden cane that has since been lost, just like his counterpart at Varese. Since we now know that the chapel and its sculpture were made after 1644, after Francesco Silva's death, it seems most likely that these works were made by Agostino and his workshop in the first few years of his activity on the mountain (c. 1662 - 1665). The artist that painted the frescoes remains unknown as does the date of their execution, but they remain in good condition since their most recent restoration in 2005. The background is dominated by an architectural illusion that depicts two receding colonnades on either side of a large barrel vault. In the space visible beyond the fantastical structure, we see a landscape overlooking a lake, much like the view of Lake Como from the door of the chapel. The frescoes in the Visitation at Varese are less dominated by illusionistic architecture, but they too reflect the mountainous landscape surrounding their chapel. / The Sacro Monte of Ossuccio is dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the rosary, and many of its chapels closely resemble those at the Sacro Monte of Varese (built 1605 - 1699), which is dedicated to the same subject. Agostino Silva (1628 - 1706), an artist from nearby Ticino, designed most of the scenes at Ossuccio. He was also active at the Sacro Monte sopra Varese, where the majority of chapels had been decorated by his father, Francesco Silva (1568 - 1641). The early history of this Sacro Monte remains unclear: some sources suggest that work began as early as 1623, but it is clear from the records of pastoral visits discovered by Daniele Pescamora that none of the chapels were built before July of 1644. Traditionally, many modern scholars have followed Santino Langé, who believed that Francesco had modeled the sculptures in the first three chapels at Ossuccio and Agostino had only taken charge of the project after his father's death in 1641. However, the pastoral records cited above preclude Francesco's involvement entirely and suggest that most of the scenes were decorated from the sixteen-sixties onward, when Agostino was active on the mountain (he was first documented at Ossuccio in 1663). The end of the devotional path is marked by the sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso, which was built in the first quarter of the sixteenth century and houses the final scene in the rosary sequence. Modern scholars date the miraculous image of the Madonna and Child for which the Sanctuary is named to the 14th century. Most of the statues of the Virgin that are venerated in the sanctuaries at the Italian Sacri Monti are made of wood, but Ossuccio's titular image is carved in white marble and embellished with gold accents. The existing sanctuary is believed to occupy the site of a pre-Christian temple to the Roman goddess Ceres. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the religious complex was overseen by Third Order Franciscans. Just as Bernardino Caimi had directed the construction of the Sacro Monte at Varallo, the project at Ossuccio was led by Brother Timothy Snider from c. 1643 until his death in 1682. Unlike Caimi, however, Snider seems to have designed the chapels and arranged the devotional path himself. All the chapels have likely been cleaned and restored multiple times since they were finished. Silvestro Marmori's conservation efforts in 1935 were particularly extensive and are well-documented by Pescamora (2004).
Description
Sacro Monte, Ossuccio
Citation
Cappuchin Fathers of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Soccorso, Santuario Madonna del Soccorso - Ossuccio (Menaggio: Attilio Sampietro Editore, 1998), 4 - 8; Piera Gatta Papavassiliou, Il Sacro Monte di Ossuccio: Guida alle Cappelle (Carlazzo: Attilio Sampietro Editore, 2013), 40 - 43; Santino Langé, Sacri Monti Piemontsi e Lombardi (Milano: Tamburini Editore, 1967), 40 - 41; Daniele Pescamora, "Considerazione sulla II cappella del Sacro Monte di Ossuccio da Francesco ad Agostino Silva" in Sacri Monti: Rivista di arte, conservazione, paesaggio, e spiritualità dei Sacri Monti piemontesi e lombardi, No, II (Varallo: Tipolitografia di Borgosesia, 2010), 110 - 111; Daniele Pescamora, "Precisazioni storiche sul SM di Ossuccio (Avvio della ricerca)," Altri Sacri Monti (Atti del Convegno: Sacro Monte di San Francesco d'Orta, 30 November - 1 December 2001) (Gravellona Toce, Press Grafica slr, 2008), 97 - 107; Daniele Pescamora, "Precisazioni storiche sul Sacro Monte di Ossuccio (II)" in Sacri Monti: Rivista di arte, conservazione, paesaggio, e spiritualità dei Sacri Monti piemontesi e lombardi, No, I (Varallo: Tipolitografia di Borgosesia, 2007), 399 - 400; Pescamora, Daniele et al. "Il restauro della seconda cappella del Sacro Monte di Ossuccio," Quaderni Fondazione Carlo Leone et Mariena Montadon, Vol. 3 (Como: NodoLibri, 2007), 5 - 19; Daniele Pescamora et al, "Il restauro della prima cappella del Sacro Monte di Ossuccio," Quaderni Fondazione Carlo Leone et Mariena Montadon, Vol. 1 (Como: NodoLibri, 2004), 25 - 26; Luigi Zanzi and Paolo Zanzi Eds., Atlante dei Sacri Monti prealpini (Milan: Skira, 2002), 96.