Descent of the Holy Spirit
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Authors
Agostino Silva
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Holy Spirit , Descent , Pentecost , Mary , Disciples , Fire
Alternative Title
Abstract
The construction of this chapel was finished in 1664 and documents preserved in the Sanctuary's archives record that Giovanni Paolo Recchi (1605 - 1685) began receiving payments for his work on the chapel's frescos that same year. Giovanni Paolo and his brother Giovanni Battista Recchi (active 1600 - 1675) also painted the frescoes in Chapels Eight and Nine at Varese between 1648 and 1654, as well as Chapels Ten (1666 - 1669) and Twelve (1665) at Ossuccio. Much like the frescoes in the previous chapel, the inside of Chapel Thirteen is dominated by trompe l'oeil views of baroque architecture and the ceiling shows a view of the Holy Spirit descending through a crowd of angels. Both chapels also include painted windows or doors that mirror real architectural elements in order to create a balanced and symmetrical composition. The green curtains hanging in the painted arches on either side of the central bay recall those painted by Carlo Gaffuri (dates unknown) in Chapel 8. The terracotta sculptures in this group are about three-quarters life-sized and attributed to Agostino Silva. The clouds above the main group, on which the putti and smaller angelic musicians sit, are made of stucco. It is not entirely clear when Silva modeled the figures, but it seems likely they were installed around 1664, since painted decorations were usually added after all the other parts of the chapel were completed. The fine condition of the artwork inside Chapel Thirteen suggests it has probably been restored fairly recently. The three putti directly above the Virgin hold a banner that reads "Paraclitus docebit vobis omnia" painted in large block letters, a phrase taken from John 14:26 when just before he ascended into heaven Jesus assured the disciples that "the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." This banner is very similar to the one in Chapel Four, which also seems to be made of cloth-dipped gesso. These standards likely replaced earlier versions bearing the same text, since fabrics cannot survive as long as other materials in the humidity and fluctuating temperatures to which the chapels are exposed. The repetitive pattern of thick curling clouds around the edge of the gilded wooden gloria that hangs from the center of the ceiling is similar to the treatment of Christ's mandorla in Chapel Eleven and may have been carved by the same artist. Many of the angels' wings, which now appear dark grey or black, would also have been gilded. Six of the fifteen figures at ground-level have small flames on top of their heads that seem of be made of metal, a reference to Acts 2:4 in which the arrival of the Holy Spirit was described "like tongues of fire, that separated and came to rest on each of them." Agostino's composition is closely based on his father's group of the same subject at Varese (1623 -1643), although the flames in that chapel are sculpted in terracotta as part of the figures. All of the disciples were probably adorned in the same manner at Ossuccio; some of the metal additions must have been lost over time. / 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), 134 - 140; 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 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; Santino Langé, Sacri Monti Piemontsi e Lombardi (Milano: Tamburini Editore, 1967), 40 - 41; Luigi Zanzi and Paolo Zanzi Eds., Atlante dei Sacri Monti prealpini (Milan: Skira, 2002), 96.