Deposition of Christ from the Cross
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Authors
Dionigi Bussola and Giovanni Battista de Magistris (il Volpino)
Date
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Image
Language
Keyword
Jesus , Deposition , Cross , Passion , Via Crucis , Stations of the Cross
Alternative Title
Abstract
This is the second of three scenes Dionigi Bussola sculpted for the interior of the sanctuary at Domodossola, only two of which are counted as chapels in the Sacro Monte's narrative sequence. It represents the thirteenth Station of the Cross and is located in the western side of the sanctuary, which is on the right as one enters the space. As with the previous chapel, also sculpted by Bussola, local experts insist that this Sacro Monte never shows Jesus' face while he is dead. In order to hide his face in this scene, Christ's body crumples forward as he is lowered into the arms of the apostle John, and his head falls heavily onto his chest. This composition shows clear links to Giovanni D'Enrico's Deposition chapel at Varallo (c. 1637 - 42), which makes no such effort to hide the Jesus's face. These two are the only Sacri Monti to depict the Deposition. (Although Belmonte includes a chapel dedicated to the thirteenth Station of the Cross (structure 1825, interior decorations c. 1900), it shows the moment after Christ's body had been lowered from the cross.) Here, Mary mourns her son in a pose similar to Michelangelo's Vatican Pietà (1498 - 1499). Bussola modeled the statues for his Deposition between 1663 and 1664 with the help of his assistant Giovanni Battista de Magistris (il Volpino). The sculptures and frescoes were painted in 1699 by Giovanni Sampietro. / The Sacro Monte, or Monte Calvario, of Domodossola was founded by two friars from the local Capuchin convent, Gioacchino da Cassano and Andrea da Rho. In 1656, they planted a large cross atop the ruins of the medieval fortress that had previously occupied the site and began building the sanctuary on top of the hill in July of the following year. This was the first Sacro Monte dedicated to the Via Crucis, or the Stations of the Cross. Early construction efforts were led and funded by Giovanni Matteo Capis (1617 - 1681) a wealthy merchant who had previously served as the mayor of Domodossola, the director of its hospital, and a leader in the local inquisition.
Description
Sacro Monte Calvario, Domodossola
Citation
Tullio Bertamini and Carlo Pessina, Il Sacro Monte Calvario di Domodossola (Ornavasso: Tipografia Saccardo Carlo & Figli, 2000), 81 - 82; Franco Caresio, I Sacri Monti del Piemonte (Turin: Editurist, 1989), 246 - 260; Guido Gentile, Sacri Monti (Torino: Einaudi, 2019), 355 - 361; Santino Langé, Sacri Monti Piemontsi e Lombardi (Milano: Tamburini Editore, 1967), 41 - 42; Angelo Marzi, Guida al Sacro Monte Calvario di Domodossola (Torino: Kosmos Edizioni, 1995), 31 - 32; Enrico Massone Ed., Sacri Monte in Piemonte: Itinerari nelle aree protete di Belmonte, Crea, Domodossola, Ghiffa, Orta, Varallo (Torino: Kosmos, 1994), 67 - 87; Simonetta Minissale and Alessandro Feltre, eds., Calvario: Monte Sacro di Domodossola (Torino: Umberto Allemandi & Co., 2009), 77; Pietro Prada, Domodossola e il Monte Calvario (Milano: Tip. Edit, L.F. Cogliati, 1897), 46 - 47, 113; Geoffrey Symcox, Jerusalem in the Alps: The Sacro Monte of Varallo and the Sanctuaries of North-Western Italy (Turnhout: Brepolis, 2019), 242 - 246; Luigi Zanzi and Paolo Zanzi Eds., Atlante dei Sacri Monti prealpini (Milan: Skira, 2002), 84.