Saint Francis worships at the altar of Porziuncola
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Authors
Cristoforo Prestinari
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Keyword
St. Francis , Porziuncola , Miracle , Vision , Mary , Jesus
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Abstract
After his temptation, which is the subject of the precious chapel, Francis collected twelve white and twelve red roses from the miraculous rosebush and brought them to the altar of a nearby chapel in Assisi, called the Porziuncola. There he had a vision of Jesus and Mary enthroned in heaven and asked them to grant forgiveness to anyone else who came to worship them at that church. They agreed but insisted that Francis also gain the pope's approval for this indulgence. In 1223, Pope Honorius II confirmed a plenary indulgence to all those who visited the chapel, and later popes extended the indulgence to all Franciscan churches. This narrative emphasizes the authority of the church and its leaders to forgive sins, as well as the legitimacy of indulgences, two particularly important doctrines for the Roman Church to affirm during the Counter Reformation. The chapel was designed by Father Cleto da Castelletto Ticino, a member of the Capuchin order that built and cared for the Sacro Monte at Orta. It was built between 1607 and 1607 with funds donated by a local lawyer, Giovanni Antonio Martinelli. He and the fabbriceria first asked Guglielmo Caccia (c. 1568 - 1625), called Moncalvo, to paint the frescoes, but when that painter refused the commission it was given to Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli (1573 - 1626), il Morazzone. He decorated the apse, where the sculptures are arranged, in 1615 - 1616. The chapel's remaining frescoes were painted by a local artist, Giacomo Filippo Monti (dates unknown), in 1623. This is the only chapel at Orta with an altar where mass can be performed, so it is one of the largest on the mountain. It also has the most elaborate external decorations. The three marble angels atop the pediment were sculpted in 1616 by Cristoforo Prestinari (1573 - 1623). Giovanni d'Enrico (1559 - 1644) and his brother Melchiorre d'Enrico (c. 1573 - 1642), who are known for their work at Varallo, made the remaining figures for the façade in 1630. Like their figure of the Madonna in Chapel Nine, the figure of Virgin here directly references another sculpture by Annibale Fontana (1540 - 1587) for Santa Maria dei Miracoli presso San Celso in Milan. This figure crowned the church's façade, which was designed by Galeazzo Alessi, the architect of the first major reorganization of the chapels at Varallo. / Orta is the second oldest Sacro Monte. Construction began on the chapels there in 1591, just over a hundred years after the first Sacro Monte site was established at nearby Varallo. A community of Capuchin friars lived on the mountain, oversaw construction, and guided visitors on their pilgrimages once the chapels were finished. One of the brothers, Cleto da Castelletto Ticino (1556 - 1619) designed a series of thirty-six mysteries for the site, although only twenty chapels were ever completed. Before joining the Capuchin Order, Cleto had trained as an architect and engineer. After construction began at Orta, he also worked alongside Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527 - 1596), one of Carlo Borromeo's favorite architects. Amico Canobio (1532 - 1592), a Benedictine Abbot and Commissioner of the secular lands within the diocese of Novara, oversaw Cleto's work and was the first major patron of the chapels at Orta. Carlo Bascapè (1550 - 1615) took charge of directing the progress at Orta as soon he was named Bishop of Novara in 1593, the year after Canobio's death.
Description
Sacro Monte, Orta
Citation
Elena De Filippis and Fiorella Mattioli Carcano, Guida al Sacro di Orta (Omegna & Novara: Litotipografica Editoriale Gianni Fovana & Ente gestione riserve naturali speciali del Sacro Monte di Orta del Monte Mesma e del Colle della Torredi Buccione, 2001), 31 - 33; Guido Gentile, Sacri Monti (Torino: Einaudi, 2019), 271 - 290; Cynthia Ho, Kathleen Peters, and John McClain, Sacred Views of Saint Francis: The Sacro Monte di Orta (Santa Barbara: Punctum Books, 2020), 84 - 87, 171 - 177; Santino Langé, Sacri Monti Piemontsi e Lombardi (Milano: Tamburini Editore, 1967), 20 - 25; Pier Giorgio Longo, Antiche guide del Sacro Monte di Orta (tra XVII e XVIII secolo) (Novara: Italgrafica slr & Ente gestione riserve naturali speciali del Sacro Monte di Orta del Monte Mesma e del Colle della Torredi Buccione, 2008), 94 - 97 & 188 - 191; Father Angelo Maria Manzini, Sacro Monte di Orta. (Milan: Tipolito Testori, 2006), 42 - 43; Enrico Massone Ed., Sacri Monte in Piemonte: Itinerari nelle aree protete di Belmonte, Crea, Domodossola, Ghiffa, Orta, Varallo (Torino: Kosmos, 1994), 105 - 127; Geoffrey Symcox, Jerusalem in the Alps: The Sacro Monte of Varallo and the Sanctuaries of North-Western Italy (Turnhout: Brepolis, 2019), 207 - 218; Luigi Zanzi and Paolo Zanzi Eds., Atlante dei Sacri Monti prealpini (Milan: Skira, 2002), 94 - 95.