Joseph's Second Dream
Loading...
Authors
Gaudenzio Ferrari and Fermo Stella, attr. to
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
St. Joseph , Dream , Virgin Mary , Jesus , Angel , Nativity
Alternative Title
Abstract
This chapel is part of the Bethlehem Complex, which includes Chapels Five to Nine, and are some of the oldest structures on the mountain. Galeazzo Alessi's notes in the Libro dei Misteri (1565 - 1569) indicates that construction was finished, but the decorations were still "da farse." The terracotta Madonna and Child inside was made by Gaudenzio Ferrari between 1515 and 1517. It was moved here from Chapel Two in 1572, when that chapel was reorganized to show the Annunciation rather than the Holy House of Loreto. The sculptures of Gabriel and Joseph are made of a mixture of clay, lime, and powdered marble. They are usually attributed to Fermo Stella and dated c. 1570 - 1572. The frescoes seem to have been painted around the same time, although they remain in poor condition and are largely illegible. The scenes of the Flight into Egypt, on the viewers left, and Moses breaking the Stone Tablets and the Worship of the Golden Calf, in the vault have traditionally been given to Giulio Cesare Luini. The remaining paintings, both in the pronaos and behind the figures, were made by another hand, or hands, who also worked in the style of Gaudenzio Ferrari during the second half of the sixteenth century. The artworks in this chapel have been restored at least three times in the last hundred years. In 1944, the beards and wigs that had been attached to the figures were removed to reveal the hair modeled beneath. Stefani Perrone writes that six layers of paint were taken off the sculptures in 1976 in order to discover and restore their original coloring. The most recent conservation efforts were carried out in 2007 - 2008. / Varallo was the first Sacro Monte in Northern Italy. The collection of chapels on the hilltop overlooking Varallo was established by Bernardino Caimi (before 1450 - 1499 or 1500) as a way of recreating the sights and experiences of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He organized the chapels according to their Holy Land geography and incorporated architectural details from the pilgrimage churches corresponding to each scene. Caimi chose Varallo to be the site of his New Jerusalem in 1481, he received papal permission to begin collecting donations in 1486, and he is believed to have overseen the project from 1491, when the first chapel was finished, until his death. Different writers have counted each of these dates as the year of the Sacro Monte founding. Many of the early chapels were decorated by Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1480 - 1546), who was born nearby and gained a reputation during his lifetime as one of the leading painters in Lombardy. Saint Carlo Borromeo (1538 - 1584) visited the Sacro Monte multiple times while he was Archbishop of Milan (1564 - 1584). Carlo and his contemporaries implemented new policies to clarify Catholic doctrine and structure spiritual practices in Milan after the Council of Trent (1545 - 1563). Carlo Bascapè (1550 - 1615), Saint Carlo's close friend and the Bishop of Novara, personally oversaw a building campaign to reorganize the chapels at Varallo and restructure the pilgrimage experience according to the ideals of the Counter-Reformation. These changes were largely based on designs by Galeazzo Alessi (1512 - 1572), which are collected and preserved in a manuscript called the Libro dei Misteri (1565 - 1569) in Varallo's Biblioteca Civica. Construction continued throughout the first half of the seventeenth-century, led primarily by Giovanni d'Enrico the Younger (c. 1559 - 1644) and his family workshop. Beginning in 1609, d'Enrico also supervised the construction of the new Basilica, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. The Basilica was consecrated in 1649 and the old church, or Chiesa Vecchia, was demolished in 1773, but the Chiesa Nuova was not finished until the façade was added in 1891 - 1896.
Description
Sacro Monte, Varallo
Citation
Samuel Butler, Ex Voto: An Account of The Sacro Monte or New Jerusalem at Varallo-Sesia (London: Tübner & Co., 1888), 142 - 143; Gaudenzio Bordiga, Storia e guida del Sacro Monte di Varallo (Varallo: Francesco Caligaris, 1830), 45 - 46; Girolamo Cattaneo, Guida per ben vistare la nuova Gerusalemme nel Sacro Monte di Varallo (Varallo: Francesco Calligaris, 1826), 23 - 24; Elena De Filippis, Guida del Sacro Monte di Varallo (Borgosesia: Tipolitografia di Borgosesia, 2009), 56 - 57; Giovanni Giacomo Ferrari. Brevi considerazioni Sopra i Misteri del Sacro Monte di Varallo (Varallo: Pietro Revelli, 1611), unpaginated; Tomasso Nanni. Dialogo sopra i Misteri del Sacro Monte di Varallo (Varallo: Pietro Revelli, 1616), unpaginated; Stefania Stefani Perrone, Guida al Sacro Monte di Varallo (Torino: Kosmos Edizioni, 1995), 42 - 43.