Descent of the Holy Spirit
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Authors
Francesco Silva
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Holy Spirit , Descent , Pentecost , Mary , Disciples , Fire
Alternative Title
Abstract
This chapel is dedicated to the Decent of the Holy Spirit, the third of the rosary's glorious mysteries. Its position on the crest of the hill, overlooking the two valleys of Olone and Vallone, was much more prominent when the chapel was built. Since then, the surrounding forest and private buildings have obscured the views and altered the relationship to nature with which the chapel was designed. The other chapels at Varese are all built alongside the devotional path, but this chapel is placed at its center and seems to block the path forward as the pilgrim walks towards it. Construction was completed in 1623, but it is unclear when exactly the painted and sculpted decorations were finished. The fifteen terracotta figures that Francesco Silva (1568 - 1641) modeled for this chapel are slightly smaller than life-size and smaller than the sculptures in every other chapel at Varese, apart from the pair by Cristoforo Prestinari (1573 - 1623) in Chapel One (c. 1600 - 1625). The artist did sign one of the sculptures, the apostle in white, but the date has since been lost or obscured. Silva's composition seems closely related to Gian Jacopo Caraglio's engraving after Raphael of the same subject (c. 1520 - 1539). The pyramidal arrangement of the central five figures and their gestures are especially similar, although Peter and John have changed places and the women behind the Virgin wear head-coverings in the chapel. One of the women seems to wear a nun's habit. The sculpted garments, however, include a belt and cloak, which suggests that Silva did not design the figure to resemble contemporary religious women. It is likely that the sculpture was painted this way much later, to honor the nuns living in the convent at Santa Maria del Monte. The works inside this chapel are often in need of repair. Existing problems with humidity have been exacerbated since 1922, when Ludovico Poghliaghi (1857 - 1950) installed a decorative marble floor that had been reclaimed from another church or chapel. Some of the figures may also have been moved or rearranged during this intervention. The fictitious architecture inside the chapel was painted by Giovanni Battista and Gerolamo de Grandi, two brothers from Varese. The figural frescoes are the work of Federico Bianchi from Masnago, one of which carries a shield bearing the date 1647. Scholars are unsure whether this date is accurate, it may have been added or repainted after the original decorations were finished, perhaps in 1684. It is also unclear who painted the ceiling frescoes. A carved and gilded wooden dove is suspended above the figures from the center of the lantern. / The Sacro Monte sopra Varese is built on Mount Olona, also called Mount Vellate, which is believed to be the site of Saint Ambrose's final victory over an army of Arian heretics in the year 389. A church dedicated to the Madonna del Monte was erected on the site in the 10th century and rebuilt by the duke of Milan, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, in the late 15th century. Two local women established an Augustinian convent there in 1474 and, little more than a century later, another of their number proposed that a Sacro Monte be built leading up to the sanctuary. There are fourteen chapels and three monumental arches illustrating the mysteries of the rosary, preceded by a church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. The final mystery is represented by the cult statue on the high altar, which is attributed to Saint Luke. The chapels were designed by Giuseppe Bernascone, il Mancino (1565 - 1627), an architect from Varese who trained with Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527 - 1596), or Pellegrino de' Pellegrini, and constructed quickly between 1605 and 1699. They are significantly larger than the chapels at any other Sacro Monte.
Description
Sacro Monte, Varese
Citation
Giovanni Antonio Antolini, ed., Guida al Santuario di Santa Maria del Monte sopra Varese (1823) (Varese: Pietro Maccione Editore, 2014), 70 - 73; Silvano Colombo, Conoscere il Sacromonte: Guida alle Cappelle, al Santuario ed ai Musei del Sacro Monte sopra Varese (Varese: Edizioni Lativa, 1982), 113 - 116; Carlo Alberto Lotti, Santa Maria del Monte Sopra Varese - Il monte sacro Olona e il Sacro Monte del Rosario (Milan: Arti Grafiche Amilcare Pizzi S.p.A., 2000), 271 - 274.