Apparition of the Madonna to the Beato Mario Omodei
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Authors
Giovan Angelo Del Maino and Tiburzio Del Maino
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Madonna , Miracle , Apparition , Angels , Virgin
Alternative Title
Abstract
On September 29, 1504, a man named Mario Omodei was in the vineyard near his house when he was miraculously lifted into the air and taken to a place with a small garden. There the Virgin Mary appeared, standing before him and resplendently dressed, and told him that if a church was built in that spot, and if people came to the church and offered alms, they would be saved from the pestilence. Accordingly the great basilica of the Santuario della Madonna in Tirano (in the Valtellina) was soon after erected on the site of the miracle. The site became and still remains a great center of pilgrimage, and devotees attest to healings and other miracles wrought by visiting the church, as Mary promised. Inside the church, a chapel on the specific site of the apparation has an altar, with a much-revered painted wood sculpture of the Madonna by the Giovan Angelo del Maino. This chapel and its altar have been rennovated several times over the centuries, but still in its original location in a cavity underneath the altar, which is open at the back, is this sculpted scene of the miracle, also by Giovan Angelo Del Maino, assisted in this case by his brother Tiburzio. These works were made only 15 years after the miracle -- 1519-24. Devotees come to pray at the altar, then move around behind it, where there are votive offerings (both centuries-old paintings and modern photographs) and, directly behind the altar, a plaque on the floor, noting that this is the specific location in which Mary stood when she appeared to Mario Omodei. Devotees must kneel on or next to this plaque to peer in through a metal grate at these sculptures of the miracle in the cavity underneath the altar. Omodei is depicted with a realistic portrait of a particular man, the only such portrait made by the prolific Del Maino family workshop. Perhaps the portrait was taken from life! These figures have the classically-inspired faces, flowing drapery, and eloquent gestures typical of Giovan Angelo's work. They seem to be covered with heavy later repaint, which has softened some of the details. It is not clear whether the original polychromy is still intact underneath. Offerings of jewelry and other ornaments visible in these images in front of the Madonna are sometimes placed on her directly as a form of devotion. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Santuario della Madonna, Tirano
Citation
Raffaele Casciaro, La scultura lignea lombarda del Rinascimento (Milan: Skira, 2000), 180-3, cat. 134 pp. 340-1.Gianluigi Garbellini, La Madonna di Tirano: Monumento di fede, di arte, e di storia, 13-15, 81.