Blessed Sisters Caterina and Giuliana at Prayer
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Authors
Francesco Silva, attr. to
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Keyword
Caterina , Giuliana , Blessed , Grotto , Prayer , Cross
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Abstract
This grotto honors the two women who established the Augustinian convent at Santa Maria del Monte around 1475. Caterina Moriggi of Pallanza (c. 1437 - 1478) lived in seclusion on the mountain for number of years before she was joined by Giuliana Puricelli (c. 1427 - 1501), who was from Busto Arsizio. Their community was devoted to the Madonna Nera in the sanctuary and overseen by a member of the Capuchin friary in Varese. Pope Sixtus IV confirmed the convent in 1474: Caterina served as its first abbess (1476 - 1478) and Giuliana as its second (1478 - 1501). Both women were beatified by Clement XIV in 1769. It is not clear exactly when the chapel was built. The figures are arranged in a natural opening in the rockface that has been built up with manmade walls and arches. Originally the walls seem to have been plastered and painted by an unknown artist, but only a small circle of fresco survives on the vault. It shows a patch of sky somewhat reminiscent of Mantegna's oculus in the Camera degli Sposi (c. 1465 - 1475) at Mantua's Ducal Palace. Francesco Silva (1568 - 1641) is believed to have modeled the life-sized sculptures of the two nuns at prayer in terracotta, probably during the 1620s. Caterina is wearing a black veil, and Giuliana's veil is white. The scene also includes a number of small animals, foodstuffs, period dishes, and religious accessories, such as wooden rosaries, scourges, and a wooden cross. Scholars suggest that situating the sole hermitage, or non-narrative chapel, on the mountain immediately after The Agony in the Garden creates a link between the praying figures inside. Lotto describes the grotto as 'a testament to the real possibility of living a life in imitation of Christ,' as these women did through prayer, self-sacrifice, and obedience to God. This scene highlights the fact that Varese was the only Sacro Monte to be inhabited by religious women. The sanctuary at Belmonte was originally populated by an order of Benedictine nuns, but the Sacro Monte was established c. 1712, long after the mountain was taken over by a community of Franciscan friars following the Council of Trent. / 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 e Luigi Bertotti, Belmonte ed il suo Santuario (Cuorgné: L'Eco del Santuario di Belmonte, 1988), 38 - 39; Silvano Colombo, Conoscere il Sacromonte: Guida alle Cappelle, al Santuario ed ai Musei del Sacro Monte sopra Varese (Varese: Edizioni Lativa, 1982), 75 - 76; 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), 242 - 243.