Assumption of the Virgin Mary
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Authors
Francesco Sala
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Virgin Mary , Disciples , Assumption , Ascension , Tomb , Angels
Alternative Title
Abstract
This chapel was constructed in 1665. It contains the last scene in the narrative sequence at Ossuccio, the Assumption of the Virgin. (Another wooden sculpture group was added on the high altar inside the sanctuary in 1896 to show the Coronation of the Virgin and complete the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. Until then, the sanctuary's titular image, the miraculous Madonna del Soccorso, had occupied the high altar. The sanctuary at Varese also honored a seated Madonna and Child on the high altar that functioned as the site's fifteenth chapel.) These sculptures are usually attributed to Francesco Silva, based on the signature that was discovered on one of the figures at the back of the group: "F.o S.a 16 F 65 c.a S.a 18 Ag.to." Papavassiliou understood the inscription to read "Francesco Silva fecit in 1665 codesta statua 18 Agosto," but rightly points out that it cannot refer to either Agostino's father Francesco, who died in the early sixteen-forties, or to his son Gianfrancesco Silva, who was born in 1660. It seems more likely that the artist was actually Francesco Sala (dates unknown), who Nizzola and Magni note has been confused with Silva on a number of occasions. The style of these works recalls the sculptures in Chapel Four and in the Visitation Chapel at the Sacro Monte of Orselina, which has been securely tied to Sala. The figures all have impossibly long limbs, small ovular heads, and make grand theatrical (often uncomfortable looking) gestures. The figures seem remarkably static given the movement implied by these wild gestures. Many of the disciples gaze upwards without looking directly at the Virgin Mary, which gives the impression that they are each experiencing the scene individually or internally, rather than as a group. Along the chapel walls, the surviving frescoes show views of hilly landscapes through an arcade faced with colorful marble in geometric patterns. Only two of the frescoed scenes remain legible. The initials V.F. are visible in the fresco to the right of the doorway and may be a clue as to the identity of the artist who painted them. The ceiling frescoes remain in good condition. They show God the Father and a host of angels ready to welcome the Virgin Mary. Overall, the composition is similar to that of the Ascension chapel at Varese (c.1623), but none of the figures or decorative elements at Ossuccio seem to reference the earlier group directly. / The Sacro Monte of Ossuccio is dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the rosary, and many of its chapels closely resemble those at the Sacro Monte of Varese (built 1605 - 1699), which is dedicated to the same subject. Agostino Silva (1628 - 1706), an artist from nearby Ticino, designed most of the scenes at Ossuccio. He was also active at the Sacro Monte sopra Varese, where the majority of chapels had been decorated by his father, Francesco Silva (1568 - 1641). The early history of this Sacro Monte remains unclear: some sources suggest that work began as early as 1623, but it is clear from the records of pastoral visits discovered by Daniele Pescamora that none of the chapels were built before July of 1644. Traditionally, many modern scholars have followed Santino Langé, who believed that Francesco had modeled the sculptures in the first three chapels at Ossuccio and Agostino had only taken charge of the project after his father's death in 1641. However, the pastoral records cited above preclude Francesco's involvement entirely and suggest that most of the scenes were decorated from the sixteen-sixties onward, when Agostino was active on the mountain (he was first documented at Ossuccio in 1663). The end of the devotional path is marked by the sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso, which was built in the first quarter of the sixteenth century and houses the final scene in the rosary sequence. Modern scholars date the miraculous image of the Madonna and Child for which the Sanctuary is named to the 14th century. Most of the statues of the Virgin that are venerated in the sanctuaries at the Italian Sacri Monti are made of wood, but Ossuccio's titular image is carved in white marble and embellished with gold accents. The existing sanctuary is believed to occupy the site of a pre-Christian temple to the Roman goddess Ceres. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the religious complex was overseen by Third Order Franciscans. Just as Bernardino Caimi had directed the construction of the Sacro Monte at Varallo, the project at Ossuccio was led by Brother Timothy Snider from c. 1643 until his death in 1682. Unlike Caimi, however, Snider seems to have designed the chapels and arranged the devotional path himself. All the chapels have likely been cleaned and restored multiple times since they were finished. Silvestro Marmori's conservation efforts in 1935 were particularly extensive and are well-documented by Pescamora (2004).
Description
Sacro Monte, Ossuccio
Citation
Cappuchin Fathers of the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Soccorso, Santuario Madonna del Soccorso - Ossuccio (Menaggio: Attilio Sampietro Editore, 1998), 4 - 8; Sabina Gavazzi Nizzola and Mariaclotilde Magni, "Una traccia per Francesco Silva stuccatore ticinese" in Arte Lombarda, Vol 17, No. 37 (Milan: Istituto per la Storia dell'Arte Lombarda, 1972), 88; Piera Gatta Papavassiliou, Il Sacro Monte di Ossuccio: Guida alle Cappelle (Carlazzo: Attilio Sampietro Editore, 2013), 144 - 151; Santino Langé, Sacri Monti Piemontsi e Lombardi (Milano: Tamburini Editore, 1967), 40 - 41; Daniele Pescamora, "Precisazioni storiche sul SM di Ossuccio (Avvio della ricerca)," Altri Sacri Monti (Atti del Convegno: Sacro Monte di San Francesco d'Orta, 30 November - 1 December 2001) (Gravellona Toce, Press Grafica slr, 2008), 97 - 107; Daniele Pescamora et al, "Il restauro della prima cappella del Sacro Monte di Ossuccio," Quaderni Fondazione Carlo Leone et Mariena Montadon, Vol. 1 (Como: NodoLibri, 2004), 25 - 26; Luigi Zanzi and Paolo Zanzi Eds., Atlante dei Sacri Monti prealpini (Milan: Skira, 2002), 96.