Presentation at the Temple
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Authors
Francesco Sala
Date
Type
Image
Language
Keyword
Presentation , Circumcision , Virgin Mary , Jesus , St. Joseph , High Priest
Alternative Title
Abstract
This chapel sits at the corner of a ninety-degree angle in the devotional path. The previous three chapels are visually isolated from one another by the curving slope of the path, but beyond Chapel Four pilgrims can often see more than one chapel at a time. It is believed to be one of the oldest structures on the mountain and, therefore, could date to the years shortly after 1644, which is the earliest period that construction may have started on any of the chapels. The style of the terracotta figures is markedly different from those of the previous three chapels. These have long, lanky, limbs and necks with small, elongated heads. They are most similar to the figures in Chapel Fourteen, which was built around 1665. Piera Gatta Papavassiliou published the image of a signature in that chapel at Ossuccio in her 2013 book. She believes that the inscription reads "Francesco Silva fecit in 1665 codesta statua 18 Agosto," but I see no trace of a "v" in her photograph and suggest that the signature "F.o S.a 16 F 65 c.a. S.a. 18 Ag.to" indicates Francesco Sala's authorship instead. Experts have traditionally attributed these works to Francesco Silva, but it cannot have been the same Francesco Silva to whom the first three chapels are attributed, since he died in the early sixteen-forties. It also seems unlikely that they were made by Gianfrancesco Silva, Agostino's son and Francesco's grandson, who was born in 1660. There was another artist named Francesco Sala (dates unknown) who was associated with the family workshop and whose works have frequently been confused with the elder Silva, as Nizzola and Magni have shown was the case at the Crucifixion scene in the Cathedral of Como. These authors also note that the Visitation scene at the Sacro Monte of Orselina has been attributed to both Silva and Sala at various times. Sala's style in the Visitation scene at Locarno features long thin figures with unnaturally long necks, very similar to the figures in Chapels Four and Fourteen at Ossuccio. Based on the stylistic unity between these three chapels and this reinterpretation of the inscription Papavassiliou discovered in Chapel Fourteen, both Ossuccio chapels are given to Sala here, for the first time. Francesco Sala's long history of association with the family workshop may help explain why he was entrusted with these two scenes while Agostino was still active in other chapels on the mountain. The top of the altar in Chapel Four shows clear signs of damage and repaired surface must have been added in the last few decades. At least two different decorative motifs are visible on the front of the altar, which suggests that the frescoes have been repainted multiple times and their original design has been altered somewhat. The painted architecture that survives on the walls is simpler than the background in any of the other Sacri Monti's Presentation chapels (see especially Varese, Varallo, and Oropa). It depicts a church with large windows decorated with simple geometric motifs in colored marble. The disparity between this simple design and the elaborate baroque style popular in religious architecture during the seventeenth century suggests that these frescoes are not original. The wooden baldacchino that hangs over the altar is continued in the frescoes and remains in excellent condition, so it too may have been added later. Comparing Papavassiliou's images to these photographs demonstrates that there was some effort to restore the frescoes between 2013 and 2018 (when these images were taken), but the ambient humidity continues to damage the paintings annually. / 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), 52 - 57; 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, "Precisazioni storiche sul Sacro Monte di Ossuccio (II)" in Sacri Monti: Rivista di arte, conservazione, paesaggio, e spiritualità dei Sacri Monti piemontesi e lombardi, No, I (Varallo: Tipolitografia di Borgosesia, 2007), 399 - 400; 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.