Ex Voto: An Account of the Sacro Monte or New Jerusalem at Varallo-Sesia: With Some Notice of Tabachetti's Remaining Work at the Sanctuary of CreaButler, Samuel
Religion
Ex Voto: An Account of the Sacro Monte or New Jerusalem at Varallo-Sesia: With Some Notice of Tabachetti's Remaining Work at the Sanctuary of Crea
Butler, Samuel
Art -- Italy -- Varallo-Sesia; Sacro Monte di Varallo (Sanctuary); Tabaguet, Jean Baptiste, 1568 -1615
Of this cross Fassola says it was here (“_e quì fù dove_”) the Virgin met
her son, and that for this reason a small chapel was placed rather higher
up, which represents the place where she took a little rest, and was
hence called the Capella del Riposo. It was decorated with frescoes by
Gaudenzio, which have long since disappeared; these were early works, and
among the first undertaken by him on the Sacro Monte; the chapel remains,
but may, and probably will, be passed without notice. A little higher
still, there is another very small and unimportant chapel containing a
decayed St. Jerome by Giovanni D’Enrico, and above this, facing the
visitor at the last turn of the road, is the chapel erected in memory of
Cesare Maio, or Maggi, a Neapolitan, Marquis of Moncrivelli, and one of
Charles the Fifth’s generals. He died in 1568. Many years before his
death he had commanded an armed force against the Valsesians, but when
his horse, on approaching Varallo, caught sight of the Sacro Monte, it
genuflected three times and pawed a great cross on the road with its
feet. This had such an effect upon the rider that he had thenceforward
to become a munificent benefactor of the Sacro Monte, and expressly
desired to be buried there. I do not know where the horse was buried.
His chapel contains nothing of importance, nor yet does the small oratory
with a crucifix in memory of a benefactor, one Giovanni Pschel Alemanno;
this is at the top of the ascent and close to the smaller entrance to the
Sacro Monte.
At this smaller entrance the visitor will be inclined to enter, but he
should not do so if he wishes to take the chapels in the order in which
they are numbered. He should continue the broad road until he reaches
the excellent inn kept by Signor Topini, and the shops where “_corone_”
and pilgrims’ beads are sold. The inn and shops are mentioned by Fassola
and by Torrotti. Fassola in 1671 says of the inn that it will afford
accommodation for people of all ranks, and that though any one with other
curiosity may stay in the town, those who would enjoy their devotion
quietly and diffusively can do so more at their ease here. Of the shops
he says that they sell “_corone_, _Storie della Fabrica_,” “and other
like instruments of devotion” (“_ed altri instromenti simili di
divozione_” p. 80). Torrotti says they sell his book there, with images,
and various devout curiosities (_e varie cose curiose di divozione_, p.
66). The shutters are strong and probably the original ones.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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