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Masserano (Biella)- Collegiate Church of the Most Holy Announced
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 The Collegiate Church of the Holy Announced owes its name to the once presence of a college of canons near it and is the parish church of Masserano. It stands on the main street, in an intermediate position between the ancient village and the Palace of the Princes. Built between 1480 and 1485 at the behest and expense of Innocenzo Fieschi, it was consecrated in 1486, replacing the older Church of St. Thenestus as a parish church.
HISTORY
The church was probably built next to or on top of an older building in Romanesque style of which the bell tower and few other traces remain today, externally in the south-west part and in the attic.
The church then underwent countless changes.
In 1573 the bell tower was equipped with a clock.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century the choir was enlarged (and in 1671 it was equipped with new stalls, the ones still present today), and a new, larger sacristy was built.
The Retable of Tiberino, today in the Palace of the Princes, was originally, since it was created in 1654 until 1778, the retable of the main altar of the Church of the Most Holy Announced. Only later it was transferred to the Church of St. Thenestus and then, finally, to the Palace of the Princes.
In 1663 the relics of Saints Theodulus and Vitale were placed in the right transept, those of the former in a special altar, those of the latter in the altar of San Carlo, where those of the also former were moved in 1770.
The current floor of the church dates back to 1772.
In 1802 the statue of the Black Madonna ("Blessed Virgin of the Sick") was brought to the church from the Church of St. Thenestus. It was first placed in the Chapel of the Humiliated, and then on the altar at the end of the left arm of the transept.
In 1834 the structure of the facade was modified, bringing it to the current one. Its chromatic setting with horizontal green and ocher bands is, however, even more recent, dating back to 2003.
Unfortunately, in 1834 also many elements added inside in the Baroque era were eliminated, since at the time was fashionable to recover a presumed original purity of the architectural style. Also a fresco by the important Baroque artist Bernardino Galliari was eliminated.
In 1840 the internal walls of the church were repainted in a solid colour, thus hiding the frescoes by Luigi Galliari and by the Morazzone that embellished them.
In 1876 the dome was rebuilt and its windows with polychrome glass were doubled in number. The dome was restored in 2007-2008.
In 1890 the single-flight entrance staircase was replaced by the current three-flight one.
STRUCTURE
The only parts of the church visible from the outside are the facade and, with more difficulty, the bell tower, because for the rest other buildings were built directly against it.
The façade is characterized by neo-Gothic style painting (but painted in 2003) with green and yellow horizontal bands with shades to simulate stone. It is then punctuated vertically by six protruding pilasters which divide it into three sectors (as the lateral pilasters are double side by side) reflecting the division into naves inside. At the top of each pilaster (and at the tip of the facade) there is a pinnacle with a cross.
There are three entrances, all equipped with a stone portal with a broken pediment: a larger central one and two smaller lateral ones. Immediately above the architrave of the central door there is a plaque from 1660 which celebrates the quelling of a riot. In the center of the pediment, furthermore, there is the coat of arms of Prince Paolo Besso Ferrero Fieschi.
To complete the facade, a rose window in the center at the top and two single-lancet windows immediately above the side entrances, all equipped with a white stone frame and polychrome glass glazing.
The bell tower is located on the right, inserted into the body of the church. It is a Romanesque tower probably from the eleventh or twelfth century, as suggested by the typical division of the external surfaces into mirrors decorated on the upper edge of hanging arches and equipped, in the highest part, with double and triple lancet windows. In more recent times, an octagonal bell cell with dome was added to the top.
The interior is divided into three naves, with the central one much larger than the lateral ones. The vaults of the naves are cross-vaulted, decorated with trompe l'oeil frescoes to simulate stucco decorations in relief. The naves are divided by large bundle columns and are very dark, because the church does not have side windows and in addition to the windows in the counterfaçade there are other windows only in the choir and in the two chapels of the transept. There are also windows in the dome drum, but due to their position they only shed light in the crossing. The fact, then, that almost all windows have colored glass makes it difficult to correctly perceive the colors of the interior.
On the counter-façade there is a choir loft which occupies the entire width of the central nave and houses a large organ from 1885 in perfect working order and often used for concerts.
An element characterizing the interior of the church is the dome of the crossing. It is octagonal, blue and dotted with stars, however arranged in a non-realistic but geometric way. The ribs are highlighted by bands decorated with geometric motifs. The dome sits atop a tall drum painted in gray and brownish horizontal stripes, with a window in the center of each side. The four evangelists are depicted on the drum's sails, painted at the end of the nineteenth century by Ferdinando Rossaro, also the author of the Via Crucis hanging on the side walls.
The wooden internal porches of the three entrances were made in 1813 by Giuseppe Rey.
Also worth mentioning are the two chandeliers in the two arms of the transept, created in 1822 by the goldsmith Carlo Prinetti.
The presbytery, separated from the nave by a black marble balustrade, is large and has a polygonal apse. The main altar in polychrome marble is in Baroque style and was built in 1776 to replace the Retable of Tiberino. In the apse there are two single-lancet windows (made in 1936 by C. Jorger) and a rose window at the top in the centre, all with colored glass. The two windows depict the Birth of Jesus (on the left) and the Crucifixion (on the right). In the rose window (made in 1936 by Apollinare Leto) Christ ascended into heaven among the angels is depicted. On the back wall, under the rose window, hangs an oval canvas with an Annunciation (L. Ciardi, 1897).
The vaults of the presbytery and choir are decorated with monochrome frescoes depicting decorative elements and symbols linked to the scriptures and the Church. In the center of the vaults of the presbytery and of the apse the Assumption and the Coronation of Mary are depicted (in full colour). The lower part of the choir walls is occupied by the aforementioned stalls built in 1671.
Some valuable paintings hang on the walls of the presbytery.
To the left:
- Virgin of the Rosary, St. Dominic, Saint Catherine and clients, Raffaele Giovenone, 1584.
- Madonna, Child Jesus and Saints Catherine, Rocco and Sebastian and a bishop, Gerolamo Giovenone 1520.
To the right:
- Last Supper, school of Gaudenzio Ferrari
- Jesus before Pilate, anonymous
Chapels
- Baptistery: It is located on the left side, near the entrance and is closed by a rich wrought iron railing. The stone baptismal font is hemispherical, the conical cover is made of wood. On the wall a fresco depicting the Baptism of Christ.
- Chapel at the end of the left arm of the transept (Fig. 2): Neo-Gothic style chapel with marble altar built in 1848-1850 to house the Blessed Virgin of the Sick, ie the Black Madonna of Masserano until 1802 in the Church of San Teonesto. The chapel is protected by a wrought iron gate and is illuminated by two single-lancet windows with colored glass depicting San Carlo on the right and another saint on the left.
On the altar of the chapel is the Black Madonna of Masserano or Salus Infirmorum, the oldest work present in the territory of Masserano, dating back to the second half of the fourteenth century, characterized by rather archaic features and the object of strong popular devotion for its thaumaturgical powers.
- Chapel at the head of the left side nave: It is also in neo-Gothic style, it is delimited by a polychrome marble balustrade and in a niche in the center of the retable it houses a statue of a Madonna with Child with gold leaf decorations created by Bartolomeo Aureggio in 1691.
- Chapel at the end of the right arm of the transept (Fig. 3): It is decorated in neo-Gothic style. The polychrome marble altar, however, is from the late Baroque period. Altar and chapel are dedicated to saints Theodulus and Vitale, patrons of the town and whose remains are preserved in the altar. The altar was originally dedicated to San Carlo, still depicted in the round located in the upper part of the retable. The latter has an architectural structure, with a large niche in the center closed by a precious wrought iron railing. Two putti rest above the frame of the niche and two others appear to support the round with San Carlo.
Also this chapel is equipped with two single-lancet windows with colored glass. In them the two saints Theodulus and Vitale are depicted.
In front of the altar there are two large statues of St. George and St. James the Greater.
- Chapel at the head of the right side nave: It is dedicated to the Crucifix and delimited by a polychrome marble balustrade. In the niche in the center of the retable there is a crucifix reminiscent of the German ones from the mid-fourteenth century.
Chapel of the Sacred Heart: Small chapel with an elongated shape which is accessed through a door in the left nave. The lower part of the walls is decorated with a fresco to simulate a curtain, while the vault is decorated with stuccos and frescoes from the Baroque era. In the walls there are two niches containing two reliquary busts of the patron saints Theodulus and Vitale. Above stone niches there are 1930 statues of Saint Anthony, Saint Teresa and two cherubs. A statue of the Sacred Heart from 1889-1890 is placed in the aedicule surrounded by a rich baroque stucco frame above the altar table.
Chapel of the Humiliated: It is accessed from a door in the right nave. Small room with a marble altar placed in an apse with a vault that resembles a shell. It is in a rather poor state of conservation.
Finally, the sacristy: It is large, with a domed vault frescoed with the dove of the holy spirit in the center of a blue sky. It houses various solid wood furniture, canvases and a fine wooden crucifix.
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
Via Roma, 120, 13866 Masserano BI |
Collegiate Church of the Most Holy Announced: Further pictures in the section Photography |