Events Calender
16/8	17/8	18/8	19/8	20/8	21/8	22/8
23/8	24/8	25/8	26/8	27/8	28/8	29/8
30/8	31/8	1/9	2/9	3/9	4/9	5/9
6/9	7/9	8/9	9/9	10/9	11/9	12/9
To see the links move the mouse on the highlighted days!

Milanofotografo.it
Culture and Fun Section

Home

Photography

Services (only Italian)

Share on Vk!

Pagine di gestione

Casalvolone (Novara, Italy): Church of St. Peter

Show an other place around Milan worth a visit:

Places of historical value of artistic value around Milan (Italy): Church of St. Peter

The Church of St. Peter is located outside the town, on the road that leads to Villata.

HISTORY
The church was originally a pleban church of the fief, much larger than the current parish, and was therefore the point of reference for the religious life not only of Casalvolone, but also of various surrounding settlements. Its importance explains its size and its articulated structure.
A first church of St. Peter is documented as early as 975. Smaller than the current one and with a single nave, as the remains found during the restoration of the 70s of the last century suggest, it was almost completely demolished probably in the second half of the eleventh century to be replaced with the church visible today. It is possible that the bell tower is still that of the first church and this could explain its unusual position, partially incorporated into the right side nave.
As demonstrated by the position of the cornices with hanging arches, the church was raised at a certain point, perhaps in the first decades of the twelfth century, when the construction of the vaults above the naves was started, maybe in relation to the consecration of the building celebrated between 1117 and 1118 by the bishop of Novara, Riccardo.
The frescoes inside were created in several painting campaigns between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries.

STRUCTURE
Although small, the church has a basilica shape, with a taller and wider central nave and two smaller lateral naves. The external wall structure is exposed, with walls made of river pebbles and fragments of bricks arranged in a herringbone pattern. The facade is salient and partially hidden, on the right, by the ossuary built in the first decades of the 17th century. Note that the façade, in the central part, is higher than the body of the church behind it. It is possible that the excess part was added for aesthetic reasons in conjunction with the raising of the lateral naves, given that on the façade there is still a frame of hanging arches that follows the position of the roof behind it. The main entrance is preceded by a short masonry portico. Immediately above the door there are three frescoes joined together to occupy a single rectangular area. From left to right, a Saint Joseph, a Holy Virgin with the SS. Apostles Peter and Paul and a Saint John unfortunately very ruined. They were painted in different periods, from the end of the fifteenth to the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Note the external buttresses that mark the walls, which are thought to have been added when the original truss ceiling was replaced internally with a vaulted one.
The tall bell tower has the typical structure of the Romanesque churches in the area, with the external surfaces divided into five panels decorated with hanging arches and increasingly larger openings in the walls as you go up.
At the rear there are three circular apses of dimensions that mirror those of the naves inside. They too are decorated with hanging arches under the attachment of the roof and their walls are marked by pilasters.
Note that the rear façade also exceeds the body of the church behind it in the center.
Inside the three naves, each comprising four spans with vaulted ceiling, present various irregularities, as is often the case in Romanesque churches. In particular, the pillars have, in pairs, different shapes (some square with leaning half-columns, others quadrilobate).
The surfaces are plastered, with the exception of the pillars and the ribs (of rectangular section) where present, in exposed brick.
The light comes mainly from rectangular windows placed immediately under the vaults of the central nave, but only on the right side. There are also small strongly splayed single-lancet windows in the apses and two further small single-lancet windows are found on the right wall.
The interior of the church hosts a large number of frescoes:

Right side wall, after the bell tower: There are various fragments of frescoes from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. They are the oldest among those still present. In particular, a martyrdom scene, perhaps of St. John the Baptist, and battle scenes are recognizable.

First span of the right side nave, counter-façade: From left to right, Madonna enthroned with Child, patron and St. Anthony the Abbot; Crucifixion and St. Mary Magdalene; St. Stephen. These frescoes are attributed to a certain Bartulonus, a painter active in the Novara area between 1450 and 1470.

First span of the right side nave, right wall: At the top, Annunciation; at the bottom, from left to right: Miracle of St. Julius, St. Catherine of Siena, Madonna enthroned with Child, St. Peter Martyr, St. Bernardino from Siena. Also these frescoes are attributed to Bartulonus.

West wall of the bell tower: Saint Defendant, Saint Agatha and Saint Dorothy (also by Bartulonus).

Main Apse: At the base, immediately to the sides, are depicted Saint Anthony the Abbot (on the left) and Saint Gotthard (on the right). On the bases of the intrados are Saint Defendens (on the left) and a Madonna enthroned with Child and Mary Magdalene (on the right). These two frescoes are from 1425 and are attributed to the "Master of Casalvolone". The rest of the intrados is occupied by half-length portraits of prophets and patriarchs. The interior of the apse is divided into three levels: the lower one is occupied by a velarium, the intermediate one by the apostles, with Saint Peter enthroned in the center, with the papal tiara and an enormous key. On the upper level, corresponding to the apse basin, are depicted Christ in Almond and the Tetramorph. All these frescoes, with the exception of the apostles, attributed to the Cagnola workshop, and the two on the sides, attributed to the Master of Casalvolone, are attributed to Bartulonus. Note that in the case of these frescoes the name of the benefactor who commissioned their creation and the date of execution are reported: "Mafeus de rigonibus de vale Taegis armiger fecit fieri hoc opus 1478 de mense aprilis".

Left apse: Crucifixion with angels holding cups to collect the blood that comes out from the Christ's wounds and Saints John the Baptist and Martha. These frescoes, also attributed to Bartulonus, were recently put back in place after being detached and taken to the parish church for restoration.

Left wall, against the left apse: Saint Catherine of Siena

Counter-façade: On the right as you enter, Saint Rocco (Cagnola workshop), on the left, the Baptism of Christ, the author is not reported, but the fresco is certainly more recent than the others.