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The
Church of San Bernardino is a Catholic cult in Verona, built in the 15th
century, part of a Franciscan monastery, consisting not only of the
temple, but also of three large cloisters and various other buildings.
The church is characterized by numerous chapels richly decorated with
frescoes and paintings by local artists, mostly active in the 16th
century, such as Francesco Benaglio, Cavazzola, Nicola Giolfino,
Francesco Bonsignori, Domenico Morone, Giovan Francesco Caroto, Antonio
Badile, Bernardino India and the later Antonio Balestra ; one of them,
the Pellegrini Chapel, was designed by the famous Veronese architect
Michele Sanmicheli and occupies a fundamental place in the history of
Italian architecture.
Brothers Minor in Verona
Franciscans have been active in Verona
since the visit of San Francesco to the city in 1220. Initially, around
1230, the monks settled in the area of Porta Vescovo and in the
monastery on Colle San Pietro. With the increase in the number of monks
of the order, the Franciscans asked permission to settle in the
Benedictine monastery of San Fermo Maggiore, which was almost
uninhabited. In the same years, they also gained control of the court of
the Inquisition.
In 1422, Bernardino da Siena arrived in the city
and founded a monastery in Aves, occupying a building vacated by the
monks of Santa Giustina of Padua. In 1443, Bernardino returned to
Verona, where he became very popular due to the great eloquence that he
demonstrated in his sermons and the acts of mercy he performed,
surprising the population with numerous conversions and many miracles
that he managed to perform.
church building
Bernardino of
Siena was canonized on May 24, 1450, and the inhabitants of Verona,
remembering the saint's benevolence towards the population, asked
permission to build a church in his honor. about the place: he
identified a place called “delle fornase”, located in “pra de Pompeo”
and not far from Castelvecchio and San Zeno, which owes its name to the
fact that building bricks were fired there. Doge Francesco Foscari
authorized the work in 1451, and the first stone was laid on 30 April
1452 by Monsignor Francesco Condulmer, Bishop of Verona, with pompous
celebration. The church, still unfinished, was consecrated in 1453, and
work was slowed down due to lack of funds, so that the final covering of
the building was not completed until 1466.
Subsequent events
In 1474, a Renaissance-style portal by Mastro Modesto was added to the
facade of the church, and inside the church, precisely since those
years, numerous chapels were added along the right side nave. In 1486
the Banda chapel was built, rebuilt in 1757 after the damage caused by
the flood of the Adige; from 1492 the Awanzi chapel was built, completed
in five years; before 1498, the Medici Chapel was built, restored in
1571; before 1512 the chapel of San Francesco was built on the orders of
the Franciscan tertiaries; before 1541 the chapel of Canossa was built;
finally, in 1529, the construction of the Pellegrini Chapel was begun,
resumed in 1795 and completed only in 1890.
The trussed ceiling
of the church was covered in the 17th century with paintings by Biagio
Falchieri, while the central nave was decorated with baroque
altarpieces, taking on the appearance of a 17th century church. The
church was closed during the Napoleonic era, in 1810, and restored at
the end of the 19th century; the San Bernardino complex was used as a
hospital, warehouse, college, and city cemetery until 1821; In 1930,
important restoration work began on the building, which returned to its
original appearance; however, it was badly damaged during the bombings
of World War II. Since then, the monastery has provided assistance to
the poor, prisoners, the elderly and supports children and young
couples, in addition, concerts and conferences are held in the premises
of the complex.
The facade of the church is strict, in the style of late Gothic or
Lombard Gothic, made of bricks. It has a small rose window made of
Verona marble with three rows of petals, two vertical windows ending in
trefoil arches, and an entrance portal.
The portal is
stylistically placed in the era of the early Renaissance and therefore
torn out of the architectural context of the facade. It was financed by
the legacy of the wealthy draper Giovanni degli Asdenti and was executed
in 1474 by Mastro Modesto in gray Greek marble and consists of two
lateral candelabra with a series of engraved flowers that end in
Corinthian capitals decorated with bucrania. The capitals support an
arched and projecting arch with bands and crenellations, which houses a
lunette with a bas-relief sculpture of Saint Francis receiving grades,
created by Biagio Falchieri in the 17th century. Above the arch are the
statues of San Bernardino, Sant Antonio and San Bonaventure. Above the
portal is a brick arch, possibly a remnant of a previous portal or built
to lighten the weight of the façade.
The façade is decorated with
a crenellated frame running under the roof along with a series of blind
arches also present on the sides, on the apse and on the bell tower. On
the left side of the façade is the chapel of San Francesco, also built
in brick; the side of the building is punctuated by pilasters, and the
cornices are adorned with a frame of Gothic arches. The door of the
chapel is adorned with jambs of white marble and surmounted by a fresco
depicting Christ carrying the cross, followed by St. Francis with the
cross; above it is an arched window, which is repeated in other
compartments formed by more elongated pilasters. The presence of this
building partially balances the asymmetry of the façade, which is
located in a decentralized position in relation to the monastery.
The exposed brick belfry of the church is supported by four corner
pilasters ending in four short spiers. The bell tower is illuminated by
four multi-leaf windows and topped with a rather small cone, which makes
the tower disproportionate and lacking in momentum.
The church consists of one simple and austere nave, characteristic of
Franciscan churches, 75 meters long, 21 high and 17 wide; vertical
development is accentuated in comparison with the horizontal, and the
pictorial decoration prevails over the sculptural. On the right side
there are numerous chapels, and above - three trefoil windows, and the
left side is deaf.
The nave is covered by a ceiling with painted
wooden goats, under which a polychrome frieze with a floral motif
repeating the monogram of the name of Jesus runs throughout the nave,
the covering was made by Mastro Nicolò in 1465, and the frieze below was
made by Mastro Cristofalo in 1461. The presbytery, separated from the
nave by a pointed arch and illuminated by two rose windows, passes
through another pointed arch into a pentagonal choir with a span divided
into eight ribs, illuminated by two neo-Gothic windows. In the apse is a
crucifix depicting Mary and St. John at his feet, painted in the
seventeenth century.
The original altar of the church, destroyed
by a bombardment in 1945 and replaced in the same year by the current
one, was a large baroque building rich in polychrome marble, the
construction of which was supervised by Francesco Marchesini between
1663 and 1671. On the altar is a triptych by Francesco Benaglio from
1462, which was previously placed in the choir, depicting the Madonna
and Child enthroned with Saint Bernardino in prayer and angels in the
center, Saints Peter, Paul and Francis on the left and Saints Jerome.
Lodovico of Toulouse and Anthony of Padua on the right. This painting is
related to the San Zeno triptych by Mantegna, which can be identified in
the background with columns in perspective and garlands of flowers and
fruit.
Around the nave runs a Via Crustis, consisting of 14
paintings by Felice Cignaroli (a junior friar who lived in Verona
between 1772 and 1796), painted between 1772 and 1777. mystical
contemplation. At the back of the church, near the main door, is a
renaissance chalice made of white-yellow and pink marble. In the center
of the bath is a kneeling statuette of Saint Francis dating from the
17th century.
Near the front door of the church is an altar, found by the Brasavola
family in 1725. This baroque building, designed by Francesco Bibiena, is
very picturesque, with a play of light and shadow, curls, broken lines,
rich decoration and in style it is very far from the rest of the church.
It has ten sculpted angels, six Corinthian columns, two statues
(representing San Francesco Solano and San Salvatore da Orta), and a
painting by Antonio Balestra depicting the Franciscan saints Pietro
d'Alcantara, Giovanni da Capestrano and Giacomo della Marca.
In
the direction of the presbytery, there is a pulpit in Veronese
polychrome marble, built at the behest of the Rossi family and therefore
contemporary with the organ itself. The structure of the pulpit opens as
a growing cup with five sides, and the central panel of the pentagonal
balustrade features the monogram of the name of Jesus in the center of
the sun, with many rays in relief, beneath which are the client's
initials. On the small door are paintings of San Bernardino and San
Francesco, and on the ceiling is the image of a lamb.
This
Sanmihelian style altar, built in 1572, was placed in the center of the
left wall of the nave at the direction of the Giustiniani family. The
design follows the architecture of the ancient temple: two Ionic columns
support a framed architrave, which in turn supports three shelves topped
with three decorative vases. On the sides are two statues depicting the
prophet Isaiah and Sibyl Cuman by the Dane Cattaneo. In the center is a
painting by Bernardino India, contemporary with the execution of the
altar, which depicts the Nativity of Christ. Around the altar, on the
wall of the nave, a picturesque ornament is painted with plant and
flower garlands.
Finally, directly in front of the presbytery is
the organ of San Bernardino, located on the architrave of the door
overlooking the convent of San Francesco; it dates back to 1481 and was
built at the behest of the Rossi family by Domenico Morone. It is one of
the oldest in Europe and is characterized by its great height and thin
line, with a gilded wooden base that opens like a bowl divided into nine
triangles. On the doors covering the resonator, San Francesco and San
Bernardino are painted, and inside the instrument is made of gilded wood
with embossed friezes. Above the reeds is a relief figure of the Eternal
Father.
To the main nave of the church is added one on the right side, formed by five chapels, which were added to the building from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 16th century. The chapels along the right aisle are listed below, going from the entrance towards the apse.
This chapel, the first on the right at the entrance to the church,
was built before 1512 at the behest of the Franciscan tertiaries, laymen
who followed the teachings of St. Francis. It has a rectangular shape
and is covered with a vaulted ceiling. The frescoes that cover it were
made in 1522 by Niccolò Giolfino and depict episodes from the life of
San Francesco, narrated by Major of the Legend of San Bonaventure. Each
fresco has a caption that highlights the parallelism between St. Francis
and Christ, while the background of the scene features Verona landscapes
such as the Bra Gate, Lamberti Tower, Pietra Bridge and San Pietro
Castle.
Along the walls of the chapel are Baroque tombstones
dating back to 1694 by the Perez brothers, Venetian admirals. On the
left wall is a fresco depicting St. John the Theologian, who had a
vision on the island of Patmos, where you can see members of the
Franciscan order: monks, Poor Claires and tertiary. On the same wall
there are frescoes depicting the deprivation of Saint Francis and the
meeting of Francis with Claire. Other paintings depict Francis' meeting
with Sultan Melek el Kamel and the Vision of Christ and the Madonna in
the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, associated with the indulgence
known as the Pardon of Assisi.
The right wall depicts the
vestments of the first three companions of Francis (Bernardo
Quintavalle, Pietro Cattani and Egidio of Assisi), Francis ascending to
heaven in a chariot of fire, Francis healing a possessed man, and a
Saint receiving stigmas. Then we celebrate the healing of the sick by
contact with the water with which the saint washed the ulcers of the
respected, the promise of Francis to release his brothers from purgatory
on the anniversary of his death, the vision and healing of Pope Gregory.
IX and, again, the first three followers of Francis.
On the 18th
century altar there is a copy made in 1863 by Angelo Recchia of a 1522
painting by Paolo Morando depicting the Glory of the Virgin with the
Child in her arms between Saints Francis and Saint Anthony. at the
Castelvecchio Museum. At the feet of the Virgin are Sant'Elisabetta, San
Bonaventure, San Ludovico IX, Sant Ivo, San Lodovico, Sant'Elzeario and
the client, Caterina de Sacchi. Behind the altar are the paintings "The
Blessing of the Dying Francis in Assisi" and "The Glory of Saint Francis
in Heaven". In the center of the ceiling is an image of the resurrected
Christ surrounded by four prophets, and on the vault there are four
panels with apostles and rectangles for the rest of the apostles.
This chapel was built in 1486 by Giovanni Banda and has a ribbed ceiling with four terracotta ribs. The walls are plastered, but there are probably frescoes in the lower layers. The altarpiece depicting the Madonna and Child enthroned with Saints George and Jerome surrounded by citing angels dates from 1488 and was painted by Francesco Bonsignori. On the sixteenth-century altar there is a relief of the bust of Christ the Redeemer. The chapel was damaged several times by floods on the Adige and was restored in 1757 by Felice Cignaroli.
This chapel with a cylindrical ceiling and an eighteenth-century altar was built before 1541. A memorial plaque hangs on the left wall, which says that in 1690 the Marquise Beatrice Martinengo Canossa made a donation to the Franciscans. There was originally a painting by Felice Boscaratti depicting San Bonaventure, but in 1932 Agostino Pegrassi decorated the walls with paintings inspired by the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, such as the expulsion from Paradise of Adam and Eve and the proclamation by Pius IX of the dogma in 1854 with Saints Augustine, John of Damasceno and Jerome. In the same year, a wooden statue of the Immaculate Mother of God was installed in the chapel.
This chapel, preceded by a small space with an umbrella-shaped ribbed
ceiling and opened by a round arch, was built before 1498 and first
restored in 1571. Four evangelists, and on the pillars supporting the
four arches are depicted Saint Jerome. , Augustine, Gregory the Great
and Ambrose, four Doctors of the Church. Other columns have frescoes of
Saints Elizabeth, Helena, Catherine of Alexandria and another, possibly
Saint Ursula. It is decorated with frescoes by Domenico Morone of 1498,
among which we can highlight the miracle of the mule and other scenes of
miracles performed by Saint Padua.
The altar supports a triptych
with four yellow marble columns and three red marble bays containing
three gray stone statues of Sant Antonio, San Francesco and San
Bernardino. In 1935, a statue of the dying Saint Anthony by Ruperto
Bunterle was placed under the altar.
The construction of the chapel was entrusted to Bartolomeo Avanzi in
his will of 1492. It was built in five years in the form of a square
with a cross vault and restored in 1769. The chapel contains valuable
paintings, most of which were commissioned by the Brotherhood of the
Holy Cross.
In the center of the group of paintings covering the
chapel, above the altar, is Francesco Morone's 1498 Crucifixion. The
frame reproduces a rich architectural composition with chandeliers,
architraves and capitals. Beneath the Crucifix are three works by Paolo
Morando, known as Cavazzola, dating from 1517: The Prayer of Jesus in
Gethsemane, The Descent from the Cross, and Christ Carrying the Cross.
The two upper compartments contain works by the same author depicting
Christ scourged at a column and the Mocking of Christ. Directly above
the altar are four portrait busts by Cavazzola, and in the center is the
Assumption of the Virgin.
In 1546, other artists devoted
themselves to the decoration of the chapel, including Antonio Badile
(with the Resurrection of Lazarus), Giovan Francesco Caroto (with the
Farewell of Jesus from his mother), Niccolo Giolfino, Paolo Veronese,
who painted the Resurrection of Lazarus. daughter of Gyro, the canvas
was taken to Vienna in 1696 and replaced with a copy.
In a small
room to the right of the Avanzi chapel is the so-called chapel of the
Holy Sepulcher, where six painted tuff statues are placed, forming a
scene of mourning for the dead Christ. The small chapel has a ribbed
ceiling and traces of the original frescoes on the walls. Sculptures
from the fifteenth century depict the reclining Christ, the Virgin in a
swoon, supported by two women, Saint John and Magdalene, and the statue
of Bartolomeo Avanzi is lost. The famous art historian Vittorio Sgarbi
claims that the sculptures are made of plaster and that this work is the
only sculptural group created by Mantegna; even if the author is
unknown, he is believed to have been influenced by Mantegna's art
anyway.
This chapel, originally dedicated to Saint Anna, was commissioned by
the noblewoman Margherita Pellegrini, widow of Benedetto Raimondi, whose
sons Nicola and Anna also died; therefore, the construction was to serve
as a burial chapel for the remains of the client and her family, even if
the final result betrayed this project. The design of the chapel was
entrusted to Michele Sanmicheli, who created a space with great harmony.
parts and a clear distribution of light, with an architecture that
recalls ancient buildings, in particular the Pantheon in Rome, the
Borsari gate and the Gavi Arch in Verona. Construction began in 1529,
but was not completed until after the death of Margherita Pellegrini,
which occurred in 1557, and under the direction of another architect,
who changed the project, quickly completing the chapel.
After two
centuries of neglect, Abbot Giuseppe Luigi Pellegrini became interested
in the building in 1793 and decided to restore it with the approval of
his brother Carlo Pellegrini, Marshal of the Austrian Empire. The work
was directed by Bartolomeo Giuliari, who had previously been involved in
the restoration of the works of San Michele, and was completed in 1795.
The chapel has a central plan and consists of two superimposed
levels topped with a dome. The diameter of the bottom is narrower than
that of the top; this feature distinguishes this chapel from others in
which the dome starts right from the first level. The first level of the
Corinthian order has four arched portals, three of which are occupied by
altars, and one contains a large entrance door. The arches are bounded
by grooved columns supporting an entablature with triangular pediments
above the altars, between which are empty niches in which statues were
to be placed, adorned on the sides with sculpted candelabra depicting
shells and garlands. Above the first floor there is a balcony, at the
height of which the second level begins, also with Corinthian columns,
in which four large windows open in tripartite Ionic columns with
Corinthian capitals and are located in accordance with the tympanums of
the lower level. . A coffered dome with rosettes on a blue background,
covered by a lantern, covers the chapel.
On the main altar of the
chapel is a 1579 painting by Bernardino of India depicting the Madonna
and Child with Saint Anne. In the crescent, a painting by Pasquale
Ottino depicts the Eternal Father, and two paintings by Ottino with
Saints Joseph and Joachim are displayed around the altar of India.
Ottino's paintings were probably created between 1619 and 1623. There
are boxes on the walls that were supposed to contain other paintings but
were never filled.
It is not known exactly who was the architect of the monastery,
conceived as a fortress, with a high wall around the perimeter, however,
it is believed that Giovanni da Capestrano may have designed the
structure of the complex, consisting of three main cloisters, a
refectory, cells, workshops, an infirmary and guest houses, with a
perimeter about 600 meters.
Monasteries
The complex of San
Bernardino consists of three cloisters, and the first of them, meeting
at the entrance, is dedicated to Sant'Antonio, which develops in front
of the front of the church and forms a churchyard. This is the largest
of the cloisters of the monastery, divided into three sides with 36
columns with different capitals in the Gothic style. The lunettes of the
walls have frescoes depicting the wonders of Sant Antonio, and above the
door leading to the monastery there is a 1520 fresco by Paolo Morando
depicting San Bernardino. Along the monastery of Sant'Antonio there are
many cenotaphs and tombstones, the oldest of which dates back to 1481.
The entrances to the monastery are closed by three wrought iron gates
from 1930, of which the central one bears the monogram of the name of
Jesus, while the side ones bear the Franciscan coat of arms. Above the
portal are eighteenth-century statues of San Bernardino, San Francesco
and Santa Chiara.
Then there is the monastery of San Francesco,
built at the same time as the church. This rectangular cloister is
characterized by vaulted ceilings, while round-arched niches are marked
by columns with Corinthian capitals. In the lunettes, some fifty in all,
there are frescoes with a biography of San Francesco by Gavanni Battista
Rovedat dating from around 1605. On the south side there are several
rooms that were once auditoriums of the monastery's theological study.
Finally, to the left of the entrance to the monastery is the
monastery of San Bernardino. Its niches, marked by columns, have a
ribbed ceiling and round arches with exposed bricks. The lunettes are
decorated with frescoes by Rovedata depicting episodes from the life of
San Bernardino, and the ceiling is painted with stylized flowers on a
blue background. During the restoration in 1974, on the eastern side of
the monastery, traces of doors were found that led to the old prison of
the monastery, where monks who neglected religious life lived.
idiot room
After the appointment of the monastery of the Studium
generale of the Order, Father Ludovico della Torre decided to equip the
complex with a new library. The 20 by 10 meter room, illuminated by ten
windows, was built between 1494 and 1503 thanks to the funding of
Lionello di Donato Sagramoso, while other benefactors donated numerous
manuscripts and books. The walls were frescoed with a cycle of about 300
square meters by Domenico Morone, but others believe that the artist was
Giolfino, Paolo Morando or Girolamo dai Libri.
On the wall
opposite the entrance to the hall is a large frescoed triptych, divided
by two painted Corinthian columns. The central panel depicts the Mother
of God with eighteen angels; in the background are landscapes of Verona
such as Lake Garda with Malcesine Castle and Lessinia. At the feet of
the Virgin are the figures of patrons, Sagramoso and his wife. The
figures of San Francesco and Santa Chiara are also drawn in an upright
position. The right panel shows the most important figures of the Order,
Saints Anthony, Bonaventure, Bernardino of Siena and Lodovico of
Toulouse. However, on the left side, the first martyrs of the
Franciscans in Morocco, martyred on January 16, 1220, are depicted. On
the other walls, the Church Fathers and Franciscan popes are depicted,
in total 28 figures, and on the upper frieze, 18 medallions with
portraits of half-length portraits of monks.
The floor of the
room was originally majolica; it was damaged in 1940 and replaced by the
current terracotta one. Today the hall belongs to the municipality of
Verona and is used for debates and conferences.