San Vittore Basilica (Varese)
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The Basilica of San Vittore is a church in Varese in Lombardy , Italy . The parish church of the Archdiocese of Milan is dedicated to the martyr Victor of Milan and has the title of a minor basilica .
history
The three-aisled basilica was built next to the Baptistery of St. Giovanni between the 16th and 17th centuries. Built in the 14th century at three different times. The purely Mannerist - Renaissance style choir was built shortly after 1500 (on the basis of an existing medieval chapel) and consecrated as early as 1542; the nave from the transept to the facade line was designed by the influential architect Pellegrino Pellegrini and then built between 1580 and 1625 under the direction of Giuseppe Bernascone, who gave it a mannerist appearance; the classical facade was designed by Leopoldo Pollack (1751-1806), a student of Giuseppe Piermarini , with minimal additions from the twentieth century by Lodovico Pogliaghi. The baroque bell tower in Mannerist style, which was built several times over a longer period between the 17th and 18th centuries, completes the architectural heritage.
On May 30, 1859, the basilica next to the bell tower was targeted by some of the artillery pieces of the Imperial-Royal-Austro-Hungarian Army commanded by Field Marshal Karl von Urban in retaliation for the city's refusal to pay a sum of money in compensation for the Battle of Varese. A sphere was even glued into the southern walls of the temple, which was then preserved and highlighted by a special inscription that gave it the value of a monument of the Risorgimento .
The church received in 1925 from Pope Pius XI. awarded the rank of minor basilica.
architecture
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The church has a floor plan in the form of a Latin cross , with the aisles and chapels in the front area and the sacristy next to the choir. The easted facade made of white marble was designed in the strict classicism of the late 18th century: the facade has no curved elements and instead hangs on the imposing straight supporting structure, which is surrounded by two cornices in the full width and bears the dedication to St. Victor . The elevation that holds it is in an Ionic arrangement with four massive columns: from it the attic also stands out, with a square plinth (where the only curvilinear concessions are the main window and the side buttresses) and a triangular roof that directly is inspired by the architecture of Greco-Roman temples. The architraves of the two side doors (surmounted by just as many skylights) extend towards the center of the facade and end in the round portal, in whose hanging spandrels two angel figures by Lodovico Pogliaghi peek out.
However, the key element of the building is the octagonal tiburio that encloses the inner dome. It is ionically inspired with matching pilasters connected by a cornice (architrave and frieze) and culminating in the cornice (supported by special notches). Bernascone ensured that the false pairs of pillars scanned each side of the tiburial volume in the form of "hinges" in a balanced manner: a blind window was also inserted on each side, above which there was a bezel and then a square niche. In the middle of the bowl-shaped roof is the lantern , an element designed to capture the sunlight and distribute it inside the building; In contrast to the Tiburio (which essentially consists of plastered masonry), it is entirely carved out of stone: surrounded by a balustrade and decorated with spheres and obelisks marking the corners, it has eight arched windows; eight curved bands also connect the railing with the body of the lantern itself, which ends with a small, metal-covered dome, which is surmounted by a golden cross ball.
inner space
In the original design of the basilica, an attempt was made to draw inspiration from the catechesis of the great Archbishops of Milan, Charles Borromeo , Federico Borromeo and Gaspare Visconti: The result is an abundance of frescoes and altarpieces of solemn and austere charisma, which the viewer can see exhaustively of the Catholic lifestyle. In this choice, the location of Varese was also considered pragmatically, a city on the main roads between Central Europe and Milan , which was mainly frequented by large (often and happily Protestant ) traders. Over the centuries, the successive remodeling has partially changed this identity, so that by and large a harmonious mix of styles has emerged.
In the long choir, the oldest part of the " Bramante " matrix from the 16th century, is the altar, an example of Lombard Baroque, with the marble statues of angels, the little angels and the risen Christ in the middle. The entire lively and lively fresco decoration also dates from the 18th century. The interior of the church houses valuable examples of Lombard Baroque painting: in particular the paintings by Carlo Francesco Nuvolone (1609–1662), Francesco Cairo (1607–1665) and Giovanni Battista Crespi , known as "Il Cerano" (1573–1632). From him, in the chapel of San Gregorio, the first on the right, the famous Mass of San Gregorio of 1615 is preserved, considered one of the masterpieces of the Lombard school at the time of Cardinal Federico Borromeo. The 15 rounds of the Rosary Mysteries of Morazzone (1573–1626) and the Battle of Lepanto by the Genoese Bernardo Castelli (1557–1629) are noteworthy . Also worth mentioning is the painted group of sculptures of the Madonna Addolorata.
On the sides of the choir is the organ by Mascioni Orgelbau opus 485, which was built in 1936 under an earlier instrument by Luigi Bernasconi from 1906. The instrument has 63 registers and is played with three manuals and a pedal.
Web links
- Basilica San Vittore (Italian)
Individual evidence
- ^ Basilica di S. Vittore Martire on gcatholic.org
- ^ Touring Club Italiano: Guida dItalia - Lombardia. Guide rosse d'Italia, Milano, 1998.
- ↑ a b c d Silvano Colombo: La chiesa di San Vittore in Varese. Divulgazione, Varese, 1991, pp. 3-8
- ↑ Le cannonate austriache che unirono i varesini. In: VareseNews. March 5, 2011, accessed August 8, 2020 (Italian).
- ↑ L'ultimo salute Austriaco al campanile di San Vittore (VA). In: curiosonevarese.blogspot.com. September 25, 2016, accessed August 8, 2020 (Italian).
- ^ Mina Gregori (a cura di): Pittura a Milano dal seicento al neoclassicismo. Cariplo, Milano, 1999.
Coordinates: 45 ° 49 ′ 6.8 ″ N , 8 ° 49 ′ 38.6 ″ E