I was in the area between Monza and Varese, for work. I also had a list of places to visit in the afternoon. Browsing a book the day before, I came across the Collegiate di Castiglione Olona. This are is a heavily built up area north of Milan, but with extensive woodland, it still retains a rural atmosphere.
Between 1422 and 1425, Cardinal Branda Castiglioni decided to transform his native village of Castiglione Olona (in the province of Varese) into a "Tuscany in Lombardy". Florentine and Lombard architects and artists, were employed to reshape the village and decorate the buildings.
The Collegiate stands on the top of a hill, on the remains of an ancient medieval castle, and includes a Church and Baptistery. The Church is built in the Lombard Gothic style, but we are at the beginning of the Renaissance period in Italy.
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
The most impressive part of the complex is the small Baptistry, hidden away at one end of the complex. The the extraordinary cycles of frescoes in the Baptistery and on the walls of the apse illustrate the story of the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, The Frescoes are a masterpiece of the period of transition between Gothic and Florentine Renaissance. They are by Masolino da Panicale, who is famous for his work on the Cappella Brancacci. in Florence. I enjoyed the colour and details of these frescoes.
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
The Church is a typical example of Lombard Gothic, in the characteristic red brick used for many of these buildings. The major point of interest is the ceiling of the Apse, decorated by Masolino da Panicale. We see episodes from the life of the Virgin frescoed on the sails of the vault. The sweetness of the faces and the bright colors are highly evocative, again a witness to the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The walls, dedicated to the two saints Ambrogio e Clemente, were instead decorated by the then very young Lorenzo di Pietro known as Vecchietta, who would become one of the main artists of Siena of his time and by the Florentine Paolo Schiavo.
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
The complex has a little museum. One of the volunteers who are in charge of the complex kindly gave me a brief guided tour before I explored the place to take in the atmosphere and to do some photography.
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Collegiate di Castiglione Olona |
I also had some time to visit the small museum in the Cardinals Palace. The curious frescoes by an unknown artist, of the Lombard school, is the so-called "Cardinal's room" created in 1423 with fruit trees, cheering cherubs, trying to pick fruit.
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
 |
| Palazzo Branda Castiglioni, Castiglione Olona |
No comments:
Post a Comment