Saint Francis Hears the Mass

Abstract

This chapel illustrates an important moment in the development of the Franciscan order, when Francis heard a reading from Matthew 10 during mass and decided to abstain from using or handling money in his ministry. It was built between 1609 and 1613 based on designs by Cleto da Castelletto Ticino. It was the first chapel at the site without an interior space for visitors, who view the scene from the outside. The sculptural group occupies the entire chapel. Scholars identify this particular architectural style as Valsesian because of its similarity to the chapels at Varallo. Cristoforo Prestinari (1573 - 1623) and his workshop made the sculptures between 1613 and 1616, but they were not put in place until two years later when the internal frescoes were completed by Giovanni Battista della Rovere (1561 - c. 1633) and Giovanni Mauro della Rovere (1575 - 1640), who were called I Fiammenghini because of the style of their work. The new structure of this chapel presented the artists with a logistical problem. The antechambers in the previous chapels had provided ample space to illustrate other scenes from Saint Francis's life in order to contextualize the narrative of the main sculptural group. Here the artists had to decide whether to include these additional scenes or paint an illusionistic background focusing on a single narrative moment. In a significant departure from the norms established at Varallo, the Franciscans chose to embrace the plurality of images that traced their leader's life in more detail. Towards the end of the seventeenth century the painters at Orta would revert to unifying tromp l'oeil backdrops that were common at the other sites. / Orta is the second oldest Sacro Monte. Construction began on the chapels there in 1591, just over a hundred years after the first Sacro Monte site was established at nearby Varallo. A community of Capuchin friars lived on the mountain, oversaw construction, and guided visitors on their pilgrimages once the chapels were finished. One of the brothers, Cleto da Castelletto Ticino (1556 - 1619) designed a series of thirty-six mysteries for the site, although only twenty chapels were ever completed. Before joining the Capuchin Order, Cleto had trained as an architect and engineer. After construction began at Orta, he also worked alongside Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527 - 1596), one of Carlo Borromeo's favorite architects. Amico Canobio (1532 - 1592), a Benedictine Abbot and Commissioner of the secular lands within the diocese of Novara, oversaw Cleto's work and was the first major patron of the chapels at Orta. Carlo Bascapè (1550 - 1615) took charge of directing the progress at Orta as soon he was named Bishop of Novara in 1593, the year after Canobio's death.