Resurrection of Lazarus

Abstract

This chapel was built between 1576 and 1580. It was funded by Pomponio Bosso, a nobleman from Milan. The earliest plans for the chapel were designed by Galeazzo Alessi. They are included in the Libro dei Misteri, but it seems that even Alessi was not sure where to place the chapel. Galloni points out that various plans within the Libro show this chapel in at least three different locations. Ten of the figures are made of stucco. They were modeled by Bartolomeo Badarello of Campertogno between 1580 and 1583. Carlo Bascapè, the Bishop of Novara, instructed the builders to add more figures to this scene during his first pastoral visit to Varallo, in 1593. Giovanni d'Enrico installed two additional figures, which are made of terracotta, on the left side of the group in 1617. Elena de Filippis records that all of the sculptures were "adjusted" by Enea Pavese and repainted by Antonio Orgiazzi the Elder in 1784. They were repainted again in 1850 by Carlo Giuseppe Delzanno. The color of Lazarus' skin demonstrates the extent to which artistic details were used to convey spiritual meaning at Varallo, although it is not clear if this effect has always been part of the scene or if it may have been introduced during one of the restoration efforts. Most of the figure is a dark, dull grey, but Lazarus' face is a healthier peach color, more like that of the other figures. As Lazarus is raised to life, the color returns to his body beginning with his face, the first part of his body to leave the tomb when he sat up. This detail is not part of the biblical account. In fact, the tomb in John 11 is described as a cave, but this type of grave would have been more familiar to early modern visitors, and the use of color here responds to the composition of this particular scene. By the early twentieth century, the figure of Christ was in such poor condition that it needed to be replaced entirely. The original was moved to the Pinacoteca di Varallo and a new version was installed by Carlo Vanelli, a local sculptor from Varallo, in 1905. It is not clear what material he used to make this figure, which was painted by Cesare Scaglia the same year it was finished. Most scholars attribute the frescoes in Chapel Eighteen to Gian Giacomo Testa, another local artist from Varallo. He probably finished between 1583 and 1586. His brother, Lorenzo Testa, was the Fabbricieri's head builder while this chapel was under construction. The structure of this chapel has been altered or adjusted a number of times. In 1603, the wooden barrier between the visitors and the scene was moved forward, to make more room for the sculptures that were to be added. Stefania Stefani Perrone writes that the lateral doors which provided access to the chapel were also walled up at this time, but this is somewhat unclear, as visitors still enter the chapel through the side doors. In 1884, the roof of the chapel was raised and replaced and the granite around the doorways was also replaced in 1934. The sculptures were restored in 1970, and the hair of all the male characters was replaced. The figures of Mary and Martha do not have real, or applied, hair. Their hair is either modeled as part of the figure or covered by a wimple-like veil, which is also sculpted. Differentiating between the men and women in this way may have been intended to reduce any physical temptation the female characters posed to visiting pilgrims. Conservators restored the sculptures again in 1993. Most recently, the metal and glass portions of the barrier were treated in 2001 - 2008. / Varallo was the first Sacro Monte in Northern Italy. The collection of chapels on the hilltop overlooking Varallo was established by Bernardino Caimi (before 1450 - 1499 or 1500) as a way of recreating the sights and experiences of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He organized the chapels according to their Holy Land geography and incorporated architectural details from the pilgrimage churches corresponding to each scene. Caimi chose Varallo to be the site of his New Jerusalem in 1481, he received papal permission to begin collecting donations in 1486, and he is believed to have overseen the project from 1491, when the first chapel was finished, until his death. Different writers have counted each of these dates as the year of the Sacro Monte founding. Many of the early chapels were decorated by Gaudenzio Ferrari (c. 1480 - 1546), who was born nearby and gained a reputation during his lifetime as one of the leading painters in Lombardy. Saint Carlo Borromeo (1538 - 1584) visited the Sacro Monte multiple times while he was Archbishop of Milan (1564 - 1584). Carlo and his contemporaries implemented new policies to clarify Catholic doctrine and structure spiritual practices in Milan after the Council of Trent (1545 - 1563). Carlo Bascape (1550 - 1615), Saint Carlo's close friend and the Bishop of Novara, personally oversaw a building campaign to reorganize the chapels at Varallo and restructure the pilgrimage experience according to the ideals of the Counter-Reformation. These changes were largely based on designs by Galeazzo Alessi (1512 - 1572), which are collected and preserved in a manuscript called the Libro dei Misteri (1565 - 1569) in Varallo's Biblioteca Civica. Construction continued throughout the first half of the seventeenth-century, led primarily by Giovanni d'Enrico the Younger (c. 1559 - 1644) and his family workshop. Beginning in 1609, d'Enrico also supervised the construction of the new Basilica, which is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. The Basilica was consecrated in 1649 and the old church, or Chiesa Vecchia, was demolished in 1773, but the Chiesa Nuova was not finished until the façade was added in 1891 - 1896.