punto di interesse

Oratory of Sant’Antonio Abate

Chiesa

point of interest

Oratory of Sant’Antonio Abate

Chiesa
24-presepe-monumentale-oratorio-sant-antonio-calvi-dell-umbria (1)

The left entrance of the big facade in Piazza Mazzini, thought by Ferdinando Fuga, bring us inside the Oratory of  Sant’Antonio Abate which preservers one of the most prestigious work of Calvi dell’Umbria: the Monumental Crib made in the XVI century by Giacomo and Raffaele da Montereale from Abruzzo.

Oratory of  Sant’Antonio Abate and the Monumental Crib of the XVI century

Part of the tour of the Museum of the Monastery of the Ursuline, the oratory hosts  this work in polychrome terracotta which represents the Nativity with the statues arranged on four overlapping registers.

24-presepe-monumentale-oratorio-sant-antonio-calvi-dell-umbria (1)

The left entrance of the big facade in Piazza Mazzini, thought by Ferdinando Fuga, bring us inside the Oratory of  Sant’Antonio Abate which preservers one of the most prestigious work of Calvi dell’Umbria: the Monumental Crib made in the XVI century by Giacomo and Raffaele da Montereale from Abruzzo.

Oratory of  Sant’Antonio Abate and the Monumental Crib of the XVI century

Part of the tour of the Museum of the Monastery of the Ursuline, the oratory hosts  this work in polychrome terracotta which represents the Nativity with the statues arranged on four overlapping registers.

24-presepe-monumentale-oratorio-sant-antonio-calvi-dell-umbria

The representation of Nativity

On the ground the Holy Family with Joseph and Mary praying and the child with ox and donkey surrounded by a bagpiper, a peasant, an old blind woman and an angel playing an organ.

In the upper floor, supported by an arch, the Magi on horseback followed even higher by their procession.

In the upper basin, painted as a vault of heaven there are four angels with wings wide open.

On the right, place in two niches, the two prestigious statues of Sant’Antonio and San Rocco, both with similar characteristics: both healers, both protectors against epidemics.

The story of the work

From a payment document we know that the work is dated 1545 and the authors are Giacomo and Raffaele da Montereale, known even as painters of the Cribs. Together with them , work for sure some helpers, and we can say this both from the differences of style and hand for the secondary figures. 

The figures of the central scene are, without doubt , made by the brothers because we can recognize the noble execution which, in some cases, have belonged even to other big artists of the period who, for sure, had influenced the Montereale. 

The part dedicated to Nativity , at the origin , was for sure a complex scene and rich of characters, but the intervention of the Fuga – aimed at reducing the oratory in favor of the Church of Santa Brigida – tampered with the backdrop and some statues.

The representation of Nativity

24-presepe-monumentale-oratorio-sant-antonio-calvi-dell-umbria

On the ground the Holy Family with Joseph and Mary praying and the child with ox and donkey surrounded by a bagpiper, a peasant, an old blind woman and an angel playing an organ.

In the upper floor, supported by an arch, the Magi on horseback followed even higher by their procession.

In the upper basin, painted as a vault of heaven there are four angels with wings wide open.

On the right, place in two niches, the two prestigious statues of Sant’Antonio and San Rocco, both with similar characteristics: both healers, both protectors against epidemics.

The story of the work

From a payment document we know that the work is dated 1545 and the authors are Giacomo and Raffaele da Montereale, known even as painters of the Cribs. Together with them , work for sure some helpers, and we can say this both from the differences of style and hand for the secondary figures. 

The figures of the central scene are, without doubt , made by the brothers because we can recognize the noble execution which, in some cases, have belonged even to other big artists of the period who, for sure, had influenced the Montereale. 

The part dedicated to Nativity , at the origin , was for sure a complex scene and rich of characters, but the intervention of the Fuga – aimed at reducing the oratory in favor of the Church of Santa Brigida – tampered with the backdrop and some statues.





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Oratory of Sant'Antonio Abate
Piazza G. Mazzini, 05032, Calvi dell'Umbria