Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, Varallo

Such an amazing place in the middle of Varallo! The church has the famous fresco from Gaudenzio Ferrari, important artist form the Renaissance. Through the App “Gaudenzio”, made by Politecnico di Torino and Ulixe Group, in collaboration with Abbonamento Musei, it is possible to discover more about its details using augmented reality

The modest exterior hides a surprising fresco on the front wall, before the main altar. It describes in 22 paintings the life and passion of Jesus. It also has other interesting elements that deserve to be appreciated. But the fresh, obliges the visit to this church!

Stumbled upon this church by accident and it turned out to be a stunning beauty! The paintings are of high artistic value and drawn in great detail.

The church, with a single nave, was built in 1497 in late Gothic style at the behest of the Franciscan friar Bernardino Caimi, also the creator of the nearby Sacro Monte. Its exterior appearance, bare and humble, should not be misleading: the inside of the building houses the tramezzo entirely frescoed by Gaudenzio Ferrari (1475/1480 - 1546), in which the grandiose central Crucifixion is surrounded by twenty panels illustrating The Life and Passion of Christ. It is therefore a Biblia Pauperum among the most artistically important in the whole of northern Italy. The pictorial cycle, created in 1513, is probably the supreme masterpiece of the Piedmontese painter, perhaps even superior to the Concerto degli Angeli frescoed on the vault of the dome of the Sanctuary of the Beata Vergine dei Miracoli in Saronno. An unmissable visit for all art lovers.

At the base of the Sacro Monte stands the church and Franciscan convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a church in simple Gothic forms according to the model desired by Bernardino of Siena, i.e. the separation of the celebration of rites and that reserved for preaching. The separation was accomplished with a normally frescoed partition, as a background to the preaching. This partition follows the canonical structure: three arched openings on the base of the wall, above it is divided into twenty squares of equal size and a central square is equivalent to the space of four squares. Magnificent work!