Culture
Two months of art and religious initiatives at Sacro Monte in Varese
Italy, Varese – After a 2021 that saw more than 6,000 visitors to the museums (Casa Pogliaghi, Baroffio and the Crypt), in addition to the numerous visitors to Viale delle Cappelle, Sacro Monte di Varese opens 2022 with the art and religiousness that are the hallmarks of the Unesco site.
Archeologistics, a Varese-based company committed to cultural enhancement, presents a preview of the events that will characterise the whole year. In February and March, while waiting for the reopening of the Lodovico Pogliaghi House Museum and the Baroffio Museum and the Sanctuary (which in 2021 received two important donations: the “Spinner with two children” by the Master of the jeans cloth and “Interior of Milan Cathedral with the altar of Santa Tecla” by Luigi Bisi) there will be webinars, extraordinary openings with guided tours and special events, initiatives designed to involve a varied public: from families with children to experts in the field, from enthusiasts to the simply curious. There are opportunities to get to know the crypt of the Sanctuary, to admire the statues of the chapels of the Viale from a new perspective and to enter the laboratories of the restorers who have taken care of some important restoration work on works of the Pogliaghi collection.
On Sunday 6 February, the first appointment is dedicated to Saint Apollonia (and toothache). On the occasion of the feast of the martyr saint (celebrated on 9 February) and patron saint of dentists, the crypt of the Sanctuary, which houses a precious fresco of St. Apollonia, will be exceptionally opened to tell the story of the saint and at the same time of the ancient church of Santa Maria del Monte. This is followed by a visit to the Baroffio Museum to look at some osteological finds: the bones are also an important archive of information for reconstructing the diseases that afflicted the teeth of pilgrims in the past.
There will be two rounds of visits: at 3pm for children and families; at 4.30pm for everyone.
On Saturday 13 February at 2 p.m. the doors of the Casa Museo Lodovico Pogliaghi will be opened for an extraordinary visit to admire the eclectic rooms and the international collection of the Milanese artist and author of the door of Milan Cathedral. The guided tour will also be an opportunity to learn about the important project to restore the historic garden of the House Museum, which can be supported by raising funds.
The “Stories of Sacro Monte” webinars open on Thursday 24th February: four online appointments starting at 8.45 pm (on the Zoom platform), to learn about the heritage preserved in the Museums and along the Via Sacra.
The first meeting focuses on the “Joyful Mysteries” of the Viale delle Cappelle. Guided by Marina Albeni of Archeologistics, the doors of the fourth and fifth chapels will be opened virtually, so that visitors can admire the details directly from inside the buildings of the 17th-century avenue.
On Thursday 3 March, the evening is dedicated to the restoration of Casa Pogliaghi. An appointment proposed in collaboration with the Restoration Centre of Venaria and dedicated to the intervention that has affected the work “Cristo Salvator Mundi” of the Pogliaghi collection. Speaker: Eleonora Vergallo.
On Thursday 10 March, the protagonists are always the restorations of Casa Pogliaghi. This time will be presented the restoration intervention of the plaster casts of the Prophets, work of Lodovico Pogliaghi for the Basilica del Santo in Padua. Speaker: Elena Gallizio.
On Thursday 31 March, the exhibition closes with an in-depth look at the Maestro della Tela Jeans and the “pitocchi” in Lombard painting. Taking his cue from the recent donation to the Baroffio Museum of Sacro Monte in Varese, Luca Frigerio will lead us to discover a mysterious and very interesting painter, still anonymous, active in the 17th century, called the “Master of the Denim Cloth” because he always included this characteristic fabric in his paintings. And together with him we will look at the Lombard painting of the “masters of reality”, from Caravaggio to Pitocchetto.
Reservations for all events: bit.ly/anteprimesacromonte2022
Info: www.sacromontedivarese.it / tel. 366.4774873 / info@sacromontedivarese.it
