The frescoes in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Crema (IT)
It has to be a great festivity! Lots of musicians!
In Crema there is a tiny church just behind the walls, flat walls, quite a simple look from outside. It is entitled to Santa Maria delle Grazie.
There was an image of the Virgin to which devotes prayed and it’s believed it has granted many graces, it was kept in a small chapel built into the walls. They later decided to build a bigger church, and there the image was transferred, in 1613.
The church had to be decorated with fast, and it was commissioned to a local artist, Gian Giacomo Barbelli, who had studied in Naples and, according to the priest of the church, was at the time working in Venice. This last circumstance, if proofed true, would be interesting, attesting his experience from both the towns of the two main towns for the history of the cello.
The vault contains an assumption of the virgin and all around it has to be a big festivity, so a riot of 138 angels are singing and playing. In particular there are 8 big angels, in the corners, with a violin bass played horizontally, a violin, a harp, a lute, two cornettos, a theorbo, a guitar-lute.
The church has unfortunately poor lighting so it’s hard taking good pics of some of them.
On one side of the organ there are two other musical angels, one playing a tiny bass on a wooden end pin, vertically and with underhand grip, the other playing this other thing which I don’t know the correct official name, but in the mountains in South Tyrol often appears in old fashioned souvenirs and is called mandola.
The frescoes are dated 1635-38. And we have two different violin basses, a big horizontal one and a small vertical with endpin. I am sure someone would jump and say: you see? Horizontal and big for continuo and vertical and small for fast diminished passages. However, according to me, nothing proves that also the grey small one is playing continuo, being beside a “mandola” and an organ.
No matter what, this frescoes are breathtaking, for their perspective, richness of colors and details. Being the space relatively small one cannot avoid to be astonished by this perspective work, which, despite the 138 angels, doesn’t seem crowded, but just festive. I highly recommend a visit there!
Or, if you are too far, you can at least buy gadgets with this design at this link, print on demand by Redbubble
Updates from our workshop/news from da spalla world
While I write we are at the airport, abut to fly to New York and then drive to Alexandria VA, close to Washington DC, to spend the weekend at Brobst violin shop together with some fabulous colleagues luthiers. Check out the Celebrating Women Luthiers international exhibit program and book a try of my Violoncello da Spalla! If you are around Washington, come and meet us there, saturday 9th and Sunday 10th!
Featured video of the week
Sorry, boarding in progress, no time to find a video this week!
