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Church of the Saints Peter and Paul
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Show an other treasure of art and history in Milan:
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 Mostly represented styles: Baroque
The church, whose full name is Church of Saints Peter and Paul at the Three Ronchetti, is located on the edge of the urban area of Milan, and was formerly the parish church of three small villages south of Milan: Ronchettino, Ronchettone and Ronchetto delle Rane. With ronchetto it was once intended a cultivable field torn from the bush. And "Rane" means frogs.
The origins of the building are very old, as it was already mentioned in documents of the fourteenth century and as evidenced by the circular apse typical of the Romanesque style. Unfortunately, however, information about the most ancient periods is scarce.
What is known for sure is that the church was the subject of a visit by Cardinal Carlo Borromeo on April 9, 1567, who ordered changes and improvements in order to elevate it to a parish church.
Externally the Church of Saints Peter and Paul to the three Ronchetti is very simple, being the only decorations made up of two statues inside two niches of the saints to which the church is dedicated and a pronao at the entrance. On the contrary, the harmony of the façade is disturbed by a stained-glass window above the door and by a clock above it, evidently modern and very jarring.
The interior is on the contrary very rich. With an unique nave and a clearly Baroque imprint, it is rich in colors and decorations and has three chapels on each side. The most precious element, however, is found in the apse and is represented by a series of frescoes dedicated to the life of Saint Peter, the only one in Milan. It was painted in 1657 by Ercole Procaccini the Younger. Although the finishes are less refined than certain frescoes in the more emblazoned churches of Milan city, they are frescoes of great impact and quality.
The careful visitor will note how, according to the precepts of the Counter-Reformation, all the figures are dressed in a castigated manner.
The cycle extends through five compositions which see, among other things, the fall of Simon Magus, the resurrection of Tabita, the handing over of the keys to Peter and his crucifixion.
The chapels all have the same structure, with a vaulted ceiling decorated to simulate the presence of stuccoes. The same for the beautiful lunette ceiling.
In the lunettes there are the only windows in the side walls. Other windows are present in the apse (one evidently added later to the detriment of one of the frescoes present) and on the façade. The church is nevertheless quite dark overall.
It should be noted that many vertical elements are underlined by faux marble decorations or stylized plant elements.
Unfortunately it was not possible to collect information on the paintings in the various chapels, many of which are apparently artistically valuable.
The two altarpieces currently in the first two chapels (depicting St. Peter with the keys and St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus) until recently were the doors of the beautiful organ on the counter-façade dating back to the eighteenth century and recently restored.
Also worthy of note is the church door, clearly very old.
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul at the Three Ronchetti is located on the edge of a complex, the one that once was the village of Ronchetto delle Rane, which fortunately has retained much of the original peasant structure and which itself deserves a visit. A small corner of Milan a few hundred meters from the modern tenements able to project the visitor into a rural environment and where it is still possible to breathe the atmosphere of a distant past.
If you are interested in a guided tour of this monument send an email!
Categories: Churches / Religious buildings
Via Manduria, 90, 20142 Ronchetto delle Rane MI |
Further pictures of the Church of the Saints Peter and Paul in the section Photography |