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Candelo (Biella)- Church of San Lorenzo
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Show to visit in the Biella area: |
 The Church of San Lorenzo was built between 1675 and 1696 in place of a former dilapidated building.
The facade was enriched with a portico in 1788 and with the two side doors in 1828. The main door, from the early eighteenth century, is of great artistic value and is attributed to C. E. Aureggio.
The façade has two orders, is of almost square proportions (underlined by the presence of pilasters and thick trabeations) and very sober (it is almost monochromatic). The element that most characterizes it is the baroque pediment at the top which is enriched by three statues, one at its center in a niche, the other two beside it. Four other statues are present in four niches at the corners of the façade.
Another peculiar element of the exterior is that, contrary to usual, the coverage of the central nave continues throughout the width of the building. The side walls that climb up to the roof are however interrupted above the chapels, giving a sort of large and high covered terraces (three on each side).
On the left side, between the choir and the last chapel, there is furthermore the majestic bell tower, built between 1717 and 1776.
The interior comprehends a single room, with three chapels of identical dimensions on each side. The interior decorations of the ceiling and of the walls of the apse, of the chapels, of the nave and of the choir date back to 1826 and are the work of Carlo Bazzi. As a result they are already neoclassical in style and give the interior a less opulent imprint than one might expect from the late-Baroque construction.
On the left side, starting from the entrance, we come across the Chapel of the Pity or of Our Lady of Sorrows, deprived of the altar and of the original altarpiece, substituted the second one by a wooden crucifix from 1661. Furthermore in the chapel there is also a statue in painted and gilded wood of San Rocco.
The second chapel is dedicated to Saint Joseph. In it there is a large retable with twisted columns in fake marble that support a broken pediment. At the center of it a statue of St. Joseph with Child.
The third chapel (Fig. 3) is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. On the sides the large stucco altar has two twisted columns with branches and bunches of grapes that support a broken pediment adorned with two pairs of cherubs. In the center, in place of the original altarpiece, a statue of the Sacred Heart. On the side walls two paintings representing St. Thomas and St. Paul. Note the slab in white marble on the floor which attests that the chapel was originally dedicated to St. Ignatius and was property of the counts Fecia.
On the right side the first chapel is the one used as baptistery, built in the first half of the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, a canvas depicting the Baptism of Jesus hosted by the anchor was stolen a few years ago.
The second chapel is dedicated to the Virgin of Oropa. The statue in it is recent but it faithfully reproduces the original one.
The third chapel, richly decorated, is dedicated to the Carmine Virgin (Fig. 4). The large rococo retable, with a blue background and decorated with volutes, gilded putti and cherubs, has a gilded wood statue of the Madonna in the central niche, an eighteenth-century work by the Auriggio brothers. On top of the niche, two putti hold a crown. Also worthy of note is the beautiful ceiling decorated with geometric patterns and stylized floral elements.
The presbytery is separated from the nave by a beautiful polychrome marble balustrade from 1893, by A. M. Ganna from Viggiù.
The high altar, also in polychrome marble, was built between 1815 and 1816 by Stefano Catella from Viggiù. It has a ciborium with six small columns supporting a cap with a statue of Jesus at the top. On the back of the altar there is an oval with a sculpted bust of San Lorenzo.
Of particular value is the rich wooden and gilded altarpiece originally part of the main altar of the previous church and currently placed on the back wall on a hanging base. Within a large architectural structure the martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is represented, both by bas-reliefs and by means of paintings on the walls of the hall represented in bas-relief (note the coffered ceiling). It could be said that it is a real diorama ante litteram with sacred subject!
The two small statues on the pilasters of the façade of the building in bas-relief represent St. John the Baptist and St. Rocco, the two larger statues on the sides instead represent St. James and St. Gratus.
On the two volutes of the baroque pediment there are furthermore two prophets with scrolls, two angels, a tile with the trinity dominated by the Risen Christ.
The ancon, built between 1606 and 1619 is attributed to the brothers Garabello from Biella.
Finally, on the ceiling of the presbytery and of the choir the four cardinal virtues are depicted.
The pulpit made of panels decorated with geometric motifs is from the beginning of the eighteenth century and is attributed to the brothers Aureggio.
The cantoria in the counter-façade houses an organ from 1903. It should be noted that the decorations on the wall of the balustrade, depicting musical instruments mixed with female figures, cherubs and roses, are similar to the homologous ones in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore.
Finally, the sacristy is from the mid-nineteenth century and houses antique furniture attributed to the Auriggio brothers.
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
Corso San Lorenzo, 125, 13878 Candelo BI |
Church of San Lorenzo: Further pictures in the section Photography |