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Andorno Micca (Biella)- Church of San Giuseppe di Casto
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Show to visit in the Biella area: |
 The Church of San Giuseppe di Casto is located in the homonymous fraction of Andorno Micca.
Unfortunately it has not been possible to find almost any information about it so far. Although it is not particularly old and it does not contain works of art of the first level, it is equally worthy a visit for its interior decorations that include many elements typical of the sacred buildings of the area.
On the basis of the structure, the church seems to have been built, or at least to have acquired its actual appearance, in correspondence with the transition between baroque and neoclassicism, i.e. in the second half of the eighteenth century. The exterior already shows many neoclassical elements, with a façade simple and linear, but not without decorations. It is in fact marked by four pilasters with Corinthian capitals which support a thick trabeation decorated with monochromes of garlands. At the top of the façade there is a large pediment also decorated with monochromes of garlands and, in the center, God the Father.
Other façade decorations are two trompe l'oeil niches with statues.
Inside, in the opposite, the baroque style prevails.
The church has a single nave, with two shallow chapels on each side. The walls are divided from the ceiling by a thick trabeation decorated with stylized plant elements that runs along the entire perimeter apart from the counter-façade.
The presbytery includes a rectangular part and a polygonal choir.
Much of the interior surfaces are somehow decorated. Or with frescoes or with decorative elements.
The surface of the ceiling of the nave is divided into polygonal areas. Some contain true frescoes, others plant-themed decorations of neoclassical style.
Above the presbytery a trompe l'oeil decoration to simulate a dome with a lantern. The spandrels of the dome frescoes depicting the four evangelists. It should be noted that also the angels at the apex of the great arch, and the frame they hold, are not three-dimensional stuccos but trompe l'oeil simulations.
The chapels have all the same structure, with a baroque altar and a large altarpiece enclosed by a frame decorated with three heads of cherubs (all different!) and garlands. In particular, the first chapel on the left (Fig. 3) houses a canvas depicting the crucifixion, while in the second chapel on the right there is an interesting canvas (Fig. 4) with the crowned Madonna in the center and above and on the sides episodes of the life of the Virgin distributed in small squares (almost vignettes of a comic ante litteram).
The choir has a beautiful organ built by Giovanni Bruna in 1786.
Also worthy of mention are the valuable via Crucis and a wooden crucifix that is probably due to Pietro Serpentiero, located behind the altar. Beautiful also the carved wooden pulpit with above the canopy a carved and painted wooden lamb.
Outside there is a remarkable high stone bell tower, placed in front of the façade and whose end part that houses the bells is in brick. The facade towards the church houses a clock.
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
Piazza Sereno Giovanni, 1, 13811 Andorno Micca BI |
Church of San Giuseppe di Casto: Further pictures in the section Photography |