|
Lenta (Vercelli, Italy): St Stephen's Church
|
|
|
Show an other place around Milan worth a visit: |
 The Church of Santo Stefano, commonly called "pieve", is located just outside the town of Lenta, not far from the cemetery.
It is the oldest building in Lenta. It was in fact built on a pre-existing early Christian church which in turn had been built on the remains of a Roman villa from the 2nd century. Around the church there was for a long time a cemetery. During the excavations carried out on the site, bones were found attributed to an epidemic of the fourteenth century or in any case medieval, because they were found covered with lime to avoid infections.
It was the baptismal and matrix church, whose territory reached as far as Arborio. It was and is dedicated to St. Stephen. In it there was also an altar dedicated to Saint Anthony Abbot and the ceremony of blessing the animals took place there.
Together with the Benedictine Monastery Castle of San Pietro it is certainly the building that has the most marked the history of the town.
While the church is now rather isolated, one of the settlements that formed the village of Lenta originally stood around it.
The original church was smaller and corresponded only to the northern nave (the left one). The squat brick bell tower on the right side was then added. It came to be in the center when, following the renovation and enlargement works in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the south right nave was finally added.
For some periods at the time of the Benedictine monastery it was a parish church. Finally, in 1573, the parish was permanently moved to the Church of St. Peter (not yet listed on this site).
The church was renovated several times, especially in 1778 and 1883.
Unfortunately, over the years it was robbed of everything that could be removed. Only what was transferred to the parish church was saved, in particular a fourteenth-century crucifix, considered miraculous by tradition, which was located in the niche in the center of the retable of the right apse.
Externally the church is very simple. The structure is in brick and river pebbles. In various areas the bricks are arranged in a herringbone pattern. The base of the right half is in pebbles only. This material then largely prevails throughout the external left wall, which is older than the right one.
The facade is gabled and has no finishing or decoration, except for a Romanesque frame halfway up the bell tower. The traces of the many changes made over the centuries are visible. Currently in the facade there is only one entrance, on the left, but the remains of an arched brick frame suggests that in the past there was also an entrance on the right, now replaced by a square window.
There are also, in the upper half, two large rectangular windows. Together with the three rectangular windows of similar dimensions in the right wall, a monofora at the end of it and the two monoforas in the left apse, they ensure that the interior of the church is well lit, unlike what happens in many Romanesque churches.
As far as the exterior is concerned, there is an asymmetry between the left and right side walls: in addition to the difference in materials, the one on the right is more elaborate, due to the presence of both the aforementioned windows and a row of hanging arches below at the roof attachment. On the other hand, the left wall is reinforced by four thick buttresses.
The two rear apses have a similar structure but are not identical: both are semi-circular, with the lower half in river pebbles and the upper part in bricks mixed with pebbles, and walls divided vertically into three parts by pilasters, each with a lancet window, part of which closed. In the southern apse, however, under the junction of the roof runs a line of hanging arches, absent in the older northern apse.
The interior has, as mentioned, two naves, divided by large brick pillars and each comprising three spans. The left aisle is the best finished, even if it is actually the older one, with plastered surfaces and arch attachments highlighted by brick frames. The right aisle is instead entirely in exposed brick and there is no interruption between pillars and arches.
The left apse (Fig. 2), dedicated to Saint Stephen, still preserves, although ruined, a part of the late medieval frescoes. Their configuration could be defined as typical: Christ Blessing in almond surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists in the apsidal basin, the full-length representation of the apostles in the upper part of the wall (of which unfortunately only four remain (from left to right St. James, St. Bartholomew, St. John the Evangelist and St. Thomas) and a velarium in the lower one, unfortunately today almost completely disappeared. These frescoes were painted around 1460-1470 by an unknown master from Biella.
The right apse is protected by a wrought iron gate. Inside there is a polychrome marble altar surmounted by a painted and gilded wooden altarpiece made in 1826 (Fig. 5) by a local craftsman to house an ancient fourteenth-century crucifix, today, as mentioned, transferred to the safer Parish Church of St. Peter.
The interior of the church is enriched by numerous frescoes from various periods:
- Lower part of the wall of the first right span: Crucifixion, Saints and donor, master from Biella, first half of the fifteenth century.
- Wall of the second right span(Fig. 4): Adoration of the Shepherds and Adoration of the Magi side by side, master of Lenta, second half of the fourteenth century; Madonna enthroned with child, Piedmontese master, first half of the fourteenth century; The Three Magi, second half of the fourteenth century
- Central pillar, side towards the entrance: Saint Lazarus and Saint Eligius, master of the Christ of Sunday, c. 1470. However, some experts believe that it is Saint Job and not Saint Lazarus.
- Central pillar, southern side: Holy bishop, master from Biella, second half of the fifteenth century.
- Central pillar, northern side: St. Margaret (?), master from Biella, second half of the fifteenth century.
- Central pillar, side towards the apses: The Temptations of Saint Euseus, master of the Sunday Christ, c. 1470.
- Pillar to the left of the entrance: Two saints, master from Biella, second half of the fifteenth century
- Madonna Enthroned with Child, master of Lenta, second half of the fourteenth century
Between the two apses we have, from left to right:
- Holy Monk, Piedmontese master, first half of the fourteenth century
- St. Anthony the Abbot, by Giovanni Maria da Rumo, 1540-1550
- Holy bishop, Novara master, first half of the sixteenth century
- Saint Mary Magdalene, Piedmontese master, first half of the fourteenth century
However, some experts believe that the Holy Monk is the monk Zosimus and St. Maria Magdalena is actually St. Mary of Egypt, who are more corresponding to the stories of the Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varagine.
The artistic quality of these frescoes is variable, but in most cases the quality level is higher than that typical for the frescoes of rural oratories, demonstrating the importance of the church.
Categories: Places of historical value of artistic value
Via Dietro Gli Orti, 1, 13035 Lenta VC |
Further pictures of St Stephen's Church in the section Photography |