St. Francis Church in Schio

St. Francis church is one of the older churches of the city. If you are visiting Schio, it is worth visiting it for its history and for the art-works. It is easy to visit, since it near the city centre. The only problem is that it is open for public only on the afternoon of the first Sunday of the month. In the image below, the bell-tower of the church can be seen on the left. (click on images for a bigger view). 

 An asymmetrical building surrounded by green hills, this church from 1424 CE is famous for a beautiful altar piece dedicated to St Catherine, painted by Francesco Verla. However, there is many other things to see in it.

This post is about the history and things to see in St Francis church. Let me start with a little bit of history. 

Historical Overview of St Francis Church 

St Francis church is located at the edge of a hilly forest area of Schio, known as Valletta. The hillocks around the church were originally known as "Monte degli Oliveti" (the Olive trees' Hill), because this area used to have many olive trees.

This area was known for its "lazzaretto", a place for housing the sick and homeless poor. The word "lazzaretto" is related to leprosy and perhaps in the past there were some leprosy affected persons there. However, over the years, such places were often used for keeping sick persons including those with plague and other illnesses such as tuberculosis and mental illness. 

Itinerant Franciscan friars arriving in Schio had built a chapel dedicated to Madonna on the Monte degli Oliveti in 1424. The sandstone statue of Madonna, installed in that first chapel can still be seen inside the church. Twenty years later, in 1446, the Bishop of Vicenza consecrated that chapel, and the event was marked by a plaque, which can still be seen on the wall near the entrance.

The church expanded quickly. By the end of 1400s, a Franciscan monastery was already active next to the church. The church-building had also been expanded and had a central and a lateral naves. Since, the other side of the central nave was already occupied by the monastery, and space on the hillock was limited, the church ended up as an asymmetrical building. A hundred years after the first chapel, by 1520 CE, the church as it looks today, was ready.

Important Artworks in St Francis

St Francis church has many things to see, among which the most important are: 

A Corberelli Altar with Inlaid Stones: The first Chapel in the lateral nave has a beautiful altar (left) made by the master stone artists of the Corberelli family from 17th century. The Corberelli (o Corbarelli) were from Tuscany and were specialised in making inlaid stone artworks.

The altar has an announcing angel on the left and a slightly ruined mosaic of Madonna on the right. The central part has 2 corberelli birds, identified by the pink spot on their breasts, as the legend says that the bird had hurt itself while trying to remove a spine from crucified Jesus' head. The inlaid stone work is very beautiful, made of stones in vivid colours, it looks like a painting.

There is another Corberelli altar in Schio in the San Giacomo church near Duomo, and another, better known one, in Santa Corona church in Vicenza.  

Altar Painting by Francesco Verla: This luminous painting about the spiritual wedding of St Catherine from 1512 CE is in chapel 3 of the lateral nave (right). It is the most famous art-work of this church.

Giorgio Vasari, the renaissance period art-historian, who wrote Le Vite in 1550 about the biographies of well-known artists of his time, called him as Francesco Veruzio, who was from nearby town of Villa Verla ("verla" literally means 'cherries'). His painting style was influenced by Pinturicchio and, especially, Perugino, with whom he had spent some time.

The Pala (artwork for the altar) is composed of a semi-circular top part, a narrow top panel and the main painting, a bottom narrow panel, and a frame. The figures, the composition, the use of light, and especially the figure of God as a man with long beard in the top part of the painting, reminds us of some of the famous works of Pietro Perugino. The "Putti", the baby angels in the top narrow panel are seen as typical figures painted by Verla - they seem like the many baby angels painted by Donatello. The bottom panel, showing the life of St Catherine, seems to show a hill with the castle of Schio, which was demolished a hundred years earlier. (The bottom panel of the altar piece, below - Schio's castle is a little to the left of the centre - click on the image for a bigger view)

The cult of St Catherine has older roots in this area, as shown by the St Catherine church and village on the Summano mountain, that looms over Schio. 

The painting was commissioned by one Mr Giovanni who was married to a woman named Lucia - both of them are represented in the painting as St Lucy on the left and St John Baptist on the right. Behind them are St. Agatha and St Joseph. There is a baby holding on to the leg of St Joseph, whose reference to this painting is not clear. The central figures are Madonna, baby Jesus and St Catherine covered with a rich golden and red brocade.

Verla had also done the frescoes decorating the top parts of the church walls, so do not forget to look up while visiting the church.  

Madonna statue: Chapel 4 in the lateral nave hosts the original Madonna statue from early 15th century - it is made with sandstone from Vicenza. The name of its sculptor has been lost. It has a renaissance like look and is beautiful. Later on it was painted in bright colours, which make it look like a wooden statue.  

Recently, a space was discovered in front of this statue, which held a curtain, which could be opened and closed with a lever. The curtain has a painting with a lever for pulling up a curtain, which was used for covering the statue during some rites and then removing it to show the Madonna. The painted curtain will be kept in the forthcoming Schio museum, which is supposed to open this year (2026).

A Francesco Maffei (1605-1660) Painting Above the Main Altar: This painting is from 1640s and has Madonna with the baby, along with St Francis, St Anthony of Padua,
Bernardino of Sienna and Ludvic of Tolosa. It is more gothic, Madonna seems as a two dimensional figure and not so expressive. 

The hidden Chapel: There is another Chapel (right) with an old San Bernanardino altar, which is now hidden after cloister 2 in a side wall. It was shifted in the past during some restructuring. On the wall near the old altar, there are a couple of coat-of-arms from notable Schio families, including that from the Toaldi family (it has a tree and a dog).

Tombs Inside St Francis 

Since early times, rich persons could ask to be buried inside the church by paying money. Having a tomb inside the church increased families' social status. During the Napoleonic period, many tombs were removed but even today, the cost-of-arms of some important local families can still be seen inside, especially in front of the altars.

For example, in front of the main altar, you can see the De Schio family-tomb with their symbol (left), a two tailed siren; the Marostica family tomb has a cherry tree on it, while Fantinelli family tomb has a baby.

There is a lot of pink sandstone used for the tombs - these rocks were at the bottom of the sea and which rose up when the African tectonic plaque hit Europe, creating Alps and pre-alps.

The Beautiful Chorus Room 

The ligneo (wooden) chorus room is behind the main altar. It is also from early 1500. It was carved wood seats on two levels for the monks. In the centre, it has a big leggio, used for keeping the hymn book.  The leggio can be rotated and has a compartment for keeping the books. A handcrafted and painted codice miniato manuscript was found here which is now kept in the civic library of Schio, not very far from the church.

There are 2 paintings in the chorus room, both are by Francesco Maffei from 17th century (the painting on the back wall has a family connection for me - it carries a plaque with a dedication to "Lino Raddino", my wife's brother-in-law). 

Fossils in the stones near the church 

The geological history of Schio's hills show that in the past, 20-40 million years ago, they were at the bottom of the sea and the movement of the tectonic plates of the earth's crust, had brought them up. The local sand-stones and rocks used in the walls outside the church has many fossils, which testify this geological history.

Guided Tours in St Francis 

You can always visit the church area from the outside, but to visit inside the church, you need to come to Schio on the afternoon of the first Sunday of the month - the church is open to public only on that day, from 3 to 6 PM. On that day, there is usually a guided tour around 4 PM. 

I have been to numerous guided tours to St Francis church and had been promising myself to write a post about it for many years. The last image below, shows the monument to St Bakhita outside St Francis church.

Every guided tour brings out some new aspect about this church. For example, during the last tour, we visited the side-room connected to the chorus room and saw some of the paintings of the Popes in this room that I had not seen before.

In the End

Most people visiting Italy can see the famous cities, such as Rome, Florence and Venice. People who have a passion for history, visit slightly less famous cities like Verona, Bologna, Naples and Padua. To be aware about the histories and treasures of small towns like Schio, is not possible for casual visitors and Italy has hundreds of such places.

So if you are visiting Schio, try to discover as much of its history as possible - visiting St Francis church and its environs can an important part of this discovery!

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Visiting Schio: Sacred Sites

The tiny town of Schio in the north-east of Italy, about 30 km from the provincial capital Vicenza, is full of sacred sites that bring here pilgrims from all over the world. At the same time, many of these sites are also wonderful places for nature walks and hikes.

The town is located in the foothills of Pasubio mountain, part of the Little Dolomites. Therefore, be ready to go up and down the hilly paths during your walks (above: a view of Pasubio mountain and Leogra river in Schio - click on the images for a bigger view).

This post provides an overview and brief information about the different pilgrimage sites in and around Schio. Except for a pre-historic site, all the other places in this post are related to the Catholic church.

Pre-historic Prayer Sites on Mount Summano

Mount Summano, located towards the east of Schio is around 1300 m. high. Some believe that the its name indicates Pluto, the ancient God of the underworld; others think that it indicates the God of lightening and rain.

Ancient archaeological remains have also been found in an underground cave known as Bocca Lorenza, on the eastern side of Summano in the nearby town of Sant'Orso, which can be another great mountain walk.

Near the summit of Monte Summano, you can visit the church dedicated to St. Mary (above), as well as see the ancient site where prehistoric folks use to make sacred fire for worship (image below).

If you are used to mountain hikes, you can try the hike to the top of Summano from different places around Schio including Santa Caterina, Tretto or Sant'Orso. It has plenty panoramic views of the Schio valley below.

You can also reach the St Mary church by car and walk the final part to the top (below, a view of the mountains from the top).

St. Martin church in Schio

St Martin hill in Schio hosts one of the oldest churches in this area, which was built at the site of an older temple dedicated to a female deity. The first church was built here around 7th century CE. The first written document about this church is from 1185 CE.

In late 1985, a person from Schio called Renato Baron claimed to have a vision of Madonna on the hill, around 250 metres above the St Martin church. Over the following years, hundreds of his followers started collecting here for prayers. Some persons from the Catholic church, had spoken against Baron and his cult, however his followers continued.

For the pilgrims coming here from different parts of Europe, a proper walking path has been created leading to the site where Baron had his vision, and from there, to the top of the hill. You may or may not believe in Baron and his vision, but it is a wonderful place for a hike to the top of the hill. Come prepared with proper walking shoes, a cap and a bottle of water. You can see two views of this path here (above and below).

San Zeno Church in Magre, Schio

Magre is the part of the Schio located across the Leogra river bridge. Magre hill is located in the centre of this area, while the much higher, Magre mountain separates Leogra valley from the Agno valley on the west. Archaeological excavations on the Magre hill have shown objects from prehistoric to more recent times.

San Zeno area is located on the western slope of Raga mountain in Magre. To reach here, you need to walk till the end of Via Siberia road. It is a protected area and vehicles (including bicycles) are not allowed beyond a point. The tiny San Zeno church is from 14th century, and has been recently renovated.

It is located next to a waterfall, which looks beautiful after the rains.

The final 150-200 metres of the path require a steeper climb and some effort. So go there with proper walking shoes, a cap and a water bottle.

St. Mary Mother church in Pieve

This church goes back at least a thousand years. The legends say that it was built at the site of an older pagan temple. During medieval period, it was considered as the mother church for all the surrounding mountains areas. It was also the seat for a bishop, till the Duomo church was built in Schio in 1473.

Over the past centuries, this church (above) has been renovated many times, the last being in 1989, so it does not look so old. It still has some old frescoes and an old baptismal fountain.

Next to the church, you can also see the old water canal of Schio, known as Roggia Maestra, from the 12th century (In the image below). This canal has a very interesting history and is perhaps the only canal in the world that crosses in a pipe-bridge, the river from which it comes out. You can read about this canal in another of my blogposts.

This church is located in Pieve Bel Vicino, a few kilometres north of Schio. From the city centre, it takes a 45 minutes walk to reach there.

The old Roman road Romea Strata passes along the St Mary Mother church. This old pilgrimage road to Rome, connects 7 European countries - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Italy. It is an ancient walkway that can still be walked today.

In Italy, the Romea Strata connects Rome to Tarvisio, at the border with Austria. The part of this road passing in Pieve, in front of St Mary Mother church is a branch connecting Rovereto to Badia Polesine, also known as Via Romea Vicetia. You can find more information about Romea Strata on their website.

St. Francis church of Schio

This church and monastery were formally inaugurated in 1436, though the church was first built in 1412. Built on the eastern edge of the medieval town on the hill of Olives, it is one of the most beautiful churches in the city. The church has a famous painting (below) dedicated to St Catherine by the well-known renaissance-period artist Francesco Verla (1470-1521). It also has a beautiful 14th century stone statue of Madonna that gives the impression of being made of wood.

The asymmetrical looking church (below) with a central nave and one sided aisle is open to public only on special occasions (at present, it is on the afternoons of the first Sundays of the month and has a guided tour at 4 PM). While visiting this church, remember to look down on the floor, which has the tombs of some of the famous families of Schio.

Duomo of Schio

Duomo was built in the city centre in 1473. It is placed on the Gorzone hill, right in front of the castle hill. An older Longobard tower and then a church had existed here before the construction of Duomo. It is dedicated to St. Peters. With stairs on the two sides for going up to the church, it has a majestic look. The external sculptures of the four evangelists are by Valetino Zajec. It dominates the central plaza, Piazza Rossi.

One of the paintings (Gesu Maestro, 1943) in Duomo has an indirect link with my wife's family. That painting is by Alfredo Ortelli, who lived in Magre. His sister Ita, was my mother-in-law's friend and after the death of her brother in 1963, lived with my wife's family for many years (in the house where I am writing this post).

FYI, Duomo is a cathedral level church, without a bishop - a church can only be called Cathedral, if it has a bishop.

St. Jakob Church

Located on the road behind Duomo is the 15th century St Jakob's church. It has some nice paintings from 19th century. The most beautiful part of this church, in my opinion, is its 16th century bell-tower, in the image below (to see it, enter the portico next door, going to the back of the church).

St. Mary Chapel in Valletta

It is charming little chapel located in the valley between the Castle hill and the hill with St Francis church. A water canal passes underneath it and an old city gate can be seen next to it. The first documents about this chapel are from early 16th century but probably the church goes back to older times.

St. Bakhita's Canossian Church

The congregation of Daughters of Charity, also known as Canossian nuns, have an old history in Schio. One of their nuns, mother Bakhita, was declared a saint in 2000 by Pope John Paul II. Mother Bakhita (or St. Bakhita, if you prefer) had a very unusual story.

Born in Darfur region (Sudan) in 1869, she was taken from her village and sold as a slave when she was 7 years old. Her name Bakhita (fortunate) was given by the Arab slave-sellers. She ended up in the house of the Italian consul in Khartoum, who brought her to Venice, where she joined the nuns. She spent many years in Schio, and died here in 1947.

Pilgrims come to visit her tomb from all over the world. Her church (image above) and tomb are located in the city centre. A monument near the St Francis church (image below) remembers her and the millions of persons taken away from Africa as slaves.

In Conclusion

As you can see, even if Schio is only a tiny mountain town, it has many sacred places to visit, which are open to people of all religions. Many of these places, also provide opportunities for nature-walks along beautiful  and serene mountain paths. To conclude this post, here is a view of the city centre seen from the terrace of the Duomo of Schio.

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Looking for science in Renaissance period art in Bologna

How did the science influence the art in the renaissance period? To answer this question, let me take you to an old church in the medieval part of Bologna (Italy). It has some beautiful paintings like the one in the image below which shows the details of the Bentivoglio family portrait.

Via Zamboni is a historical road of Bologna leading from the twin-towers in the city centre to the San Donato gate. Along this road is an old church, San Giacomo, with some paintings that illustrate the influence of scientific discoveries on the art in the 16th century Italy.

Verdi Square and San Giacomo Church

Via Zamboni also leads to the Jewish Ghetto of medieval Bologna. The road going to the ghetto is predictably called Via dell'Inferno (the Hell road) illustrating the feelings of the medieval Catholic church towards the Jews.

Verdi Square is the area of university students in Bologna, located on Via Zamboni and facing the Municipal Theatre from 18th century. It is known for its noisy night life, open air caffes and cultural events. The image below showing Verdi Square and San Giacomo church is unusual since it seems deserted. This was because it was clicked during a snow storm. Normally this place is full of students.

San Giacomo is an old church next to the Verdi square. Built in Romanesque style, its construction was started in 1267. Its outer walls still carry signs of old frescoes.

In 1463 century, the Bentivoglio family, who were the de facto rulers of Bologna and whose palace was just across from San Giacomo church, made their own personal family chapel in this church. Their family palace was destroyed by the angry Bologna people in 1507.

Around 1798 when Napoleon conquered Bologna, the Augustine friars living in San Giacomo were expelled. In the 19th century they came back but they could never get back their monastery where a music conservatory had been started. St. Cecilia chapel next door to San Giacomo in the old monastery is a small jewel with all its walls covered by colourful frescoes.

Science and Art in Renaissance Bologna

Today we look at arts and science as separate disciplines. However, in the renaissance period as people started looking at the world and at natural phenomenon in a rational way, there were no such distinctions. The same person could dabble in art as well be interested in astronomy or understanding of body functions. University students in Bologna studied both art and science subjects without distinction. The image below shows a group of university students of Bologna in a 16th century sculpture in San Giacomo church. Their tired or bored faces are not very different from those of modern students.

For example, a famous scientist, Ulisse Aldrovandi born in Bologna in 1522, set up an important botanical garden. He was also a professor of philosophy and later started the department of natural history. He is called the father of geology for his studies of earth formations, rocks and fossils. He coined the word "geology" in 1603. He also created a huge encyclopedia with illustrations of plants from different parts of the world. Thus, art and science were closely inter-linked in renaissance period.

The Changing Italian Art in 1500s 

Around 1500 CE was the period of the early renaissance and Italy had a large number of great artists who were discovering a new way of making art. The artists included Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Brunelleschi and many others. They introduced the concept of "prospect" in the art based on the understandings of geometry and mathematics.

Till then, the art had mainly been flat and two dimensional. Paintings showed people and events, but they did not have depth and proportions. The new ideas of "prospect" in the art, looked at things like the source and the angle of light. They analysed shadows and looked at the hidden geometric forms in the nature. They also looked at the proportions and the distances and introduced the idea of depth in the paintings. Thus paintings became more realistic.

On the left wall of the Bentivoglio chapel in San Giacomo church, there are two paintings by Lorenzo Costa, on the themes of death and fame (details of the painting on death are shown in the image below). The different kinds of rocks, hills and mountains shown in these two paintings, are specific rocks and hills around Bologna, painted in such a precise way that the places can be identified even today. This was the influence of the discussions and discoveries related to geology in that period.

Thus artists started looking critically at the geography of the places, the structures of biological life and inanimate objects. This changed the way paintings were made.

The study of Geology was important not just for the artists, it also had other practical implications including the search for new metals and minerals useful for treating illnesses. It also had links with more esoteric ideas such as the alchemy.

Geology and Fossils

In Italy, people had found fossils of marine life and objects like the sea shells, while digging in the hills and mountains. They couldn't understand how these things had come to these places, so far away from the sea or rivers. The most accepted theory in Europe to explain such finds was through the ideas of universal floods during Noah's times as described in the Bible.

Leonardo da Vinci was the first person to leave written documents of his opinions on this subject. His argument was that the shells and fossils of marine animals could not have come to the mountains with the flood described in Bible, as that would have left such objects on the surfaces of the hills and not buried them inside the rocks. His hypothesis was that some time in the past, those same hills and mountains were at bottom of the oceans. Unfortunately, Leonardo preferred writing in "reverse handwriting" and thus his diaries were not properly read and understood till more than 200 hundred years later.

Another example of Science in Art from San Giacomo

San Giacomo has a painting by Bartolomeo Passerotti. At the bottom of this painting, there are three objects - a sparrow on the left and on the right, there are a shark tooth and a piece of rock (the image below shows the Passerotti's painting). Unless you look carefully, you will miss these objects.

The sparrow is considered as the signature-sign of Passerotti (literally "Passerotto" means "sparrow"). The special thing about this sparrow is that it was painted in such a detailed and realistic way that it's species can be identified. It was a local species of sparrow that was very common in this part of Italy till about 300 years ago. Today it has been replaced by the more common hybrid or European sparrow. This showed the attention to real-life details in the paintings in this period.

The shark tooth near the foot-stone and the pebble on the bottom right of the painting, were both discovered in a hill near Bologna and are from the Aldrovandi's collection of natural history. The painter Passerotti was a friend of Aldrovandi, and by placing that tooth and pebble in his painting, he acknowledged his friend's work about the theories of natural history and geology.

The marvelous Bentivoglio Chapel

Apart from the Lorenzo Costa painting mentioned above, the Bentivoglio family chapel in San Giacomo is full of beautiful paintings. On the right wall, the chapel has a beautiful Bentivoglio family portrait of Giovanni the second, with his wife Ginevra and their eleven children. The whole family is standing around a sitting Madonna with baby Jesus.

In the centre of the chapel, there is a beautiful altar-piece done by Francesco Raibolini.

San Donato church on Via Zamboni

Before concluding this post about influence of science in renaissance period Italy on art, let me tell you about another church on Via Zamboni.

This is the San Donato church. It is the said that old church in this place was burned down in 1210 CE. The present building was made in 1454 and was renovated in 1751 when the painter Francesco Orlandi painted its facade. It ceased to be an active church in 1805 and it now belongs to the Count Malvasia family.

The paintings done by Francesco Orlandi are in Trompe l'oeil (Deceive the eye) style. It is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. For example, look at the window just above the church door - it seems as if it is actually surrounded by a niche, though it is all painted.

Conclusions

Art and science were not always seen as two parallel domains which never met. As this visit to San Giacomo church shows, these two worlds influenced and talked to each other. Art and artists played an important role in studying and understanding the physical world. The image below shows one of the striking sculptures from San Giacomo church.

Most of the time when we visit museums and churches and look at paintings, we rarely stop to consider the specific elements and ask ourselves why did the painter put this particular element in this painting? As the visit to San Giacomo shows, this can sometimes provide with surprising answers.

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