The Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista (Church of San Giovanni Battista) is a Roman Catholic collegiate church dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, located in Morbegno in the Valtellina in region of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, and consecrated to

St. John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

History

The facade has an elaborate

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style. The church houses a number of paintings, including: *''Madonna and Child and St Filippo Neri'' by the Venetian

Giovanni Battista Pittoni Giambattista Pittoni or Giovanni Battista Pittoni (6 June 1687 – 6 November 1767) was a Venetian painter of the late Baroque or Rococo period. He was among the founders of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, of which in 1758 he became the ...

*36 oval paintings, some by Giuseppe Antonio Petrini of Carona *''Death of St Joseph'' by the Milanese

Andrea Lanzani Andrea Lanzani (c.1645 – 30 May 1712) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Biography Born in Milan in 1641, Lanzani initially apprenticed in the workshop of Luigi Scaramuccia, where he met Andrea Pozzo, a marked influence on hi ...

*many works by the Valtelline artists Pietro Legari and

Cesare Ligari Cesare, the Italian version of the given name Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel * Cesare Arzelà (1847–1912), ...

In 1993, the church experienced a theft of 37 paintings. Among the sculptures are the statues of the facade of Stefano Salterio and the angels ringing on the sides of the altar major work of Elia Vincenzo Buzzi active also in the Duomo of Milan. The church is also home to the statue of the newly discovered Virgin of

Giovanni Angelo Del Maino Giovanni Angelo Del Maino (active in Pavia and the duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member ...

: the sculpture was part of a filing commissioned by Del Maria by Maria Maria Rusca in 1518 and later lost. The parish hall since 1560, has a relic of the Holy Spine (of the crown of Christ) and the remains of Blessed

Andrea Grego Andrea Grego (1400 in Peschiera del Garda – 18 January 1485 in Morbegno) was a Dominican friar and preacher. He is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic church. Biography He was a typical life of frate preacher, devoted to evangeliza ...

da Peschiera. The Collegiate also holds important relics: The Holy Spina, donated by the Morgid bishop Feliciano Ninguarda, the earthly remains of Blessed Andrea da Peschiera known as the apostle of Valtellina and the body of Santa Costanza. During the Holy Week, particular traditions are perpetuated by grace even in the presence of two historic confraternities (the Blessed Sacrament and the Assumption of the Battuti), which erect a large baroque wooden chapel on the center of the large hall on which to lay the deposed urn of Christ. N 008

Archbishop Giovanni Battista Castelli of

Sannazzaro Jacopo Sannazaro (; 28 July 1458 – 6 August 1530) was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples. He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic '' Arcadia'', a masterwork ...

decided that a larger temple was to be built to satisfy the new needs, and the canonists Luigi Castelli of Sannazzaro, Cesare Parravicini and Giocondo Parravicini purchased the lands north of the first church of San Giovanni. In that land, which cost 5,013 lire imperial.

External links

Church of San Giovanni Battista
on lombardiabeniculturali.it, Regional Information System for Cultural Heritage (SIRBeC) - Regione Lombardia POPOLI 029

{{coord missing, Italy Roman Catholic churches in Lombardy Baroque architecture in Lombardy 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy