The Quadroni of St. Charles are two cycles of paintings depicting the life and

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s of St.

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat a ...

, the first

Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. These very large paintings (''quadroni''), approximately five by six metres each, are displayed each November in the

Milan Cathedral Milan Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Milano ; lmo, Domm de Milan ), or Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary ( it, Basilica cattedrale metropolitana di Santa Maria Nascente, links=no), is the cathedral church of Milan, Lombard ...

in honor of St. Charles'

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of a ...

on November 4. They were also exhibited continuously from November 4, 1999 to November 4, 2000 in honor of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

celebrations. The first cycle was begun in 1602, 26 years after Charles' death, and is the larger of the two. It is known as ''I fatti della vita del beato Carlo'' ("The Facts of the Life of Blessed Charles"). It consists of 28 paintings depicting his life, concentrating upon his tenure as

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has l ...

. Work on this cycle continued into the late 18th century. The first twenty large paintings, all

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

on canvas, were painted by

Il Cerano Giovanni Battista Crespi (23 December 1573 – 23 October 1632), called Il Cerano, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect. Biography He was born in Romagnano Sesia, the son of a painter, Raffaele Crespi, and moved to Cerano with his fa ...

(4 paintings),

Giovanni Mauro della Rovere Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...

(Il Fiammenghino) (3), Il Duchino (7), Procaccini (1),

Carlo Buzzi Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

(2), Domenico Pellegrini (1), and

Morazzone Morazzone is a ''comune'' (municipality) of c. 4,000 inhabitants in the province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about south of Varese. It is served by Gazzada-Schianno-Morazzone railway station. ...

. The second cycle, ''I miracoli di San Carlo'' ("The Miracles of St. Charles"), consists of 24 paintings of Charles' miraculous works and healings. These paintings are smaller than the first set, measuring about 2.4 by 4.4 metres. They were all painted between December 1609 and November 1, 1610, when St. Charles was canonized. These paintings were displayed together with the first cycle for the first time on November 4, 1610 in the Milan Cathedral; the paintings of his miracles could not be displayed until he had been declared a Saint.

Gallery of selected works

File:3224 - Milano, Duomo - Carlo Buzzi - Miracolo di suor Angela A. De Seni (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of suor Angela A. De Seni'' by

File:3227 - Milano, Duomo - Il Duchino - Miracolo di Marina Ferraro (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of Marina Ferraro'' by il Duchino File:3230 - Milano, Duomo - Il Cerano - Miracolo di Giovanna Marone (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of Giovanna Marone'' by

il Cerano Giovanni Battista Crespi (23 December 1573 – 23 October 1632), called Il Cerano, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect. Biography He was born in Romagnano Sesia, the son of a painter, Raffaele Crespi, and moved to Cerano with his fa ...

File:3236 - Milano, Duomo - Tele di San Carlo, Anonimo, Il miracolo della gamba in cancrena - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of the Gangrenous Leg'', Anonymous File:3368 - Milano, Duomo - Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Miracolo del fanciullo Giovanni Tirone (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of young Giovanni Tirone'' by Procaccini File:3205 - Milano, Duomo - Giorgio Bonola - Miracolo di Marco Spagnolo (1681) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of Marco Spagnolo'' by Giorgio Bonola File:3220 - Milano, Duomo - Il Fiammenghino - S. Carlo celebra sinodi (1602) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Carlo Borromeo celebrates Synod'' by il Fiammenghino File:Miracolo di Anna Miskowiki Branika (1610).jpg, ''Miracle of Anna Miskowiki Branika'' by

Paolo Camillo Landriani Paolo Camillo Landriani (c. 1560–1618) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, active mainly in Milan. He was known also as il Duchino for his habit of living in finery.Filippo Abbiati Filippo Abbiati (1640–1715) was an Italian painter of the early- Baroque period, active in Lombardy and Turin, together with Andrea Lanzani and Stefano Maria Legnani, he was a prominent mannerist painters from the School of Lombardy. Born in ...

File:Miracolo di Aurelia Degli Angeli (1610).jpg, ''Miracle of Aurelia Degli Angeli''

References

* * Ernesto Brivio. ''Vita e miracoli di S. Carlo Borromeo'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Quadroni Of St. Charles 1600s paintings Italian paintings Paintings in Milan