The Church of
Saint Bartholomew
Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو ...
( it, Chiesa di San Bartolomeo) is the cathedral and the oldest parish in
Brugherio
Brugherio (; in lmo, Brughee ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan.
It was established December 9, 1866 unifying the suppressed municipalities of Ba ...
, Italy. It houses
relic
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
s of the
three Magi
The biblical Magi from Middle Persian ''moɣ''(''mard'') from Old Persian ''magu-'' 'Zoroastrian clergyman' ( or ; singular: ), also referred to as the (Three) Wise Men or (Three) Kings, also the Three Magi were distinguished foreigners in the G ...
.
[Chiesa Parrocchiale San Bartolomeo]
Villeaperte.info, Retrieved 27 August 2015 It is characterised by its relatively high
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
measuring .
History
Early years
1578–1582
![Carlo Borromeo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Carlo_Borromeo.jpg)
When
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 ...
, bishop of Milan and later Saint, decided to establish a parish in Brugherio, he found there a small ancient, nearly ruined, and unconsecrated church serving the parish and hosting the eucharist.
Despite these problems, Borromeo established the new entity which he entrusted to Don Arcangelo Biancardi.
At first, he wanted to include as part of the church's estate a few local farmhouses, such as Cascina de' Bastoni (with its oratory of Maria Nascente), S. Cristoforo of Ottavo, S. Damiano, Sant'Albino, Sant'Ambrogio and S. Donato. In the end he excluded from the parish: Cascina Bastoni, Cascina Sant'Albino, Cascina San Donato and Cascina S. Damiano. In 1582 the Cardinal-Archbishop visited the church once again and consecrated the building in honour of Saint Bartholomew. The separation from the richer parish of Saint
Gerard of Monza was extensively argued at the time, as it did not require the payment of an annual fee paid to the parish priest for his personal and the building's needs. He then decided to enlarge the church via its facade and build the
sacristy
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is usually located ...
where the kitchen (used as sacristy) was located. The fireplace was used to hang the
parament
Paraments or parements (from Late Latin ''paramentum'', adornment, ''parare'', to prepare, equip) are both the hangings or ornaments of a room of state, and the ecclesiastical vestments. Paraments include the liturgical hangings on and around the ...
s, and he designated an exclusive location for a
baptistry
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
.
1582–1613
![Altare dei Magi, con copia del reliquiario](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Altare_dei_Magi%2C_con_copia_del_reliquiario.JPG)
The parish was poor and it struggled to fund the improvements identified by
saint Charles on his pastoral visits. In 1596, Charles's cousin made a
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
visit with the newly appointed archbishop
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
. They found that the Blessed Sacrament and the oil used for the
extreme unction
In the Catholic Church, the anointing of the sick, also known as Extreme Unction, is a Catholic sacrament that is administered to a Catholic "who, having reached the age of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age", except in t ...
were in a "tabernacle...small and wooden". The church was judged to need needed adaptations to make it conform to
canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
standards. Two spiritual religious institutions, suggested by the
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...
were formed: the ''Schola del Santissimo Sacramento'' and the ''Schola della Dottrina cristiana''. The first of these was founded in 1578 and it was created to encourage the congregation to get involved in particular devotional practices. The ''Schola della Dottrina cristiana'' on the other hand was to instruct the faithful in matters of faith and remove them from
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
. The Church's most notable event during this time, however, was to be the Papal recognition of the church's relics of the three Magi. The major part of these relics were transferred in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
by Federico Borromeo in 1613. In this same year, on 27 May, the partial relics were transferred from the nearby
saint Ambrogio
Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...
's
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
, while under the supervision of the parish priest Francesco Bernardino Paleario.
19th century
De Petri's ''Cronaca''
![Frontispiece of Paolo Antonio De Petri](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Frontispiece_of_Paolo_Antonio_De_Petri.jpg)
Antonio De Petri (or Petro), parish priest from 1778 to 1819, took inspiration from the Monza historian
Antonio Francesco Frisi
Antonio Francesco Frisi (21 January 1733 – 20 July 1817) was an Italian historian who wrote about the history of Monza.
Life
Frisi was born in Melegnano in 1733, his brother Paolo Frisi was an astronomer. He wrote from original documents and h ...
's works, called ''Memorie storiche della città di Monza'',
[Antonio Frisi]
Enciclopedia Italiana (1932), Retrieved 27 August 2015 and wrote a report about Saint Bartholomew's church.
He described that the church's façade was decorated with cornices,
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s and bands with a pediment
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d sharp that "befitted the structure itself". It was possible to enter through three locations: a wider entrance to the center and two minor entrances to the sides; each input corresponded to a
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
. The aisles were closed by the side walls. Above the main door there was a window that provided light to the central nave. The aisles were divided by three arches supported by twin
doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
columns of stone with a wide intercolumniation covered by a
lintel
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
, the columns being leaned on the side of the
presbytery and the facade, above four pilasters. There were also paintings found inside, including one depicting the
Martydom of saint Margaret, belonging to the seventeenth century. This report from De Petri established drastic changes compared to the Borromeo brothers' description. The current
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
was also built within this period.
19th century decorations
![Don Gian Andrea Nova by Moses Bianchi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Don_Gian_Andrea_Nova_by_Moses_Bianchi.jpg)
Don Gian Andrea Nova ran the church from 1838 to 1878
[Il ritrovamento del quadro, da una frase nascosta negli archivi parrocchiali]
3 October 2014, NoiBrugherio, in Italian, Retrieved 28 August 2015 and under his supervision, Giuseppe Maroni and Giuseppe Schieppati undertook an artistic refurbishment of the church. After the pastoral visit of
Archbishop Romilli in 1851 it was decided to expand the church to address the growth in population. Nova instructed the architect
Giacomo Moraglia
Giacomo Moraglia (7 June 1791 – 1 February 1860) was a prolific Italian architect in the late Neoclassical period, remembered above all for his Porta Comasina (now Porta Garibaldi) in Milan.
Biography
Active in Lombardy and in Ticino, Switz ...
in 1854.
Within a year, the presbytery was built, the facade was reconstructed, as well as the lower arms of the trampset. The first stone was laid on April 1, 1854 and by October 9, 1855 the new church was substantially finished.
A plaque within the church records this event. The new church's layout was a
greek cross
The Christian cross, with or without a figure of Christ included, is the main religious symbol of Christianity. A cross with a figure of Christ affixed to it is termed a ''crucifix'' and the figure is often referred to as the ''corpus'' (La ...
.
The new parish priest, Giuseppe Maroni,
called the Milanese artist, Giovanni Valtorta, to paint the frescos which are still extant.
Also in the second half of the nineteenth century, Father Michael Rotti (1884–1894
) built the
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
s to the side of the presbytery and the Tornaghi
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
. In addition, the choir was equipped with stalls divided by
fluted
Fluting may refer to:
*Fluting (architecture)
* Fluting (firearms)
* Fluting (geology)
* Fluting (glacial)
*Fluting (paper)
Arts, entertainment, and media
*Fluting on the Hump
''Fluting on the Hump'' is the first album by avant-garde band Kin ...
pilasters.
The 20th century enlargement
![Interno della chiesa di San Bartolomeo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Interno_della_chiesa_di_San_Bartolomeo.JPG)
Since the completion of the frescoes made by Enrico Mariola under the supervision of Father Luigi Fumagalli (1898–1921),
and the work of architect Leo Sorteni, the church had largely retained its appearance. This time however the church was enlarged by the decision of
Archbishop Ildefonso Schuster, who had presented Sorteni to the parish priest, Father Giuseppe Camagni (1921–1957),
on the occasion of the pastoral visit of 1937.
Sorteni enlarged the building by stretching naves up to , and renovated the facade and built a new
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
.
The works took a year and the church was consecrated by October 1939. In 1940 Vittorio Granchi painted more frescoes on the archways.
The 21st century
Restoration
After the second half of the twentieth century, the priests themselves took care of the maintenance and restoration of its frescoes. Father Franco Perlatti (1958–1994)
took charge of the oldest ones.
Father Giovanni Maraviglia (1994–2009) commissioned, between 1990 and 2005, to company GF Marcato
the full restoration of the frescoes. In 1990, the chapels were restored, together with the presbytery and the
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
; between 2002 and 2003, the aisles and the transept were restored, while the nave was restored between 2004 and 2005.
Architecture and Works of Art
Interior
Architecture
The church, since 1939, presents a
Latin cross
A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...
shape. It is divided into three naves accessible by three doors on its facade. These aisles are 42 meters long and end in three different points of the building: the left aisle ends at the entrance of the sacristy, the nave reaches the
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
and the right aisle ends with a door. On the southern side of the church there are two other entrances. Among them, an entrance is located under the bell tower, which was built after the demolition of ''Ca de sciatt'', which was an area reserved for people too poor and ashamed to go to church.
The demolition of ''Ca de sciatt'' was ordered by Sorteni.
The nave is divided from the side aisles by
corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
columns that support the vault in the gallery, designed by Sorteni.
A large dome dominates the area from the
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
to the chancel. In the church there are also two side chapels dedicated to
Our Lady of the Rosary
Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roma ...
and
St. Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...
. The
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
is dedicated to him and it is a late
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 ...
work.
The raised presbytery ends with a semicircular
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
.
= Frescoes
=
Most of the frescoes were made between 1880 and 1940. Giovanni Valtorta frescoed the vault and decorated the sides of the presbytery
with the representation of the
Nativity and of the
Deposition. In 1913 Enrico Mariola decorated some parts that were previously demolished after the work of Sorteni.
The only one remaining to this day is the
Annunciation
The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...
fresco, located above the entrance to the sacristy.
Vittorio Granchi decorated Sorteni's vaults with figures of saints and prophets. He painted the frescoes in the apses of the lateral chapels, too.
= Tornaghi Organ, the sculptures and the canopy
=
Inside the church one can find other special artistic and devotional elements. The Tornaghi organ was built in 1859 and was restored between 2010 and 2013. The relics of the Magi are kept in a copy of the ancient shrine of the seventeenth century, made in light of the 400th anniversary of the transportation in the parish. The
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows were made in 1937 by Gio Ponti, depicting the Martyrdom of St. Bartholomeus and the
Adoration of the Magi
The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...
. Wooden statues of the seventeenth century and of the twentieth century
decorate the lateral chapels. The oldest depicts Saint
Anthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic Church, Catholic priesthood (Cath ...
.
The canopy
was built in 1845, commissioned by Don Nova, winning first place from the
Imperial Royal Austrian Government.
Exterior
The exterior decorations are very simple, contrasting with the architectural style of the interior. The facade was built by
Moraglia in neoclassical style. The only difference with the one built by Sorteni is the additional painting of the Three Kings. The current facade is marked by two rows of
Ionic pilasters. The top of the structure is characterized by a gable
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
.
The church tower
Canon Antonio Francesco Frisi wrote about the church tower as a building constructed between 1751 and 1771 with funds provided by Count
Pallavicini
The House of Pallavicini, also known as Pallavicino and formerly known as Pelavicino, is an ancient Italian noble family founded by Oberto II ''Pelavicino'' of the Frankish Obertenghi family.
The Pallavicini of Genoa
The first recorded member o ...
GianLuca, Governor of Milan, and the Marquis Silva. The bell tower is adorned with decorative pilasters. The structure is divided horizontally into four parts through the
string courses
A course is a layer of the same unit running horizontally in a wall. It can also be defined as a continuous row of any masonry unit such as bricks, concrete masonry units (CMU), stone, shingles, tiles, etc.
Coursed masonry construction arranges ...
. The last sector, under the
belfry, has two clocks also described by De Petri in 1794. The belfry and the upper terrace fence have been reconstructed and repaired. At the time of pastor De Petri, there were only three bells,
but during the nineteenth century Father Gioachino Farè (1820–1838),
Gian Andrea and Giuseppe Nova Schieppati (1895–1898)
had the belfry widened. Five bells were then added in 1836,
six in 1838
and eight in 1897.
Originally the octagonal terrace had a dome;
after the changes done to the belfry, the former was also modified. In 1952 an automated mechanism for ringing the bells was installed.
See also
*
Church of Saint Ambrose
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Brugherio
Tourist attractions in Lombardy
16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy
Churches in Brugherio