San Bernardino is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church and convent located on Via Monte Navale in the town of

Ivrea Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it strad ...

, Province of Turin, region of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy.

History

The convent was built between 1455 and 1465 and dedicated to San

Bernardino da Siena Bernardino of Siena, OFM (8 September 138020 May 1444), also known as Bernardine, was an Italian priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholastic economics. His preaching, his book burnings, and his " bon ...

, who reputedly preached in Ivrea in 1418. The church was completed by 1457. In 1465, the original arches of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

façade was enveloped by new construction, and two of the arches became part of new chapels. By the beginning of the 19th century, the convent had been requisitioned by occupying troops and by 1805, the property was deconsecrated and in 1907 made by engineer

Camillo Olivetti Samuel David Camillo Olivetti known just as Camillo (August 13, 1868 – December 1943) was an Italian electrical engineer and founder of Olivetti & Co., SpA., the Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines. Th ...

into a residence. Between 1955 and 1958, major reconstruction modified the appearance of the convent, to house the headquarters of the social services of the

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been par ...

company: but restoration work was performed on the church. The church wall houses the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

fresco cycle of the ''Life and Passion of Christ'' (1480–1490) by

Giovanni Martino Spanzotti Giovanni Martino Spanzotti (c. 1455 – c. 1528; also known as ''Gian Martino Spanzotti'') was an Italian painter active in Piedmont, Lombardy and northern Italy. Biography He was born in Casale Monferrato and died in Chivasso. Little is k ...

. The work consists of twenty scenes placed around the large panel of the Crucifixion; with central spandrels depicting the ''Last Judgment and Hell''. The pilasters have images of St

Bernardino of Siena Bernardino of Siena, OFM (8 September 138020 May 1444), also known as Bernardine, was an Italian priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholastic economics. His preaching, his book burnings, and his " bon ...

and Christ as "Imago Pietatis", and two lateral spandrels depict the ''Expulsion from Paradise'' and ''Purgatory''. The frescoes in back of the lateral chapels are attributed to Nicolas Robert, court painter of

Amedeo IX of Savoy Amadeus IX (1 February 1435 – 30 March 1472), nicknamed the Happy, was the Duke of Savoy from 1465 to 1472. The Catholic Church venerates him with a liturgical feast on March 30. Life He was born at Thonon-les-Bains, the son of Louis, Duke o ...

.Comune of Ivrea
entry on the church.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Ivrea 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1465 {{Italy-RC-church-stub