The church of Sant'Afra in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

, also known as the church of Sant'Afra in Sant'Eufemia, is located on Corso Magenta, near Piazzale Arnaldo.

History

Built initially in the 1450s, it underwent major reconstructions starting in the 1600s. It contains a number of prominent artworks, including paintings by Sante Cattaneo,

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...

, and

Enea Salmeggia Enea Salmeggia (c. 1556 – 23 February 1626) was an Italian painter of the late-Renaissance period, active mainly in his native city of Bergamo. Biography He was also known as ''Il Talpino''. He trained with members of the Campi family, and l ...

. The latter painting replaced in 1867 the ‘’Altarpiece of Sant'Eufemia’’ (1526-1530), painted by Alessandro Bonvicino, known as il Moretto, and which was moved to the

Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo The Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo is a public art museum in Brescia, Lombardy. Established in 1851, the museum exhibits mainly paintings by local artists dated from the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth century. The museum's current collection in ...

. The term "Sant'Eufemia" derives from the fact, that the church was initially annexed to a monastery associated with the church of Sant'Eufemia della Fonte, just outside the medieval walls of the city. The suffix also distinguished this church of Sant'Afra with another found on via Francesco Crispi. The latter was destroyed during the bombardment of World War II, and has only been rebuilt now as the church of

Sant'Angela Merici The St. Angela Merici Church is a church in Rome, in the ''quartiere'' Nomentano, in Via Bartolomeo Marliano. History Made in 1955 by Eng. Ernesto Vichi, it was erected as a parish on 25 September 1963 by decree of the Cardinal Vicar Clemente ...

. Since it stood outside the city walls, the initial Benedictine monastery near the church, founded about 1022, was prone to looting, and stood mainly abandoned from 1300 to 1450s. In 1462, work begun on a new convent and church. In 1479, the church was finished and the relics of the ancient bishop of Brescia, San Paterio were interred in the crypt under the presbytery. The marble façade was added in the 1700s. After suppression of the monastery in 1797, the monastery and church became an army barracks in 1859. This led to the loss of the frescoes of ‘’Stories of the old and new testament’’ by

Lattanzio Gambara Lattanzio Gambara (c. 1530 – 18 March 1574) was an Italian painter, active in Renaissance and Mannerist styles. It is likely that Gambara is the same 16th century painter referred to as ''Lattanzio Cremonese'' or ''Lattanzio da Cremona''. Biog ...

that were in the cloister. The interior now contains a collection of original and transferred works. The baptismal font here came from the church of

. The first chapel on the right has a ''Consecration of St Paterio'' by Camillo Rama; the next chapel has an ''Adoration by the Magi'' (1790) by Pietro Moro. The last chapel on the right has a canvas of ''St Mauro healing the sick'' by Pompeo Ghitti. By the main altar, on the walls at the end of the choir are the large altarpieces of ''Saints Catherine, Barbara, Agnese, Lucia, Cecilia, and Euphemia'' by

that replaced the Moretto altarpiece. The main altar holds the relics of St Paterio in an urn, and was sculpted by

Antonio Calegari Antonio Calegari (17 February 1757, in Padua – 22 or 28 July 1828) was an Italian classical composer. His oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the u ...

. The first chapel on the left, holds an altarpiece of the ''Martyrdom of Sant'Afra'' by

Veronese Veronese is the Italian word denoting someone or something from Verona, Italy and may refer to: * Veronese Riddle, a popular riddle in the Middle Ages * ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, an Italian chees ...

, which had been in the church of sant'Angela. The second and third chapels have altarpieces by Sante Cattaneo depicting respectively ''Jesus distributes Eucharist'' and ''Saints

Benedict of Nursia Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Orient ...

and Scholastica''. The ceiling decoration dates to 1776, by

Pietro Melchiorre Ferrari Pietro Melchiorre Ferrari (1735 - 1787) was an Italian painter, active mainly in Parma in a late- Baroque and early Neoclassical style. He was born in Sissa The International School for Advanced Studies (Italian: ''Scuola Internazionale Super ...

and Antonio Grassi, and encircles three large ovals by Cattaneo depicting ''San Paterio offers his writings to St John Baptist'', ''Coronation of the Virgin'' and the ''Saints Benedict of Nursia and Scholastica''. Cattaneo also painted the four monochrome prophets in the presbytery walls. The dome was decorated (now damaged) by Antonio Mazza (

quadratura Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...

) and

Carlo Innocenzo Carloni Carlo Innocenzo Carlone or Carloni (1686–1775) was an Italian painter and engraver, active especially in Germany. Biography He was a native of Scaria, near Como, in Lombardy, but may have been from the Carloni family of Genoese painters. H ...

(figures) with the ''Descent of Holy Spirit to Mary and Apostles'', and the ''Four Evangelists''. These two artists also decorated the choir ceiling with the ''Glory (Exaltation) of St Euphemia'' and figures of faith and charity. The walls beside the altar have four episodes of the Martyrdom of St. Euphemia painted by Camillo Rama. The organ cover has a work by

Jacopo Palma the younger Iacopo Negretti (1548/50 – 14 October 1628), best known as Jacopo or Giacomo Palma il Giovane or simply Palma Giovane ("Young Palma"), was an Italian painter from Venice and a notable exponent of the Venetian school. After Tintoretto's death ...

, depicting the ''Saints

Faustinus and Jovita Saints Jovita and Faustinus were said to be Christian martyrs under Hadrian. Their traditional date of death is 120. They are patron saints of Brescia. Traditional vita Tradition states that they were members of a noble family of Brescia in Lomba ...

''. The crypt apparently was attached to the primitive church. It contains a Madonna by

Vincenzo Civerchio Vincenzo Civerchio or Civercio (c. 1470c. 1544) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, born at Crema, Lombardy, Crema, and active also in Brescia, where there are some of his alter-pieces. One of his works is at the National Gallery of Art, W ...

and some paintings originating from the church of sant'Angela Merici by

Francesco Giugno Francesco Giugno (1577 - c. 1621) was an Italian painter of the late Mannerist and early-Baroque periods, mainly active in Brescia and Mantua. Born in Brescia, he became a pupil of Pietro Marone, and then of Palma il Giovane Iacopo Negretti (1 ...

, depicting ''Saints Faustino and Jovita'', ''Martyrdom of the Saints Faustino and Jovita'', and ''Sant'Afra''. There are some fragments of 15th-century frescoes. The casket of St Paterio, once here, is now in the Museo di Santa Giulia.

External links

Bibliography

*Marina Braga, Roberta Simonetto (a cura di), ''Le quadre di Sant'Alessandro'' in ''Brescia Città Museo'', Sant'Eustacchio, Brescia 2004 *Ivo Panteghini, ''Reliquiario a busto detto di S. Afra'' in AA.VV., ''Nel lume del Rinascimento'', catalogo della mostra, Edizioni Museo diocesano di Brescia, Brescia 1997

References

{{Reflist

Afra Saint Afra (died 304) was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Along with Saint Ulrich, she is a patron saint of Augsburg. Her feast day is August 7. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess, Venus, by her mother, Hilaria. Throu ...

17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Baroque architecture in Brescia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1462