The church of the Santissimi Sette Fratelli Martiri (Church of the Holy Seven Martyred Brothers) is a Roman Catholic church in

Ranica Ranica (Bergamasque: or or or ; Medieval la, Larianica) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it ...

, province of Bergamo, in

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 ...

, Italy. Alongside rises also the church of Santa Lucia.

History

The church is dedicated to the Holy Maccabean Martyrs, mentioned in

2 Maccabees 2 Maccabees, el, Μακκαβαίων Β´, translit=Makkabaíōn 2 also known as the Second Book of Maccabees, Second Maccabees, and abbreviated as 2 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which recounts the persecution of Jews under King Antiochus I ...

The presence of the bell-tower (1524) remains evidence of a prior 16th-century church at the site. The present church was designed in 1782 by Giacomo Caniana, grandson of

Giovanni Battista Caniana Giovan Battista Caniana (8 May 1671 – 5 May 1754) was an Italian sculptor and architect. Biography Caniana was born in Romano di Lombardia, and his father Giacomo Antonio, also a sculptor, died when he was 8 years old. His mother Datila sen ...

, and brought to completion in 1796-1804 by Simeone Elia, pupil of Leopold Pollak. The interior is frescoed with decoration by Francesco Comerio. It contains two canvases, depicting the ''Baptism of Christ'' and ''Crucifixion with Saints'' by Giovanbattista Moroni. There is also a 17th-century ''Deposition'' by Gian Paolo Cavagna, a 19th-century ''Martirio dei sette fratelli martiri'' (Martyrdom of the seven brother martyrs), and a ''Madonna in coro additata da San Giovanni'' by

Carlo Ceresa Carlo Ceresa (January 20, 1609 – January 29, 1679) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period active mainly around Bergamo. Biography Born in 1609 at San Giovanni Bianco, a town in the Brembana Valley in the province of Bergamo, Ceresa was ...

.Valseriana Tourism site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santissimi Sette Fratelli Martiri Churches in the province of Bergamo 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Neoclassical architecture in Lombardy Neoclassical church buildings in Italy