The Sanctuary of the Madonna dei Lumi is a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style,

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

small church located in central

San Severino Marche San Severino Marche is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Macerata in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona and about southwest of Macerata. History From prehistory to Roman age The oldest remains of human ...

, region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, Italy.

History

The sanctuary was established by the first arriving priest of the Order of Phillip Neri; they chose to enlarge a votive chapel dedicated to a painting of the ''Madonna and Child'' (1560) by Giangentile Di Lorenzo. Tradition holds that during 1584, the painting had miraculously emitted light. They initiated construction of the sanctuary using a design by Giovanni Battista Guerra, a lay oratorian. A prior, more elaborate design by Ludovico Carducci and funded in 1585 by the Duke of Urbino

Francesco Maria II Francesco Maria II della Rovere (20 February 1549 – 23 April 1631) was the last Duke of Urbino. Biography Born at Pesaro, Francesco Maria was the son of Guidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, Count of Montefeltro and Vittoria Farnese ...

was abandoned. By 1601, after an onslaught of the plague attacked the town, the Filippini abandoned the sanctuary to the

Barnabites The Barnabites (), officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul (), are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul and the members of the Ba ...

to complete. This latter order was suppressed in 1861 and the sanctuary passed into the custody of the Cistercian order. The sanctuary has a modified Greek Cross design with three rounded lobes (apse and tribune arms) and a flat façade. Along the nave from the entrance are two chapels on each side. On the first chapel on the right is an altarpiece of the ''Blessed Alessandro Sauli presented by Angels to San

Carlo Borromeo Charles Borromeo (; ; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. He was made a cardinal in 1560. Borromeo founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine and was ...

'' attributed to

Felice Torelli Felice Torelli (9 September 1667 – 11 June 1748) was an Italian painter of the Baroque style, active mainly in Bologna. Biography He was born to a family of artists in Verona, including his brother, Giuseppe Torelli, a noted violinist and ...

. In the next chapel on the right, the canvas depicts the ''Life of the Virgin'' by Giovanni Andrea Urbini. The chapels on the left were decorated from 1593 to 1596 by the painter

Felice Damiani Felice Damiani or Felice da Gubbio (1530–1608) was an Italian painter of the Mannerism, Late Renaissance or Mannerism period. Biography He was a pupil of Benedetto Nucci in Gubbio. Because of his lively colouring, he was nicknamed the ''Paolo ...

and the stucco artist Vincenzo da Camerino. Among the depictions are a ''Visitation'', the ''Dream of St Joseph'', and a ''Travel of Mary and Joseph to the House of Elizabeth''. The second chapel has an ''Adoration of the Magi'', a ''Circumcision'', and an ''Adoration of the Shepherds''. The cupola was frescoed (1657) by Giulio Lazzarelli.Marche Beni Culturali
entry on sanctuary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madonna dei Lumi San Severino 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Renaissance architecture in le Marche Roman Catholic churches in San Severino Marche