The church of Sant'Afra in

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

, 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 ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

, 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 la ...

. The latter painting replaced in 1867 the ‘’Altarpiece of Sant'Eufemia’’ (1526-1530), painted by

Alessandro Bonvicino Alessandro Bonvicino (also Buonvicino) (possibly 22 December 1554), more commonly known as Moretto, or in Italian Il Moretto da Brescia (the Moor of Brescia), was an Italian Renaissance painter from Brescia, where he also mostly worked. His da ...

, 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, Italy. Established in 1851, the museum exhibits mainly paintings by local artists dated from the Thirteenth through the Eighteenth century. The museum's current collec ...

. 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. 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 Mannerism, Mannerist styles. It is likely that Gambara is the same 16th century painter referred to as ''Lattanzio Cremonese'' or ''Lattanzio da Cremo ...

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 Sant'Angela Merici . 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 Pompeo Ghitti (1631–1703 or 1704) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in and in towns surrounding Brescia. Biography He was born in the village of Marone on the shores of Lake Iseo, near Brescia. He was a pupil of t ...

. 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. 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), ''Veronese'' (moth), a moth genus in the family Crambidae * Monte Veronese, ...

, 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 (; ; 2 March 480 – 21 March 547), often known as Saint Benedict, was a Great Church, Christian monk. He is famed in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Communion, and Old ...

and

Scholastica Scholastica (; – 10 February 543) was an Italian Christian hermit and the sister of Benedict of Nursia. She is traditionally regarded as the Organizational founder, foundress of the Benedictines, Benedictine nuns. Scholastica is honored as ...

''. 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 in the Province of Parma; his father, Paolo, was a painter in the Ducal court. Pietro stu ...

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 Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

(

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, and other ...

) and Carlo Innocenzo Carloni (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, depicting the ''Saints

Faustinus and Jovita Jovita and Faustinus were said to be Christian martyrs under Hadrian, traditionally held to have died in 120 AD. Together, they are patron saints of the Italian city of Brescia. Faustinus is the patron saint of Pietradefusi. Traditional vita T ...

''. The crypt apparently was attached to the primitive church. It contains a Madonna by Vincenzo Civerchio and some paintings originating from the church of sant'Angela Merici by Francesco Giugno, 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 Museo may refer to: * ''Museum'' (2018 film), Mexican drama heist film * Museo station, station on line 1 of the Naples Metro {{disambiguation ...

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 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Baroque architecture in Brescia Buildings and structures completed in 1462 Churches completed in the 1460s