250px, Façade. The Abbey of Sant'Antonio di Ranverso is a religious complex at

Buttigliera Alta Buttigliera Alta is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin about from Turin in the Susa valley in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is not far to Avigliana, of which it once was a part. History It first became an autonomous fief i ...

, in the

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin (; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the prov ...

, northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

(also known as

preceptory A preceptor (from Latin, "''praecepto''") is a teacher responsible for upholding a ''precept'', meaning a certain law or tradition. Buddhist monastic orders Senior Buddhist monks can become the preceptors for newly ordained monks. In the Buddhi ...

) complex was founded in 1188 by Humbert III of Savoy, who give it to the Regular Canons of St. Anthony of Vienne, as a restoration point for pilgrims and a treatment center for people infected by

ergot Ergot ( ) or ergot fungi refers to a group of fungi of the genus ''Claviceps''. The most prominent member of this group is '' Claviceps purpurea'' ("rye ergot fungus"). This fungus grows on rye and related plants, and produces alkaloids that c ...

. With the outbreak of the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

in the 15th century, the abbey also took care of the new contagium. St. Anthony was chosen due to its widespread depiction in company of a small pig, an animal whose fat was used for the treatment of the plague. The complex was modified and rebuilt several times. It initially included a hospital, of which only the façade remain, the preceptory itself and the church. The latter appears today in Lombard-Gothic style, after its renovation in the 14th-15th centuries. Annexed to it is the bell tower, also in Gothic style (14th century). The interior was decorated with numerous frescoes starting from the 13th century, some of which painted by

Giacomo Jaquerio Giacomo Jaquerio ( 1375 – 1453) was an Italian medieval painter, one of the main exponents of Gothic painting in Piedmont. He was active in his native Turin, in Geneva and in other localities of Savoy. Biography He was born into a family of p ...

in the early 15th century. Also by him is the ''Ascension to the Calvary'', in the sacristy. In the presbytery is a polyptych by

Defendente Ferrari Defendente Ferrari (c. 1480/1485 – c. 1540) was an Italian painter active in Piedmont. His work marks the transition from late Gothic traditions to Renaissance art in the region. Life and work Ferrari was born at Chivasso, near Turin. He ...

(1531).

References

External links

Page at piemonteitalia.eu
{{Coord, 45, 4, 52, N, 7, 26, 58, E, source:dewiki_type:landmark_dim:1_region:IT-TO, display=title 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Sant'Antonio di Ranverso Gothic architecture in Piedmont