For the first time it is possible to see the Pordenone dome up close in Piacenza

From March 4 to June 10, 2018, “Ascent to the Pordenone” is on stage in Piacenza: for the first time, the public can see up close the frescoes in the dome of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Campagna created by Giovanni Antonio de’ Sacchis, better known as the Pordenone (Pordenone, 1483 - Ferrara, 1539). The ascent to the frescoes is made possible by the “artists’ walkway,” the route that students from the Art Institute of Piacenza used to study the work up close (graffiti left by those who wished to imprint their names on the walls can still be read). The public can also walk through a circular gallery open to the outside of the city to see the full panorama. The ascent is via quota groups: while waiting, a special point has been set up where art history students and recent graduates provide information about the works, the artist and the basilica of Santa Maria di Campagna.

The dome of the house of worship was frescoed by Pordenone, a leading Mannerist artist, between 1530 and 1534. The artist had arrived in Piacenza in February 1530, as documents attest, to attend to work in Santa Maria di Campagna. The iconographic program called for the frescoes to revolve around the figure of God the Father painted in the central lantern: he is seen in flight descending from the sky. The segments of the dome, on the other hand, are occupied by prophets, sibyls, and Old Testament figures conveying his message, while in the ovals of the pilasters are biblical scenes (the creation of the world, the creation of man, Noah’s ark, the sacrifice of Isaac, Joseph sold by his brothers, Moses and the tables of the law, David and Goliath, Judith and Holofernes). The complex figuration continues in the frieze where there are episodes taken from mythology and classical tradition, while in the monochrome medallions of the frieze, Pordenone painted episodes from the Dictorum et factorum memorabilium libri, the “books of memorable sayings and facts” of Valerius Maximus, and the Decades of Livy. The frescoes were later completed by another artist, Bernardino Gatti (Pavia, 1495 - Cremona, 1576), who from 1543 painted the Apostles in the pilasters, the Stories of the Virgin in the drum, and the four evangelists in the pendentives. The symbolic message of the work was intended to affirm the superiority of the New Testa ment over the Old Testament and pagan religion.

The Basilica is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturdays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed every Monday. Fares: full 12 euros, reduced 10 euros (for groups of at least 12 people, under 18, over 65, TCI, FAI, ADSI, Italia Nostra members, Banca di Piacenza customers, Piacenza Municipality employees, ticket holders of the exhibition The Mysteries of the Cathedral, ticket holders of a Piacenza Expo event during the period of the Ascent to the Pordenone), special reduced for schools 5 euros, free for disabled and accompanying persons, children under 6, registered journalists, one accompanying person per group, for anyone on their birthday. The ascent ticket allows free admission to the Genovesino exhibition in Piacenza, the exhibition The New Ghittoni and the collection of drawings of the Banca di Piacenza in Palazzo Galli. For the Ascent to the Pordenone, reservations are required. More information at www.salitaalpordenone.it.

For the first time it is possible to see the Pordenone dome up close in Piacenza

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