In Novara, restoration of a church reveals ancient frescoes

During the restoration and conservative rehabilitation of the interior of the Church of San Giovanni Decollato in Novara, the latest project approved on the 2021 edition of the Novara Community Foundation’s “Community Heritage” Call for Proposals, a portion of about thirteen square meters decorated with frescoes emerged, reaching up to the floor level. The restoration, promoted by the Confraternity of Saint John the Baptist Decollate ad fontes, received a contribution of 30 thousand euros out of a total cost of more than 55 thousand euros from the Foundation; it was necessary because the late Baroque-style building was in good condition externally thanks to recent interventions, but showed signs of deterioration in theinterior decorative apparatus. The overall restoration was divided into five lots.

The first, the most complex, involved the east wall of the building, where the ancient organ and chancel are located. This wall, which is shared with the Baptistery, revealed, during the preliminary stages of the construction site, a fresco of considerable interest, which extends all the way to the floor: on the largest part, at the top, three sacred scenes are depicted, such as The Ascent to Calvary, the Crucifixion and the Deposition, partially covered by an eighteenth-century-era plasterwork and deposits of dust and organic materials that have now deteriorated. The lower part, on the other hand, shows architectural decoration with faux-marble backgrounds decorated with racemes. The interventions of the first lot, to be followed by those on the western wall, the counterfacade and the inner chapels of the church, are necessary because of the obvious state of deterioration. Anyone can donate to the project.

“The Church of San Giovanni Battista Decollato ad fontes is located in a strategic point in Novara,” explains prior Marco Boggio. “The church is especially fascinating for its apse, its impressive paintings, and for being the seat of the Confraternity of the same name. Today the Confraternity has religious, worship and charitable purposes, but above all it has the responsibility to maintain the buildings it owns properly as well as to protect, guard, preserve and enhance its historical-artistic and documentary assets. Since 2018, we have also vigorously resumed activities that, in the past, had stopped. The work undertaken to recover the organ has allowed important discoveries on the eastern wall, the decoration of which was ignored, recovered thanks to the support of FCN, which allows us to return to the community a significant testimony to the history of Novara’s art.”

“The building is not only a center of worship but a historical, artistic, archival and architectural symbol of considerable value,” said President of the Novarese Community Foundation onlus, Davide Maggi. “The restoration will allow the recovery of an asset that, since the 16th century, has been an integral part of the historic urban fabric of the city center, insisting in the same block as the Cathedral, Baptistery and Bishop’s Palace, overlooking the Coccia Theater and the Castle, as well as in the direction of the monumental complex of the Broletto. This area will be affected, in the coming years, by urban enhancement and regeneration projects with the return of many spaces to the city. This further redevelopment will allow to implement the already existing synergies with some actors of the socio-cultural context of the city of Novara, creating new ones.”

In Novara, restoration of a church reveals ancient frescoes

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