Visual Telling for a Biblia Pauperum. Immersive Narrativity in the Chapel VIII at Sacro Monte in Varese

Abstract

Located along the slopes of the north-western pre-Alpine arc, the Sacrimonti, erected between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 18th century in the Piedmont and Lombardy areas, represent not only an important historical and artistic contribution to the Unesco World Heritage, but also some examples of real experiential, immersive and inclusive paths, designed to reach even the least literate users with a powerful didactic and catechetical message, without the need for any textual integration. The paper analyzes the architectural structure of the chapel VIII, L’Incoronazionedi Spine [The Crowning with Thorns], and its interaction both with the total structure of the monumental path designed in 1604 by Bernascone on Monte Velate of Varese and with the sculptural group and the cycle of frescoes, revealing its nature as a real storyboard, aimed at narrating one of the most dramatic episodes of the Jesus’ passion and at raising an empathic relationship with the faithful who observe the setting through the external openings.