. Italian backgrounds. y accidents of sun andshade to produce what might be called the patine ofItaly. There is, indeed, one remarkable church, witha high double flight of steps leading to its door; butthis (though it contains a fine Gaudenzio) passes asa mere incident in the general picturesqueness, andthe only church with which the sight-seer seriouslyreckons is that of Santa Maria delle Grazie, frescoedwith the artists scenes from the Passion. There is much beauty of detail in these crowdedcompositions; but, to the inexpert, Gaudenzio livesperhaps chiefly as the painter of the choiring ange
. Italian backgrounds. y accidents of sun andshade to produce what might be called the patine ofItaly. There is, indeed, one remarkable church, witha high double flight of steps leading to its door; butthis (though it contains a fine Gaudenzio) passes asa mere incident in the general picturesqueness, andthe only church with which the sight-seer seriouslyreckons is that of Santa Maria delle Grazie, frescoedwith the artists scenes from the Passion. There is much beauty of detail in these crowdedcompositions; but, to the inexpert, Gaudenzio livesperhaps chiefly as the painter of the choiring angelsof Saronno: so great there that elsewhere he seemsrelatively unimportant. At Varallo, at least, one as-sociates him first with the Sacred ^lountain. To thisgreat monument of his native valley he contributedsome of his most memorable w^ork, and it seems fit-ting that on turning from his frescoes in Santa JNIariaone should find ones self at the foot of the path lead-ing to the Sanctuar5^ The wdde approach, paved [ 56 ]. PENNINE ALPS with tiny round pebbles polished by the feet of thou-sands of pilgrims, leads round the flank of the cliffto the park-like enclosure on its summit. Here, onthe ledge overlooking the town, stands the church builtby Saint Charles Borromeo (now disfigured by amodern fa9ade), and grouped about it are the forty-two chapels of the New Jerusalem. These littlebuildings, to which one mounts or descends by mossywinding paths beneath the trees, present every va-riety of pseudo-classical design. Some, placed atdiiferent levels, are connected by open colonnadesand long flights of steps; some have airy loggias,overlooking gardens tufted with blush-roses and thelilac iris; while others stand withdrawn in the deepshade of the beeches. Each chapel contains a terra-cotta group representing some scene in the divine his-tory, and the site and architecture of each buildinghave been determined by a subtle sense of dramaticfitness. Thus, the chapels enclosing the earlier
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectitalydescriptionandt
