The most important spots of Saint Angela Merici's life - 2

The Cathedral, the Altar, the Paintings, the Relics

On entering the side door of the Cathedral (late Renaissance 1506 – 1611), immediately on the left, above the altar, the altarpiece by the brothers Cignaroli – Veronese painters of the 18th Century - can be admired. 
 

 

The painting shows Angela Merici with Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Luigi Gonzaga.  Angela was beatified by the Church on the 30th April 1768.


 

 

 In the opposite nave is the chapel that was erected in 1874 in occasion of the 4th centenary of  Angela Merici’s birth.

It is of a composite style, typical of that 19th Century architecture which hadn’t yet found its own features and which does not blend in with the classical lines of the rest of the building.  It was blessed by the Bishop of Verona in 1884.

The altarpiece, by Alberto Franchini, is signed and dated 1990; it shows the Saint protecting the town of Desenzano. 

The older altarpiece, dated 1882, which shows Saint Angela wearing the habit of the cloister Ursulines of Blois, can be found in the vestry. Beneath the altarpiece, the shrine with the Saint’s relics, which constitute her physical presence in her town.
Around the sides of the chapel are six paintings dated 1834, by Pietro Rizieri Calcinardi, dedicated to the life of Angela: The family of the Blessed Soul, The return of the Saint from the Holy Land, Angela at Duke Francesco Sforza’s, The vision in Brodazzo, Angela an audience with Pope Clement VII, Her death.
 

On the sides of the altar, two coloured stained glass windows, showing Angela preoccupied with her family’s problems and Angela praying.
To the left of the Cathedral’s central altar is the vestry in which there are two images of the «Blessed Soul».
One, the wonderful painting by Palma the Young, representing the Pietà; the figures of Magdalene and the blessed Angela Merici, dated 1610, are worth admiring. 

The other, a photo that reminds us of the painting of Angela done by Moretto in Brescia in 1540, whilst awaiting the burial of the Desenzano «Saint».

Itinerary:
Leave the cathedral by the side door and continue along the porticoes.  About halfway down, on the left, in the middle of Piazza Malvezzi, is the statue, spot No. 3 (The Statue)
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