Levice
The church of San Rocco
The church of San Rocco in Levice features a fresco cycle that combines late Gothic elements with Renaissance influences, reflecting the first local renovations. Not far away, the discovery of the remains of a medieval factory beneath the 18th-century structure of the church of Sant'Antonio Abate enriches our understanding of the religious and social history of this ancient Aleramic land.
The town of Levice, which extends along the crest of the hill separating the Bormida and Uzzone valleys, was first mentioned in an imperial diploma in 967. Less than thirty years later, in 991, some lands in Levice were included in the imperial foundation of the Benedictine monastery of San Quintino in Spigno Monferrato. The settlement appears in other documentary sources, including a 1209 mention in the Codex Astensis, and about half a century later, the castrum (whose defensive structure is now reduced to ruins) and the urban center of Levice were assigned to Enrico del Carretto, upon the division of the estate among the heirs of the deceased Giacomo. It later became part of the marquisate of Prunetto, came under the control of the Scarampi family, and in the early 18th century was definitively annexed to the territories of the Savoy.
The church of San Rocco
The church of San Rocco is located outside the town center in a strategic position, at the crossroads of important trade routes, pilgrimage routes, and access routes to the town of Levice. Probably built in the early Middle Ages, the chapel is likely the original parish church dedicated to San Donato, mentioned from the late 12th to the 16th century as being outside the town. Of a modest initial building, which had a simple architecture, the apse remains, which still houses evocative late Gothic frescoes.
An analysis of the exterior walls reveals that, in addition to the apse structure (which retains a typical stone roof), part of the perimeter walls, up to the “recess” approximately halfway along the side walls, likely belong to the original building nucleus.
The dedication to San Rocco is documented in diocesan registers from the late 16th century, likely in reference to an epidemic, given the presence in paintings of the miracle-working saints San Sebastiano and San Rocco, as a vow made by the community to the patron saints of plague victims. Some structural expansions to the building date back to the early decades of the same century: the structure was reduced to a single nave, lengthened, and enriched with a polychrome Baroque-style altar with a stucco tabernacle, which is still present. An epigraph on the archivolt of the tabernacle niche precisely attests to the construction phase and reads, “Work done by M. [Maestro] Rettore Giacobino Bergolo as a votive offering in 1632.”
Although the pictorial embellishment dates back to the early 16th century, the compositional and iconographic model is still fully medieval: in the apse, a smiling Christ Pantocrator, seated on a throne on the Day of Judgement, holds his right hand in the act of blessing and the open Gospel in his left.
In the lower section, a Madonna and Child forms the focal point, around which are arranged a series of figures significant to popular devotion, identified by an inscription above their heads: from left to right, Saint Roch (San Rocco) and Saint Sebastian, Saint Joseph, and Saint Lucy, with their distinctive attributes. Saint Roch is recognizable in his iconic representation with hat, canteen, and staff, displaying the plague wound, an inflamed and severed blight, accompanied by a stray hound, and next to him Saint Sebastian appears pierced by the arrows of martyrdom. Symmetrically, beyond the Marian couple, are Saint Joseph and Saint Lucy. The latter holds a lamp, and her eyes, a symbol of her torment, are no longer depicted on a tray, but in the Renaissance depiction of a cruet. The Saints are depicted standing, immersed in an architectural and perspective context, positioned in a three-quarter view and oriented toward the Madonna and Child.
The same spatial study also emerges in the construction of the Madonna’s elegant throne, set in a naturalistic and flourishing garden, bordered by a low stone parapet. The apse dome and the intermediate band of the Theory of Saints ( Teoria di Santi) are framed by a rich plant display, which also includes colorful festoons, and Greek frets with a vegetal and geometric pattern. A rich decorative style also highlights the garments, and small motifs adorn the Saints’ cloaks and tunics.
The decoration, however, was not limited to the apse: minute traces of frescoes at the beginning of the right side wall testify to a more extensive decorative apparatus, now partly lost. The anonymous painter, known as the Master of Levice, presents one of the first Renaissance innovations found in the region thus far during that period: a more in-depth spatial study, more realistic characterization, and a rich scenography. The artist, along with his collaborators, does not, however, renounce the widespread use of archaic stylistic elements, such as plant-filled frames, stenciled decoration, scenic composition, or the motif of the Baby Jesus with the goldfinch.
The pictorial cycle also features the Del Carretto noble coat of arms, a rhombus on an ochre background crossed by red transverse bands, repeated several times next to the letters A and R. Levice, a fiefdom of the Carretto family since the 13th century, was handed over to Raffaele del Carretto in 1499, under whose regency the painting campaign has traditionally been attributed.
A Hidden Medieval Evidence
First mentioned and described during the 1574 pastoral visit to the town of Levice, the church of Sant'Antonio Abate (Saint Anthony the Abbot) is indicated as the sacred building where liturgical services were regularly celebrated for the convenience of the population.
This would support the identification of the first parish church of San Donato with the current chapel of San Rocco, both cited in sources as being located outside the town limits. The pre-existence of the older church of Sant’Antonio Abate is also confirmed by archaeological excavations conducted in the early 2000s, which identified the remains of a previous medieval foundation “hidden” in the eighteenth-century renovation (1766-76). The original layout, which included a three-nave church ending in a semicircular apse, is still respected today in its late Baroque reconstruction, with the addition of the old late Romanesque bell tower to the new belfry.