Mombarcaro
The old parish church of San Pietro
The presence of the painter Antonino Occelli from Ceva in Mombarcaro, in the churches of San Pietro (now in San Michele) and San Rocco, constitutes the first local example of fully Renaissance pictorial embellishment, evident in his artistic mastery, in the iconographic composition and in the choice of classic-inspired decorative motifs.
Among the highest settlements in the Alta Langa, located approximately 900 meters above sea level and nestled between the Bormida and Belbo valleys, Mombarcaro is mentioned in historical documents between the 11th and 13th centuries due to the presence of properties belonging to the monastery of San Venerio del Tino and the Benedictine cell of San Benedetto Belbo. The latter is later attested in a 1325 document from the diocese of Alba, where it is identified as “Sancti Benedecti de Montebarchari.” A church of Santa Maria, with an adjoining cemetery, is also mentioned in 1212, but there is no subsequent reference to it in medieval documentation or in the surviving monuments. From a political and administrative standpoint, it was part of the possessions of the Marquises of Ceva and later belonged to the Marquisate of Monferrato and Saluzzo until it came under the control of the Savoy.
The old parish church of San Pietro
The old parish church of Mombarcaro, perhaps of Benedictine origin (the Benedictine monastery of San Benedetto Belbo was located nearby), was dedicated to Saint Peter. Of Romanesque construction, it is outside the village center and today appears almost in ruins: the roof is missing, and only the perimeter walls of the single nave, which ended in a semicircular apse, survive. Since the 16th century, it has been remembered in pastoral visits as an ancient, open church without a door, no longer serving as a pastoral ministry. The frescoes in the apse and part of the left nave of the ancient parish church of San Pietro were removed and relocated in 1980 to the current parish church of San Michele, in the center of the village.
Historical photographs from before the move reveal that the side walls of the nave were adorned with fresco fragments. On the right wall, in particular, depictions of several saints were recognizable: starting from the left, a red and white festoon, the figure of Saint Anthony the Abbot, Saint Sebastian during his martyrdom, and Saint Roch showing his plague wound.
The pictorial intervention in the apse is particularly significant due to the presence of the artist Antonino Occelli da Ceva. Aware of his role as a Renaissance artist, he left his first autograph traces, with signature, provenance, and date of 1519. The decoration shows two distinct interventions by the same painter, identifiable in two different phases, separated by a ten-year interval. The first composition in the apse depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned, surrounded by Saints Peter and John the Baptist, in a setting now fully Renaissance, evident in the construction of the throne, the robes, the landscape setting, and the classical-themed decorations, consisting of masks, winged quadrupeds, vases, and candelabras.
In the lower part of the semi-circle, a devotional panel depicts Saint Peter, once again the Virgin enthroned with the Child, and Saint Bernardino of Siena, dated November 15, 1533. The artist’s intervention in the middle register is flanked by fourteenth-century votive panels depicting a Saint James the Greater and a Saint Paul, standing, monumental in size, within multicolored panels, but compromised by “chip-chipping” and signs of desciabo. Between these and the intervention of Antonino’s triptych is another panel, which differs, and shows another figure of Saint Bernardino of Siena, of lesser quality, unfortunately seriously compromised.
The Extraordinary Removal of the Frescoes from the Parish Church of San Pietro
The Romanesque parish church of San Pietro, which stood isolated on a hill in Mombarcaro, was suffering from serious structural instability, so much so that the roof collapsed and blocked access. Faced with this critical situation, urgent intervention was required by the Superintendency, the state body responsible for protecting the historical and artistic heritage. In July 1976, the frescoes were removed using the “strappo” technique by restorers Guido and Gianluigi Nicola, under the surveillance of the Carabinieri to prevent theft (very common in the area at the time).
Since they could not be relocated, they were sent to the parish church of San Michele, recently built in the town center. For this purpose, the parish priest worked to modify its architectural form: in the left side chapel, the perimeter wall was broken down and a false semicircular apse was built. In the restoration laboratory in Aramengo, near Asti, a fake fiberglass structure reinforced with iron framework was created, faithfully reproducing the dimensions of the original apse. This structure was then reassembled within the wall space created for the modern parish church. To minimize the alteration of visual perception, the full enjoyment, and the authenticity of the frescoes, the different pictorial layers were positioned at different depths, respecting the successive phases of execution and adhering to a precise educational and illustrative intent.
This is an extraordinary, yet extremely delicate, conservation exercise, carried out in the 1970s, in full synergy between local and state authorities, and the religious community.
The San Rocco Chapel
The year before his second visit to St. Peter’s in 1532, Antonino Occelli skillfully decorated the country chapel of San Rocco (Saint Roch), an example of a fifteenth-century church located along important transit routes, especially pilgrimage routes. It was remodeled and used several times as a lazaretto, so the whitewashing for sanitary purposes partially preserved the pigments. The apse wall, distinguished by an eighteenth-century altar, features a series of saints dear to local popular devotion, including Saint Anthony the Abbot, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Bernard of Aosta, and the miracle-working Saints Roch and Sebastian.
On the right wall, the frescoes completely cover the space, divided into panels separated by frames and organized into three registers. Starting from the top, the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is recognizable. Four episodes follow one another in the intervening space: the representation of the Trinity, the Temptations of Saint Anthony the Abbot (developed in two consecutive scenes), the Miracle of the Hanged Man Saved by Saint Dominic della Calzada, and finally a Saint holding a bunch of arrows, likely related to a torture. The two episodes relating to the life of the Spanish saint are set in a courtly setting with a detailed description of the elegant robes and architectural spaces. Signs of a probable theft are then revealed: the rectangle engraved around the faces of the governor and his wife suggest an attempt to remove their portraits. The pictorial rendering of the Miracle of the Rooster and Hen is also found in two other sites in the Monregalese area (in the chapel of Sant’Anna in Niella Tanaro and in the chapel of San Bernardo in Piozzo), painted in a short time span, testifying to the fact that pilgrimages to the tomb of Saint James were still practiced during the 16th century and also passed through Mombarcaro.
Instead of the usual late Gothic curtain wall, the Cavalcade of the Vices unfolds, in which the personifications of the deadly sins march in a rhythmic procession toward the mouth of Leviathan, depicted in the guise of a monstrous reptile with sharp teeth.
The presence of the Renaissance painter Antonino Occelli in Mombarcaro is also evident in the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie (in the hamlet of San Luigi, on the road leading to the main town, opposite the chapel of San Rocco), where an anonymous follower, or more likely his collaborator, frescoed a panel of the Madonna and Child alongside Saints Anthony Abbot and John the Evangelist, which is currently displayed as if it were an altarpiece. Based on current knowledge, it is not possible to determine whether the work was created specifically for the site or was transported later, given that it is a detached fresco.