Sezzadio
Church of Santo Stefano
The church of Santo Stefano in Sezzadio, along the Via Aemilia Scauri, where the Bormida River flows into the Tanaro, is the only remaining evidence of an ancient convent dating back to at least the 13th century. The church, with a single nave and a rectilinear apse, preserves a diverse collection of medieval frescoes, including the episode of the Miracle of the Hanged Pilgrim, as well as other late medieval and modern votive panels that attest to the fervent devotion of the nuns and those who identified with this place.
Located between Castellazzo Bormida and Cassine, not far from the confluence of the Bormida and Tanaro rivers, Sezzadio—known as Sezzè until the 20th century—is first mentioned as a court, along with Retorto Castle, among the possessions granted by Hugh to his future wife, Bertha of Swabia, in 938. A reference from 962 places it in a deed of gift from Otto I to the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro in Pavia. It later came under the rule of the Marquises of Monferrato and then of Alessandria.
Sezzadio is located along the route of the ancient Aemilia Scauri, a Roman road built between 115 and 109 BC, which connected Vado Ligure and Tortona, passing through Acqui Terme. It continued to be used throughout the Middle Ages, and in subsequent Savoy land registry records from the 18th century, it was identified as the “Via Emilia or della Levata,” a name it retains today. Over the past two decades, archaeological excavations have uncovered sections of the aforementioned road in two locations—along the road to Cascina Maracchino and in the Boschi area. These segments, corresponding to the current route, feature carefully laid cobblestone pavements. Although showing signs of deterioration in some sections, the original “humpback” design, designed to facilitate water drainage, has been identified in the central section of the road.
Church of Santo Stefano
First mentioned in an 1125 papal bull issued by Pope Innocent II among the possessions of the monastery of Santo Stefano in Genoa, the monastery of Santo Stefano of Sezzadio once included a church, a convent, and some land. Between 1233 and 1244, the municipality of Sezzè and the local inhabitants came into contact with Giacoma Canefri, founder of the convent of Santa Maria di Banno in Tagliolo Monferrato, in the province of Alessandria, who moved a colony of nuns to Santo Stefano. The nuns lived there until the 1480s, when they returned to Genoa for safety. In 1577, the church of Santo Stefano is mentioned in connection with the church of Santa Maria di Castello of the Canons Regular of Alessandria, and the apostolic visitor requested the supply of some liturgical objects.
In 1786, the parish priest described the church of Santo Stefano as having a bell tower (now lost), a fresco on the façade door, and a few pews, but with ancient paintings, including those in the choir depicting the Virgin of Sorrows and Saint John the Evangelist.
In 1817, the church passed to the Municipality of Sezzadio, serving as a cemetery, and a cemetery was built in the adjacent garden; ten years later, it was already devoid of furnishings.
The exterior wall of the church, originally overlooking the monastery’s internal courtyard, was plastered, concealing the original masonry. Episcopal documents testify to a cloister on this site, whose dimensions in 1553 were approximately 70 feet, including rooms on the first floor. Remains of this larger structure are found in the surviving capital decorated with plant motifs, although the material is significantly deteriorated, and in barely perceptible traces of frescoes.
Fortunately, a photographic print included in Francesco Gasparolo’s work, published in 1912, accompanied by the caption “frescoes and architectural remains,” suggests how it may have appeared in the past. Comparing the historic photograph with the faint fragments of fresco on the wall allows us to imagine the votive panel: Saint Stephen, holding the bishop’s crozier, next to him a saint in profile with a long beard, to the right the Madonna enthroned with the child, and finally Saint Sebastian at the moment of his martyrdom.
The church today has a single nave ending in a rectilinear apse and is embellished with medieval and modern pictorial decorations that do not adhere to a unified program. The paintings, which in the 18th century appeared “ancient, but decent” to the parish observer, are now in a deteriorated state of preservation, due to the change of function and pictorial interventions.
The pictorial episodes dating back to the 14th century are on the back wall and the first panels (toward the back) on the left. Among these, the episode of the Miracle of the Hanged Pilgrim stands out, despite some signs of iconoclasm, incisions, and paint loss: the monastery was likely a stop along the Camino de Santiago. Next to this episode, a Saint Deacon is depicted, followed by a large panel surrounded by a Cosmatesque frieze. At the center is the Madonna Enthroned, flanked by four figures of saints, including Bernard of Menton. The apse wall preserves a fragment of the Crucifixion, reminiscent of what takes place in the chapter house of the nearby Franciscan convent of Cassine.
The face of the crucified Christ is original, while those of the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist appear heavily retouched.
Below the cross is Adam’s skull, while on the right are fragments of saints, including Saint Catherine. This pictorial culture reflects the style of the First Master of Cassine and his workshop, not only in the figurative models, but also in the use of the Cosmatesque frieze and the diamond motif of the Virgin’s throne. The clothing of the female saints suggests that this work was executed after the Cassinese intervention and, in any case, by 1350.
Using the modern access, on the left side wall is a votive panel depicting Saints Anthony Abbot and Apollonia. The coat of arms next to Saint Apollonia has been identified as belonging to the feudal Feruffini-Calcamuggi family, to which Antoneta, a lay nun at the monastery, appears to have belonged. Some names of nuns in the dedicatory inscription have allowed the panel to be dated between 1469, the year the nuns moved to Sezzadio, and 1483, when it was exchanged with the monastery of Santa Brigida in Genoa. The female figures depicted in the panel follow the costumes and fashion of courtly painting of the first decades of the 15th century, thus attesting to a “late” pictorial taste.
The cultural context: The Abbey of Santa Giustina
The Abbey of Santa Giustina, located within a complex that once housed rural buildings, later converted into residential buildings, represents a wonderful expression of medieval architecture and painting, also influenced by the nearby culture of Pavia. Known as an extraordinary architectural example, with its continuous Ottoman-inspired transept and commissar cross plan, the building’s origins are traditionally attributed to the period of the Lombard Liutprand (713-743). It is said that he commissioned the construction of a small church or chapel on the plain near the Bormida River to house the relics of Saint Giustina, whom he particularly venerated. Although the architectural remains from this period are not recognizable, the presence of the bell tower may represent a testimony to that original period.
Historical sources report a later deed of foundation for the Abbey in 1030, ordered by Otbert, Marquis of Aleramic, who restored the building to the form we admire today. Otbert’s importance is evidenced by a significant mosaic document discovered in the floor of the crypt beneath the apse: here, the floral decorative elements and intricate geometric patterns, in black and white, dating back to the early 11th century, testify to the artistic fervor and architectural commitment promoted by the marquis.
The frescoes, discovered in 1912, underwent significant restoration in 1956. The abbey’s complex pictorial composition is concentrated primarily in the apse space, with decorations spanning the 11th to the 15th centuries, adorning the apse, the left apse, and the transept panels. The grandeur and magnificence of the site are further underscored by the presence of a magnificent wooden Crucified Christ, currently housed in the Civic Museum of Ancient Art in Turin.
The oldest pictorial decorations, dating back to the 11th century, consist of a decorative band in the attic, with medallions on an ivory background housing half-length portraits, likely of saints. In the apse area, a complex iconological theme emerges, considered by some to be the expression of a sophisticated theological summa, likely the work of a cultured commendatory abbot, created in the early 15th century, at the height of international painting. The presbytery features a vault divided into four vaults, depicting the Four Evangelists, representing one of the most advanced medieval pictorial campaigns. Despite gaps due to the construction of an altar in the 19th century, the left apse preserves a cycle of frescoes dedicated to the Death of the Virgin and episodes from apocryphal tales, culminating in the apse dome with the Assumption. These works, created at the beginning of the 15th century by at least two different artists, attest to the artistic mastery and theological depth to which the abbey has witnessed over the centuries.