Ascension (detail) – Lorenzo d’Alessandro.
I cannot recall how exactly we learned of the existence of this small oratory along the main road through Pergola. The oratory was not mentioned in our travel guide, so we must have found it somewhere on the Internet. Our first attempt to get inside ended in failure: the door in the rather hideous façade was closed and locked. Because the oratory was also mentioned on the website of the Museo dei Bronzi Dorati in Pergola, we decided to ask the museum staff to help us get inside the Oratorio dell’Ascensione. The first person we spoke had bad news for us: the oratory was supposedly not open to the public that day. But we were not going to give up so quickly. Part of the museum is the former church of San Giacomo, and there we found another member of the staff, who was more than happy to take us to the oratory. And so a small group of enthusiasts set out from the museum to explore the tiny sanctuary.
The oratory was built in the fifteenth century by the Confraternita del Santissimo Crocifisso. Although it is usually called and oratory and also a chapel, it was originally a sanctuary with three walls and an open front. Pilgrims and travellers could just walk in, which explains why quite a lot of texts have been scratched into the frescoes. The large fresco on the back wall represents the Ascension of Christ and gave the building its name, Oratorio dell’Ascensione. Christ takes centre-stage in the fresco and has visible wounds to his hands, feet and side. He is surrounded by the Virgin Mary and the twelve apostles. The figures in the sky are the prophets Enoch and Elijah. According to Genesis 5:23-24, Enoch was taken away by God when he was 365 years old, while 2 Kings 2:11 states that Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. The two events can be interpreted as prefiguring the ascension of Christ to heaven. On the far right of the fresco we see Saint Secundus, patron saint of Pergola. This martyr from the third or fourth century must not be confused with Secundus of Asti. The figure on the far right is Saint Sebastian.
Ascension – Lorenzo d’Alessandro.
The exceptionally colourful fresco was once attributed to the famous painter Raphael (1483-1520). To be honest, I was a bit surprised when I read that. I cannot deny that the fresco is pretty, but it is certainly not on par with work by the great master from Urbino. Experts nowadays assume that the fresco was painted by Lorenzo d’Alessandro from San Severino. He was born somewhere between 1445 and 1455 in this town in the Marche. As his year of death either 1501 or 1503 is mentioned. The fresco of the Ascension gives us the name of the man who commissioned it just below Saint Sebastian. His name was Joannes de Oculi. The year of completion was also mentioned here, but only the numbers ‘148’ survive. Experts believe that the fresco was painted on the back wall between 1483 and 1489.
Ascension (detail).
Ascension (detail).
Ascension (detail).
Saint Secundus.
The frescoes on the right wall are certainly younger. They were probably painted in the first decade of the sixteenth century and represent an Annunciation (above), a Trinity and a Madonna and Child. The maker of the fresco is unknown. It was once attributed to Bernardino di Mariotto (ca. 1475-1566) from Perugia, but the information panel in the oratory currently informs us that the mysterious Maestro del Palazzolo was the maker. His name obviously derives from the location where he painted, the Oratorio dell’Ascensione al Palazzolo, but it is not clear who or what the Palazzolo was. A palazzolo is a small palazzo, and it is sometimes assumed that the name refers to the residence of the podestà of Pergola. However, that building in all likelihood stood much closer to the centre of town. According to another theory, Palazzolo was the nickname of a farmer who worked the fields of the Confraternita del Santissimo Crocifisso and lived next to the oratory.
Frescoes of the Maestro del Palazzolo.
Although the frescoes on the right wall are not of exceptional quality, they have at least been preserved, much unlike those on the left wall, which have all been lost. The elements no doubt had a role in their disappearance; above I already mentioned that the oratory had an open front for a long time. On the vault of the oratory the four evangelists were painted. Two of these have been preserved, Mark and John.
Saint John the Evangelist.
Further reading: Oratorio dell’ascensione al Palazzolo – Museo dei BRONZI DORATI e della Città di Pergola