Church of St. John the Baptist: English guide

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

The parish of S. Giovanni Battista, also known as the church of S. Domenico, owes this double denomination precisely to its history.

In 1567 the bishop of Savona, Giovanni Ambrogio del Fiesco, of the noble Fieschi family, laid the first stone of this church.
This gesture allowed the Order of Preacher Friars (the Dominicans) to rebuild their convent and church as they had been removed from their primitive settlement on the Priamar rock, where the current fortress will be built. We don’t have a real plan or other documentary sources of that complex so we have to refer to virtual reconstructions like the one proposed in the photo. Certainly it must have been a very important convent complex.

The choice of the current place where this church was built is not accidental.

In the district of Fossavaria or Fossalavaria (the current via Mistrangelo where this church stands) the Marquis of Savona Girolamo Spinola had land (precisely where the church stands today) which he donated to “fra Michele” Ghisleri (born Antonio Ghislieri (1504 – 1572), a Dominican who had taught theology in Savona for many years (photo on the left).

This friar will become pope in 1566 with the name of Pius V (photo on the right). When the Dominican fathers of Savona, lacking a church and a convent, asked him for help, Pius V granted him ownership and they began the construction of their new settlement.

The complex takes the place of an ancient church (“precettoria” “preceptory” from around 1204) dedicated to S. Antonio Abate, with annexed hospital, demolished together with some small houses located on the Monticello hill (immediately above the current church ) to allow the construction of the new church and convent.
The church of S. Domenico was very sober and simply furnished (as was the tradition of the Dominicans), with three naves with two chapels at the end of the central nave, each of these two chapels was surmounted by a dome.
The naves were supported by large non-round arched pillars (as they are today), without any frieze and there was no dome in the central nave, inserted much later.
The interior, as has been said, was very sober, with no particular decorations except for the two side chapels (the one on the left dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament and the one on the right dedicated to the Madonna del Rosario) very rich in marble friezes and remarkable paintings (see photo while visiting the church).
The vault had only a few frescoes depicting saints who belonged to the Dominican order (after the renovation, traces of them have been lost).

External view of the church

The facade completed long after the building of the church (1735) is in very sober Baroque forms and has two large diamond-shaped windows above the smaller doors, while three variously shaped windows placed in the upper part allow the light to illuminate the whole church (next a photograph from the early 1900s and one of the current facade).
At the top (hardly visible to the naked eye) a protruding box bears the inscription “D.O.M. Et tu Domine fecisti eam”. Above the main door, the traditional coat of arms of the Dominicans is visible: a dog with a torch in its mouth.

From S. Domenico to Saint John the Baptist

The Dominicans remained in their convent and guarded the church until 1813 when Napoleon abolished all conventual orders and they too left Savona. The convent, remodeled, became a military barracks (it was almost completely destroyed in an air raid during World War II) while the church took the name of the Parish of St. John the Baptist.

In fact, the primitive parish of S. Giovanni Battista was located a little further on, almost next to the city gate of the same name, located at the end of via Mistrangelo towards the current square of the theatre.

Some friezes of this ancient church are still visible in the building on the corner of via Mistrangelo at number 3 and a column is located in the cloister of the Sistine Chapel of Savona next to the duono (+PHOTO). This church was initially managed by the Commandery of the Knights of Malta and included, in addition to the church, a hospital and a cemetery.

On 10 August 1813, the deed of incorporation of the parish of San Giovanni Battista was written in the church of San Domenico, a parish that would be governed by an “immovable parish priest” as written in the papal bull of Paul V [Camillo Borghese (1552 – 1621)] of January 28, 1608.

We visit the church

The primitive structure of the church, austere and simple, was gradually subverted starting from 1813.

The primitive columns were refined with arches and Antonio Brilla arranged sixteen high reliefs with angelic figures two by two. In 1910, the octagonal dome designed by the architect was inserted in the central nave. Nicolò Campora. To carry out this intervention, the fresco “the glory of San Domenico” by the Savonese painter Paolo Gerolamo Brusco (known as “il Bruschetto” 1742-1820) was moved and placed above the main door.

The side altars also underwent various transformations.

We follow the map numbers

(Ref.1 of the map) Central dome and facade:

The 1910 dome is designed by the architect. Campora with frescoes by Raffaello Resio (known as the “painter of angels”).
The facade (1735) is rococo, with four openings following the scheme of the “Serliana window”.

The facade has already been mentioned before

(Ref.2 of the map) Baptismal font:
marble group by Antonio Brilla.

Above the source: canvas with Apparition of N.S. Mercy to the peasant Antonio Botta (1536) by Bartolomeo Guidobono

(Ref.3 of the map): Altar of S. Nicolò di Bari

work by Carlo G. Ratti (1770) which is influenced by his master Mengs and linked to the figurative culture of the 17th century

(Ref.4 of the map) Altar “of souls”:

in the niche: wooden crucifix (or perhaps more likely in pressed cardboard) from the 17th century, by an unknown author) but of great visual impact due to its “expressive roughness”

(Ref.5 of the map) Altar of San Domenico:

above the table, a canvas with an image of the founding saint of the order, by Paolo Gerolamo Piola (1650). It represents “the miracle of Soriano”. The author expresses the environment with an extremely restrained language in the symmetry and sober elegance of the figures.

(Ref.6 of the map) SS Sacramento Chapel:

of notable artistic interest for the pictorial works, the value of the marbles and the gentle colors of the dome.

above the altar: valuable canvas (1532-1535) of the “nativity or adoration of the shepherds” by Antonio Semino (1483 -1559) and partly by Teramo Piaggio. The seed elaborates themes of Ligurian painting but especially in the shepherds and landscapes the Flemish influence can also be glimpsed. With the houses, the rocks, the sea and the castles, Semino has left in this canvas the most beautiful background of a village painted in Savona in the sixteenth century.

On the sides of the altar, two marble ovals: “Escape to Egypt” and “Jesus disputes with the doctors” perhaps from the Genoese workshop of the Schiaffinos (18th century)

To the left: “Madonna and Saints” by Teramo Piaggio (1536). Note the portrait of the patron (Bartolomeo Delfino) with his wife at the bottom left. Not exceptionally beautiful work.

To the right: “Presentation to the Temple” by an unknown artist (signed with “1600 O.H.P.) Note the contrast between the rigid, decidedly austere major figures (one in Venetian-like clothes) and the two putti (in a mischievous and provocative attitude)

Octagonal dome from the 18th century with gilded stucco on a gray and green background

(Ref.7 of the map) pulpit:

The marble pulpit is from 1885 to a design by Angelo Cortese (architect from Savona). Octagonal, in mixed marble inlaid in the Neo-Renaissance style. The mirrors are decorated with geometric motifs and alternated with small columns. Also octagonal shaft with decorated foot. Opaque marble friezes are inserted (in imitation of ancient marbles), including the figurine of a winged putto in high relief, in the center of the main facade, with the function of a caryatid.

The pulpit was carried out as part of the extensive embellishment works on the building, including the marble floor and, subsequently, the insertion of the columns alongside the pillars, the opening of the dome and the entire fresco decoration.

(Ref.8 of the map) main altar:

some parts date back to the 16th century (table shelf and first step), the second step and the tabernacle are from the 18th century. Under the canteen floor, the symbol of the “Dominican Brothers”: a dog with a torch in its mouth

(Ref.9 of the map) To the left of the main altar:

canvas by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (1737-1795) “approval of the Dominican Order” by Pope Honorius III in 1216

(Ref.10 of the map) Apse, choir and organ:

wooden choir of very modest appearance from 1625 with later renovations. In the lower stalls it is Baroque while in the parts closest to the apse it has neoclassical signs.

Under the painting is the bronze statue of St. John the Baptist (1932) by the Roman Ernesto Gazzeri (1866–1965). A rather impressive work in its vigorous plasticity. The statue takes the place of the primitive pipes of the first organ and its keyboard. In the same location there was a small balcony that housed the choir.

Between the statue and the wooden choir is a polyptych with compartments where St. Anthony of Florence and St. Albert the Great are depicted in two large fake niches. Around the two large niches, six other small false niches, on two floors. In the upper order three saints (including a martyr and the Baptist) and in the lower ones three Dominican saints. The images are made on canvas applied to the wood while the frames of the false niches are gilded. The work dates back to the sixteenth century but has undergone numerous alterations. They were probably separate panels that were recently assembled (end of the 19th century) on eighteenth-century panels which were in turn frescoed as seen on the back, where S. Thomas Aquinas and S. Hyacinth can be distinguished.

The current organ is of recent construction: it dates back to 1930 and was inaugurated in 1932. The work of Domenico Mavestio and his sons, organ builders originally from the Veneto region who moved to Liguria after the First World War. It has two keyboards and the transmission is pneumatic. currently awaiting restoration.

Basin of the apse: Paolo Gerolamo Brusco from Savona painted the “transit of San Domenico” of fine workmanship according to art critics. The Saint died on August 6, 1221, not yet fifty years old. In the crowded scenario, the religious are in astonished silence before the figure of their dying founder. A little further on the same author also painted the “glory of the Dominicans” which is now placed above the main door when the dome was inserted in its place

(Rif.7 della mappa) pulpito:

(Ref.11 of the map) To the right of the main altar:

canvas by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti depicting the “burning of heretical books by the Dominicans” which recalls the preaching activity of St. Dominic carried out precisely against the heretics

(Ref.12 of the map) Chapel of the rosary:

very elegant in appearance given by the warm tone of the marbles used. In the center stands the marble statue of the Madonna of the century XVI (author unknown) surmounted by chubby, festive and very childish-looking angels. Around the niche are the oval “mysteries of the rosary” in very white marble by Francesco Schiaffino (1689-1763). The vault is frescoed in very warm tones and rich in gilded friezes.

(Ref.13 of the map) on the left wall:

canvas by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (1737-1795) “death of Mary”. In this canvas Ratti was able to express the best of her production by giving on the one hand a dramatic touch in the face and in the looks of the Apostles who accompany the transit of the Madfonna while illuminating her face with a decidedly soothing ray of light

(Ref.14 of the map) on the right wall:

canvas by anonymous author depicting the “Birth of Mary”

(Ref.15 of the map) Altar dedicated to S. Thomas Aquinas

The Saint is depicted in the canvas by Carlo Giuseppe Ratti (1737-1795). At the base of the canvas, in addition to the author’s name, we can also read the year of execution of the work (F.A. 1780, i.e. Made in the Year 1780). The Doctor of the Church is depicted inspired by the sight of the crucifix that the Virgin indicates to him with a hand gesture. On the lectern the most important works of S. Tomaso (Contra Gentes, Catena Aurea and the Summa). To the right of the viewer, a demonic figure writhing due to the action of a little angel with a burning brand to symbolize the defeat of the devil who attacked the faith of St. Thomas. Work of great importance by the author both for mastery of the colors and for the distribution of the represented figures.

(Ref.16 of the map) Altar dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua:

the saint is depicted in an adoring position. The wooden statue contained in a niche protected by glass is by an anonymous author and has a great votive impact but of little artistic value. Perhaps restructured by Antonio Brilla at the end of the 19th century.

(Ref.17 of the map) Altar dedicated to S. Vincenzo Ferreri

The Spanish saint (1346-1419), a Dominican, was also in Savona, in 1405, and from the pulpit of the ancient cathedral on the Priamar he had preached against the degradation of the century.

Here he is depicted in Valencia, where he was born, in the act of performing one of his many miracles: a young bricklayer is falling from a scaffolding and the saint “holds him in mid-air” while he asks his superior for permission to get him to unharmed land. In the canvas by Giovanni Agostino Ratti (1699-1755) we notice important theatrical elements especially in the worried and serious face of the prior against an almost childish expression of Ferreri, while he seems to be waiting for the authorization of the superior to remove the unfortunate young man from the awkward position “in mid-air”. The canvas is signed and dated by Ratti who executed it in Genoa: “Ioan. Augustinus Rattus pictor Savonen – faciebat Ianue 1749 aetatis sue annor 50” [similar inscription can be found in another painting in the church of S. Andrea]

(Ref.18 of the map) Altar dedicated to S. Biagio

in the painting by Stefano Robatto (1649-1733), Saint Biagio is depicted who was bishop of Sebaste (ancient capital of Armenia).

The painting represents the most important of the saint’s miracles when he saves a boy suffocated by a fishbone stuck in his throat. For this gesture, in popular tradition, San Biagio is the protector of throat diseases. Also in this painting we have the “signature” of the author, Stefano Robatto (1649-1733). It reads “Stefanus Robatto p.t. – Ratto Junior repinsit 1790” meaning that Ratti restored the work of Robatto. The picture was not welcomed by the critics due to a certain expressive rigidity except for the figure of the mother, who presents the suffering child to the saint with a pleading gesture.

(Ref.19 of the map) Counter-façade: “Gloria di S. Domenico”

fresco by Paolo Gerolamo Brusco (1742-1820), also known as “il Bruschetto” already present in the sancta sanctorum of the apse and then moved after the construction of the dome. The work was transferred to its current location to make way for the dome. The move, technically not easy, is remembered on the plaque next to the central door, and was carried out with daring skill by the Milanese Venceslao Bigoni.

(Ref.20 of the map) Vault of the central nave: “episodes from the life of St. John the Baptist”

Frescoes by Lazzaro De Maestri (1840-1910) who began his work in 1897, while the angels are by Luigi Gainotti (1859-1940) and the quadrature by Domenico Buscaglia (1828-1919). In the central dome some angels by the Genoese Raffaello Resio (1854-1927) together with the four theological virtues (Prudence, Justice, Virtue and Temperance). The columns were also decorated by Gainotti himself, while the decorations of the vaults of the naves are by Giacomo Morando from Savona, carried out around 1925.