Passion according to Jaquerio in Buttigliera Alta

At the Preceptory of Sant’Antonio di Ranverso on Sunday 20 and Monday 21 April “The Passion according to Jaquerio”. Guided tour of the frescoes of the greatest Piedmontese exponent of international Gothic.

The Ascent of Christ to Calvary is the masterpiece of the Turin painter Giacomo Jaquerio, the greatest exponent of international Gothic, created in the chapel used as a sacristy of the Preceptory of Sant’Antonio di Ranverso in the first quarter of the 15th century.

What distinguishes this depiction from the other frescoes in the chapel is the rendering of the characters that appears more realistic within a dramatic scene. To increase the devotees' meditation and participation in the suffering of Christ's Passion, Jaquerio has in fact accentuated the pathetic and dramatic characteristics of the scene. The space is not rendered with a correct perspective vision, but the sense of depth is obtained by arranging the characters in an arch and placing the faces of the subjects furthest back in a higher position than those of the characters in the foreground.

In the crowd, the contrast between Good and Evil is evident in the choice of colors and in a certain type of gesture. The characters holding the cross or the one pulling Jesus with a rope have features so altered and deformed that they almost seem to have non-human connotations. Among the crowd, we can recognize the blacksmith, to whom the Jews turn to make the nails of the cross of Christ, in the man holding three nails and a hammer (his participation in the events of the Passion is found in some popular theatrical representations spread in France and England) and Judas with the beard and red hair (a color that recalls violence and the flames of hell) and the yellow dress to evoke betrayal.

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Preceptory of Sant'Antonio di Ranverso

Town of Buttigliera Alta