The Quadroni of St. Charles are two cycles of paintings depicting the life and

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s of St.

Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat ...

, the first Saint of the Counter-Reformation. These very large paintings (''quadroni''), approximately five by six metres each, are displayed each November in the Milan Cathedral in honor of St. Charles'

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on November 4. They were also exhibited continuously from November 4, 1999 to November 4, 2000 in honor of the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

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celebrations. The first cycle was begun in 1602, 26 years after Charles' death, and is the larger of the two. It is known as ''I fatti della vita del beato Carlo'' ("The Facts of the Life of Blessed Charles"). It consists of 28 paintings depicting his life, concentrating upon his tenure as

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...

. Work on this cycle continued into the late 18th century. The first twenty large paintings, all

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

on canvas, were painted by Il Cerano (4 paintings),

Giovanni Mauro della Rovere Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...

(Il Fiammenghino) (3), Il Duchino (7), Procaccini (1), Carlo Buzzi (2), Domenico Pellegrini (1), and Morazzone. The second cycle, ''I miracoli di San Carlo'' ("The Miracles of St. Charles"), consists of 24 paintings of Charles' miraculous works and healings. These paintings are smaller than the first set, measuring about 2.4 by 4.4 metres. They were all painted between December 1609 and November 1, 1610, when St. Charles was canonized. These paintings were displayed together with the first cycle for the first time on November 4, 1610 in the Milan Cathedral; the paintings of his miracles could not be displayed until he had been declared a Saint.

Gallery of selected works

File:3224 - Milano, Duomo - Carlo Buzzi - Miracolo di suor Angela A. De Seni (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of suor Angela A. De Seni'' by Carlo Buzzi File:3227 - Milano, Duomo - Il Duchino - Miracolo di Marina Ferraro (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of Marina Ferraro'' by il Duchino File:3230 - Milano, Duomo - Il Cerano - Miracolo di Giovanna Marone (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of Giovanna Marone'' by il Cerano File:3236 - Milano, Duomo - Tele di San Carlo, Anonimo, Il miracolo della gamba in cancrena - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of the Gangrenous Leg'', Anonymous File:3368 - Milano, Duomo - Giulio Cesare Procaccini, Miracolo del fanciullo Giovanni Tirone (1610) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of young Giovanni Tirone'' by Procaccini File:3205 - Milano, Duomo - Giorgio Bonola - Miracolo di Marco Spagnolo (1681) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Miracle of Marco Spagnolo'' by Giorgio Bonola File:3220 - Milano, Duomo - Il Fiammenghino - S. Carlo celebra sinodi (1602) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Carlo Borromeo celebrates Synod'' by il Fiammenghino File:Miracolo di Anna Miskowiki Branika (1610).jpg, ''Miracle of Anna Miskowiki Branika'' by Paolo Camillo Landriani, known as il Duchino File:3210 - Milano, Duomo - Filippo Abbiati - S. Carlo entra a Milano (1670-80) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 6-Dec-2007.jpg, ''Carlo Borromeo enters Milan'' by Filippo Abbiati File:Miracolo di Aurelia Degli Angeli (1610).jpg, ''Miracle of Aurelia Degli Angeli''

References

* * Ernesto Brivio. ''Vita e miracoli di S. Carlo Borromeo'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Quadroni Of St. Charles 1600s paintings Italian paintings Paintings in Milan