The

pieve In Italy in the Middle Ages, a ''pieve'' (, ; ; : ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. ''Pieve'' is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/a ...

of Our Lady of the Snows (in Italian: ''pieve di Santa Maria della Neve'') is a Romanesque church located in

Quarantoli Quaràntoli (''Quaréntul'' in mirandolese dialect) is a frazione of Mirandola, in the province of Modena. It is about 5 km from Mirandola and 35 km from the provincial capital. History In a document signed in Pavia on 24 June 904, Kin ...

, village near

Mirandola Mirandola (Emilian language#Dialects, Mirandolese: ) is a city and ''comune'' of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, northeast of the Modena, provincial capital by railway. History Mirandola originated as a Renaissance Defensiv ...

, in the

province of Modena The province of Modena () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena. It has an area of and a total population of about 701,000 (2015). There are 48 ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in th ...

and

Roman Catholic Diocese of Carpi The Diocese of Carpi () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Emilia Romagna, Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Modena-Nonantola.

History

Already existing in the 9th century during the feud of Ugo di Maginfredo, the presence of the parish church is attested in a historical document of 1044, which mentions the important cultural and religious nucleus of Quarantoli, like the

abbey of Nonantola Nonantola Abbey, dedicated to Saint Sylvester, is a former Benedictine monastery and '' prelature nullius'' in the commune of Nonantola, c. 10 km north-east of Modena, in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The abbey church remains as a basili ...

. The church was completely rebuilt in the 12th century by

Matilde di Canossa Matilda of Tuscany (; or ; – 24 July 1115), or Matilda of Canossa ( ), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was one ...

. The altar bears the date 15 November 1114, when the consecration of the parish church took place. In the 15th century there were some restorations and the bell tower was built. Around 1670, the façade was rebuilt in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. In 1821 the parish of Quarantoli passed from the

diocese of Reggio Emilia In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

to that of Carpi. In 1915, numerous works were carried out to enhance the Romanesque origins, which also doubled the length of the naves, to which a presbytery surrounded by an ambulatory was added. In May 2012 the church was severely damaged by the Emilia earthquake: the wall of the left

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

collapsed, the façade is unsafe and the whole church is unfit for use.

Architecture

The original structure of the Romanesque building, with a basilica plan, consists of aisles ending in three apses that are divided into five bays of segmental arches resting on bilobed pillars. On the south side of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

there is a reconstructed

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

containing some 12th-13th century Romanesque sculptures depicting the symbols of the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

: on the front side of the pulpit there is a lion (St Mark), a bull (St Luke) and an eagle (St John), while on the right side there is an effigy of St Matthew. These ancient sculptures are attributed to the circle of

Wiligelmo Wiligelmo (also known as Wiligelmus, Gulielmo da Modena, Cousin of Elmo or Guglielmo da Modena) was an Italian sculptor active between c. 1099 and 1120. He was among the earliest sculptors in Italy to produce large-format architectural sculptures. ...

(who also created the

cathedral of Modena Modena Cathedral ( but colloquially known as simply ''Duomo di Modena'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Modena, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saint Geminianus. Formerly the seat of the Diocese, later Archdiocese, of ...

and its decorations). The pulpit is then supported by two stone

telamon In Greek mythology, Telamon (; Ancient Greek: Τελαμών, ''Telamōn'' means "broad strap") was the son of King Aeacus of Aegina, and Endeïs, a mountain nymph. The elder brother of Peleus, Telamon sailed alongside Jason as one of his Argon ...

s representing respectively a young man and an old man kneeling and suffering. On the left side of the presbytery there is a

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

rebuilt in recent times by reusing columns and capitals originally used in an ancient cloister that no longer exists. The capitals, each one different from the others, are carved with different themes, such as animals, leaves, lions and horned anthropomorphic heads. The baptismal chapel is decorated with a

scagliola Scagliola (from the Italian language, Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements t ...

antependium An ''antependium'' (from Latin ''ante-'' and ''pendēre'', "to hang before"; : ''antependia''), also known as a pulpit fall, parament or hanging, or, when speaking specifically of the hanging for the altar, an altar frontal (Latin: ''pallium al ...

of the Carpi school from 1686 and a 16th-century ''Madonna and Child'' of the Venetian-Cretan school. The altar is made of a pair of elegant late-Romanesque pillars of the Modena school, one surmounted by a sculpted cubic capital with sloping foliage and the other sculpted in a bundle of knotted columns with a volute capital, supporting the mensa.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Cite web, title=Chiesa parrocchiale di S. Maria ad Nives / Chiesa Madonna della Neve di Quarantoli, url=https://openricostruzione.regione.emilia-romagna.it/intervento/f709, website=Open Ricostruzione, publisher=Regione Emilia-Romagna Roman Catholic churches in Mirandola

History

Architecture

See also

References

Bibliography

External links