San Bernardino is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church and convent located on Via Monte Navale in the town of

Ivrea Ivrea (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it straddles the Dora Baltea and is ...

Province of Turin The province of Turin (; ; ) was a Provinces of Italy, province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Turin. The province existed until 31 December 2014, when it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Turin. Geography It ...

, region of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, Italy.

History

The convent was built between 1455 and 1465 and dedicated to San

Bernardino da Siena Bernardino of Siena, OFM (Bernardine or Bernadine; 8 September 138020 May 1444), was an Italian Catholic priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of scholastic economics. His preaching, his book burnings, an ...

, who reputedly preached in Ivrea in 1418. The church was completed by 1457. In 1465, the original arches of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

façade was enveloped by new construction, and two of the arches became part of new chapels. By the beginning of the 19th century, the convent had been requisitioned by occupying troops and by 1805, the property was deconsecrated and in 1907 made by engineer

Camillo Olivetti Samuel David Camillo Olivetti (August 13, 1868 – December 1943) was an Italian electrical engineer and founder of Olivetti & Co., SpA., the Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines. The company was later run ...

into a residence. Between 1955 and 1958, major reconstruction modified the appearance of the convent, to house the headquarters of the social services of the

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been owned b ...

company: but restoration work was performed on the church. The church wall houses the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

fresco cycle of the ''Life and Passion of Christ'' (1480–1490) by

Giovanni Martino Spanzotti Giovanni Martino Spanzotti (c. 1455 – c. 1528; also known as ''Gian Martino Spanzotti'') was an Italian painter active in Piedmont, Lombardy and northern Italy. Biography He was born in Casale Monferrato and died in Chivasso. Little is kn ...

. The work consists of twenty scenes placed around the large panel of the Crucifixion; with central spandrels depicting the ''Last Judgment and Hell''. The pilasters have images of St

Bernardino of Siena Bernardino of Siena, Order of Friars Minor, OFM (Bernardine or Bernadine; 8 September 138020 May 1444), was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholasticism, ...

and Christ as "Imago Pietatis", and two lateral spandrels depict the ''Expulsion from Paradise'' and ''Purgatory''. The frescoes in back of the lateral chapels are attributed to Nicolas Robert, court painter of Amedeo IX of Savoy.Comune of Ivrea
entry on the church.

References

Roman Catholic churches in Ivrea 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Buildings and structures completed in 1465 Churches completed in the 1460s {{Piedmont-RC-church-stub