Salita al Pordenone

The Salita al Pordenone is a cultural initiative whose main objective is to valorize the Basilica of Santa Maria di Campagna as a "crossroads of artists". In addition to the works of Pordenone, in fact, in the church wanted by Pope Clement VII - works by Guercino (canvas, in the right wall of the nave, depicting the apparition of the Angel to the wife of Manue, about 1636), by Ignazio Stern (Annunciation, 1734), by Antonio Campi (fresco of St. Elizabeth made in 1572 for the Visitation), by Bernardino Gatti called the Sojaro (frescoes of the tambour and pendentives); all these works inspired Luigi Miradori known as the Genovesino, characterized by an artistic itinerary contrary to the one of Pordenone, having lived first in Piacenza and then in Cremona. An event dedicated to the "crossroads of artists", which is part of a unitary scientific context which embraces Piacenza, a crossroads also of pilgrims, merchants and bankers: a trilogy that the Banca di Piacenza will develop and valorize in the years to come.

THE WALKWAY OF THE ARTISTS

The frescoes by Pordenone on the dome of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Campagna can be admired closely, as never before. An event (from March 4 to June 10, 2018) that rediscovers the "Walkway of artists", a route that - as often remembered by the late Ferdinando Arisi - was used by the students of the Art Institute Gazzola to see the frescoes by Pordenone "in altitude" and to study the perspective (some even wrote their surnames, with still visible graffiti). A circular gallery opens on to the city on the outside and it is where the frescoes of the dome can be admired in altitude. The Salita - restored by the Banca di Piacenza following the directions of the Superintendent - has been equipped with a waiting area (the walkway is unique and should therefore be used for both the ascent and descent) where visitors can stop to receive information from illustrated panels and from guides recruited among students and new graduates. Studies on Pordenone, but also on the history of the Basilica, show that the church was built where once a little church dedicated to Our Lady was located, situated on a large open space where, shortly after the year 1000 AD, a Council took place during which Urban II announced the first Crusade.