FERRARI, Gaudenzio
(b. ca. 1475, Valduggia, d. 1546, Milano)

Assumption of the Virgin

1534-38
Fresco
Santuario Madonna dei Miracoli, Saronno

The overall design of the decoration of the dome and the paintings are by Gaudenzio Ferrari, the wood sculptures were executed by Andrea da Milano and Giulio Oggione.

Domes, which vault the crossing and altar of countless churches, lend themselves well to being transformed into paintings of the sky. The round shape above our heads seems to open onto a higher world, so that God and the things of heaven become visually present at the church holiest spot.

In their attempts to make manifestations of heaven in the dome convincingly realistic, artists did not always rely on illusionistic paintings of clouds. In the dome of the Marian sanctuary in Saronno, Gaudenzio Ferrari staged the Assumption of Mary as an interplay of sculptures and fresco. Mary is a wood sculpture standing on the drum of the dome, encircled by prophets and sibyls,; God the Father, another wood sculpture, is awaiting her with open arms in the crown of the dome. Ferrari painted the shell of the dome between them with dense wreath of angels singing and playing instruments. About fifty different instruments can be identified in the angelic concert. Ferrari, who was a musician himself,, not only leads the view up to heaven by means of painting and sculpture, but also hints at its joys with music and song.