Cappella dei Mercanti, Turin
The cappella dei Mercanti, Negozianti e Banchieri, better known as cappella dei Mercanti, is a Catholic chapel in the historic city center of Turin, Italy.
The chapel, whose construction was authorized during the 16th century, was built at the end of the 1600s and most of the artwork it contains originated in the 1600 and 1700s, in the baroque style.
The sacristy hosts the Perpetual Calendar built by the engineering Giovanni Plana, a primitive computing machine.
History and description
The Pious Congregation of Bankers, Merchants and Merchants of Turin was chartered in 1663, and built its own chapel inside the Jesuit palace, on the city block of San Paolo on Via Dora Grossa, now Via Garibaldi. The space is adjacent to the sixteenth century Church of the Holy Martyrs, which was staffed by the Jesuits. The chapel was built during the rectorate of the Fr. Agostino Provana. Inaugurated in 1692, the large rectangular hall was decorated in the following years thanks to the guidance of Provana.The theme of the interior decorations is the Epiphany, which represents the manifestation of Christ to the powerful of the earth and on which day the Congregation celebrates its own feast.
The walls of the chapel present numerous seventeenth-century paintings, all inspired by the theme of the Biblical Magi. On the left wall Herod with the Magi and the wise ''men by Sebastiano Taricco, Journey of the Magi towards Bethlehem by Luigi Vannier, Opening of the treasures of the Wise Men by Stefano Maria Legnani by Sebastiano Taricco. On the left wall Appearance of the star to the Magi by Andrea Pozzo, King David meditates on the mystery of the Epiphany by Stefano Maria Legnani, Massacre of the Innocents by Andrea Pozzo, and Procession of the Magi into Jerusalem by Niccolò Carone. The paintings are alternated with marbled wooden statues made by Carlo Giuseppe Plura between 1707 and 1715 depicting popes and Church Fathers; John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, and Saint Ambrose on the left wall and Saint Jerome, Saint Leo the Great, and Saint Augustine on the right wall. Plana also carved the marble bust of the Madonna to the left of the altar.
The altar dates back to 1797 and is the work of Michele Emanuele Buscaglione. On either side there are two reliquaries, while on the wall there are three paintings by the Jesuit painter Andrea Pozzo: Nativity with shepherds, Adoration of the Magi , and Flight to Egypt. The baroque fresco
In the sacristy there are the altarpiece Adoration of the Magi by Guglielmo Caccia, and a Piccolo Trono'' by Michele Brassiè, together with a Natale Favriano wardrobe from 1712. The sacristy also houses precious Antependi and the archive of the Congregation.
On 21 January 2017 the chapel was returned to the public after a period of renovation.