In the XVII century: the Church
The visitor who enters Marostica from Porta Vicenza and looks north, along the direction of Via S. Antonio, sees high on the white staircase the Chiesa dei Carmini, built between 1618 and 1619 by the Confraternita del Carmine, newly established with the aim of increasing the cult of the Blessed Virgin of Carmel in the Marosticana community. The initial group was 36 confreres, who, led by the prior Alvise Bertagnon, sought Mr. Francesco and Pietro brothers Stroppari and Mr. Epradalso Boscarino, who wanted to give them certain walls placed in Marostica in Contrà della Ca' Grande (Carmini) ... and in honour of the Lord Iddio and the B.V. With few means, but with courage and much faith, the Church was built in a short time (beginning of work August 5, 1618 – end of work and consecration August 11, 1619) and subsequently furnished and adorned with paintings, marble and stucco, finely decorated wooden altars and the statue of the Virgin, object of great popular devotion.
The origins of the Oratorio dei Carmini
In 1648, to the west of the Church, in its contiguity, an Oratory was erected, as the seat of the Brotherhood, a place suitable for prayer, singing and assemblies of devotees interested in maintaining and increasing worship and pious works. This is attested by what Gio gives us. Paolo Matteazzi in his Manuscript History of Marostica. The historian, who writes at the beginning of the eighteenth century. and who in 1708 was 48 years old, certainly witnessed the first decades of life of this Oratory, in fact verbatim he states, speaking of the nearby Chiesa del Carmine: “...Fabbrica bellissima d'un Oratorio a parte della Chiesa l'anno 1648". In a few years the Brotherhood gave itself a solid structure, even economic, thanks above all to the legacy of Alvise Bertagnon, according to Priore of the Brotherhood itself (with his will, April 30, 1628) and an organisation, such as to contribute publicly to the management of the cult, not only of the Church of the Carmine, of which he was Antonio Abate, when in 1656 the Franciscan Convent, annexed to the Church, was suppressed by papal decree. Evidently the Confraternity of Carmine had the means to subsidise the officiating clergy in the two Churches and thus asserted its presence and its role in the community of the faithful of Marostica.
The pictorial cycle
Between the years 1648 and 1657 the pictorial decoration of the walls and vault of the Oratory of Carmine was performed, as evidenced by the excellent recovery carried out by the Restoration Studio of Dr. Alessandra Sella and Dr. Barbara D'Incau. The pictorial cycle, wanted and commissioned by the Brotherhood of Carmine, has as a whole a profound religious significance, as it refers to a precise symbology linked to the Scriptures, the Christian message and its actualisation in the counter-reformist era: the vault with the starry sky, the Holy Trinity, the scene of the Annunciation, the four Evangelists, the A Girolamo and in S. Filippo Neri, scenes that illustrate the life of these two patron saints of the Brotherhood of the Carmine. It is a work of undoubted historical-artistic value, which could go back to a workshop of painters from outside Veneto. The paintings would be executed by multiple hands and at different times between 1648 and 1657.
The "Boiserie"
On the West, South and East sides runs a fir wood panelling, entirely original, except for the first four panels of the East wall, starting from the large window. After the careful cleaning done by the Master Restorer Leopoldo Costenaro, the names emerged at more or less regular intervals, probably written in encaustic *, with calligraphic and cursive care, of the confreres that in a certain period gave rise to the Council of the Brotherhood of Carmine. He was then priore Dalla Zuanna Giovanni, whose name appears clearly legible in the centre of the boiserie on the South side, in the place that was supposed to be proper to the "Capo" (chief), while on the right and left the names of his direct collaborators are to be identified: the councillors, the massors, the mayors, the chancellor (at the moment it is almost Of the other names few are legible (Merlo Bortolo, Merlo Giovanni, Malia Raffaele, Spagnolo Francesco, Costacurta Giovanni), some even surmount in double writing. It is very interesting that, in correspondence with some more or less legible names, you can see, written below, the role played by the confrere concerned: master of novices, chorus (on the west wall), sacristan, secretary of the Oratory (on the east wall). Encaustic * = pictorial technique, in use among the ancients, which uses loose colours in molten wax and heated at the time of painting.
Sodalitas Cantorum
Via Carmini, 6 – 36063 Marostica (VI)
President: Esq. Teobaldo Tassotti
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