St. Landry democrat., 1884-10-25
With muslin embroidered in Oriental


with muslin embroidered in Oriental
patterns, through which mellow pic
ture of lake and mountain is visible.
At Locarno, moreover, there is the
first glimpse of the art of Lombardy, in
which some of the towns on the smaller
lakes are so rich. and which has adorned
the entire region with countless churches
and palaces. The front OF the Chiesa
Nuova is by Tommaso Rodari, the fore
most of three brothers who have left
their mark on the architecture and
sculpture of the late fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries throughout North
ern Italy. In the pilgrimage church of
the Madonna del Sasso (0ur Lady of
the Rocky, half an hours walk above
the town, the mild Luini's influence is
seen in an altar-piece by one of his fol-
lowers. trudged up to this sanctuary
one afternoon, to be rewarded by the
expedition itself beyond my expecta-
tons, which were not great Two deep
gorges bring down two noisy, demon-
stratiVe brooks by so precipitous path
that the water is ready to leap into cas-
cades at every step, until they unite
and seek the lake together. Up the
strip of wooded rock between them,
which rises higher and higher, broad
enlng until it joins the mountain,
winds the way to the church. Tt
is very steep and laid in carbonate,
a pavement of cobble-stones crossed
by curb at every few feet, much
like railway track, ballast and sleep
ers, without rails, raised to an angle of
seventy degrees from the level; the
curbs are about as far apart as cross
ties, and it is as hard to walk either
upon OF between them. The pilgrimage
to the Madonna del Sasso should be
made by all but pennitents only after
the sun has set behind the western
mountains. 1t is pretty walk,
although distigured by the stations of
the cross at short intervals; the way
farer passes out of the village under q
long, yine-wreathed pergola, then over
a bridge, then mp the narrow hillside,
between the ravines, to the foot of the
foundation walls of the building, and by
a few more sharp twists to the solitary
little stone piazza from which he enters
the church. 1t dates from miraculous
appearance of the Virgin four hundred
years ago, but has few signs of its age:
within it is as freshly gilded, painted
and frescoed as a hotel dining room,
and is in so far surprise after the lone
" scramble beside the bed of the tor
rent. reached it ut the hour of the
Ave Maria. The church was empty
save for woman and two children.
who were kneeling together, telling
their beads. There was murmur of
prayers and responses uttered by two
invisible ministrants; the voices seemed
to come from behind the high altar, but
priest or acolyte there was none to be
seen. The effect was SO mysterious at
that sunset hour that the renovated
church grew venerable to the quickened
sense Of awe. After the last amen,
while looking for the Luini scholars
painting, I came upon picture of the
Entombment, work of considerable
beauty and religious feeling, by Signor
Cerusi, of Florence, as my fellow-wor-
shipper told me. A modern picture
from our Saviour's history, painted
with talent and skill, yet reverently,
and hidden in side-chapel of this mac
cessible and unvisited little church, was
a strange thing and worth coming to
find. The view of the lake from the
steps is fine, and still better from a
little pillared side-porch, which looks
as if it were the Oldest part of the build
ing, and overhanging the landscape
like the parapet of a castle. The scene
was very lovely; the peaks were pale
rose-color, and blush moisture. like
the dew on dark grapes, rested upon the
surface of the lake. Atlantic Monthly.