Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-10-04
A Festival ON Ferrari's Birthday.

LttteT 10 tDe IODuOn
The ODD of August and the three fol-
lowing days witnessed highly inter-
esting festival in the Sesia Valley, on
the skirts Of the Alps, to the north of
Novara. The four-hundredth anniver-
sary of the birth Of the eminent painter
Gaudenzio Ferrari, called by some the
Raphael of North Italy, was celebrated
in a singularly appropriate and sue
cessful manner. At Valduggia, the Sc
questered hamlet where he was born,
the festivities opened, and were carried
on for the next three days at the neigh
boring little town Of Varallo,
whose exquisitely beautiful situation
and exceptional artistic interest height
ened the charm of the commemoration
feast. The town was prettily decorated
for the occasion, and, though remotely
situated and many miles from railway
station, was crowded by an influx Of
visitors, of all orders and degrees, from
the representative Of the Duke of Aosta
down to the lowest peasant from some
little village around. The authorities,
members Of the committee, and invited
guests met at 2 on Sunday, the ODD, in
the hall of the School Of Design, and
then proceeded to the Piazza Fer
rari. Here, within sight of the artists
memorial statue, Of the Church of the
Madonna dele Giraffe, that contains his
great fresco, and Of the sanctuary that
towers on the heights above, and which
he adorned with more Of his mastery
work, the inaugural ceremony took
place. Professor Celesia's speech in
eulogy Of the illustrious Valsesian
artist was listened to by an apprecia-
tive crowd Of Valsesians, gentle and
simple. For foreigner, not the least
striking feature was the display Of the
picturesque costumes of the peasants
of the neighboring valleys. The
dress, which is extremely becoming,
was assumed also on this occasion
by some Of the ladies present and their
children. An occasional " hymn of
praise, executed by the city band, with
q chorus, brought the open-air proceed
ings to a close. The succeeding cere-
monies included, besides, the opening
Of fne-art loan exhibition of the
works Of Valsesian artists, ancient and
modern, and the performances in the
Church Of the Madonna dele Grazie
of choral symphony written expressly
for the festival by Cagnoni, maestro di
eapella at Novara. At night the town
was prettily illuminated, the tasteful
and ingenious contrivances producing
in the narrow streets and irregularly
picturesque piazze a better effect than
is often obtained by moro elaborate
means. A requiem mass, also COM
posed for the occasion by Cagnoni, and
creditably performed by a numerous
orchestra and chorus in the church be-
longing to the sanctuary on the hill,
formed worthy conclusion to the fes-
tival. Varallo is town Of some
$500 inhabitants, but it would be diff
cult to find in many a place Of greater
importance the will or the power to
carry out an artistic commemoration in
so thoroughly agreeable q manner. No
thing could exceed the courtesy shown
by the authorities to the foreigners who
attended. The festival, which passed
off without a flaw, will not soon be for
gotten by those lovers Of art who had
the good fortune IN he nresent.