Italia Certosa di Pavia 3

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Certosa di Pavia
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Certosa di Pavia Gra-Car (Gratiarum Chartusia
la Certosa delle Grazie) is a monastery and
complex in Lombardy, northern Italy, situated
near a small town of the same name in the
Province of Pavia, 8 km north of Pavia. Built in
1396-1495, it was once located on the border of a
large hunting park belonging to the Visconti
family of Milan, of which today only scattered
parts remain. It is one of the largest
monasteries in Italy.
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In 1866 Certosa di Pavia was declared a National
Monument and sequestrated by the Italian State,
although some Benedictines resided there until
1880. The monks currently living in the monastery
are Cistercians admitted to it in the 1960s.
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Certosa is the Italian name for a house of the
cloistered monastic order of Carthusians founded
by St. Bruno in 1044 at Grande Chartreuse. The
Certosa is renowned for the exuberance of its
architecture, in both the Gothic and Renaissance
styles, and for its collection of artworks which
are particularly representative of the region.
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From the 9th to the 12th century the Italian
kings, and several German kings, received the
Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia, capital of the
Lombard kings. In the 12th century the city
became a free commune, loyal, however, to the
emperor. It was the last Lombard city to fall to
the Visconti (1359), who built most of the
cathedral and started the construction of the
Certosa di Pavia, a Carthusian monastery
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Certosa di Pavia Gra-Car (Gratiarum Chartusia
la Certosa delle Grazie) is one of the largest
monasteries in Italy. All over the monastery
you'll find the Gra-Car sign, designating the
original name of the Charterhouse of Pavia
(Gratiarum Chartusia, Charterhouse of the Graces)
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Fresco and inlaid stone decoration
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The Certosa represents a real art treasury,
inside as well as outside. The crypt sacristy
contains, among other treasures, a triptych the
stories of the Virgin, the Magi and the Prophet
Balam, in ivory and hippopotamus' ivory, by
Baldassarre degli Embriachi, 1400-1409, donated
by Gian Galeazzo Visconti. This is the only
significant remaining artifact from the original
church after a thorough loot by Napoleonic troops
at the end of the 1700s.  It's about 2 meters wide
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The refectory is the place where the monks went
to eat (on the one day a week they were allowed
out of their cottages). They ate in silent
listening the words of God. On the wall you can
see the Last Supper, fresco by Ottavio Semino.
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The refectory, which was the church for the first
100 years or so of the Certosa's life.  Note the
screen wall which separated the monks (who had a
cottage each and only came together for Sunday
lunch) from the lay brothers (who had a bed in
the communal dormitory).  This was a universal
feature of Carthusian churches, their Cistercian
counterparts and indeed all abbey churches.  You
won't find any evidence of the screens in today's
remaining Cistercian abbey churches, but the
screens in most ex-monastic English cathedrals
have the same origins - the separation of choir
monks from "the rest".
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There are many notable decorative sculptural
works which include the carved wooden choir
stalls, magnificent wooden choir carvings,
designed by Bergognone
Magnificent wooden choir carvings, designed by
Bergognone
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Ambrogio Bergognone furnished the designs of the
figures of the virgin, saints and apostles for
the choir-stalls, executed in tarsia or inlaid
wood work by Bartolomeo Pola
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An elegant portal, with sculptures by the
Mantegazza brothers and Giovanni Antonio Amadeo,
leads from the church to the Small Cloister (in
Italian Chiostro Piccolo) This has a small
garden in the center.
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The small cloister is one of the most beautiful
place of the Certosa. In the middle it has got a
nice garden. The small cloister was the heart of
the monks comunity and it connected the church
with the other rooms of the monastery. The
statues on the pillars of the cloister are works
made by Rinaldo de Stauris between 1463 and 1478.
In some arches you can see the frescoes made by
Daniele Crespi.
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From this cloister you can see a interesting
view of the left side of the church.
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Some arcades of the small cloister are decorated
by frescoes by Daniele Crespi, now partially
ruined.
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On the south side of the cloister is the
lavatorium for the monks to wash their hands on
the way into the refectory (on the one day a week
they were allowed out of their cottages). The
terracotta relief above shows "the episode of the
Samaritan to the well More attractively, above
this is a riveting two panel annunciation
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The second cloister is much more spacious with
the large green and the small monk cells around
it. The Grand Cloister (Italian Chiostro
Grande), measures c.125x100 meters. The elegant
cells of the monks open to the central garden.
The arcades have columns with precious
decorations in terracotta, with tondoes
portraying saints, prophets and angels,
alternatively in white and pink Verona marble.
There were once also paintings by Vincenzo Foppa,
now disappeared.
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From the back, what it was theoretically all
about - each of the 24 Carthusian hermit monks
had their own cottage at the back of the Certosa,
where they could get on with closing with God
whilst the lay brothers popped the occasional
meal into the serving hatch which was built into
each cottage. Every one of the 24 houses of the
monks has got three rooms and a garden. Near the
entrance of the house there is a hole where the
monk received his food during the day.
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The path to the church.
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Presentation Sanda Foisoreanu
2013
Sound Nova Schola Gregoriana -
Offertoria Iustitiae Domini