Scurolo della Beata Panacea

The Scurolo della Beata Panacea: A Sacred Stage

Between 1864 and 1875, Thanks to the bequest of Francesco Stoppani known as “l'Americano”, Antonelli built the Scurolo to house the remains of the Blessed Panacea. Although his ambitious plan to completely rebuild the square and the church (which included a columned pronaos and a hexagonal baptistery) remained on paper, the completed work remains extraordinary.

• Structure: A circular floor plan with twelve columns supporting a dome decorated with hexagons and triangles.
• Lighting: A zenithal skylight diffuses light from above, creating suggestive plays of shadow.
• Visual impact: The altar, raised above the nave, appears as a theatre scene framed by a Serlian arch.

Artistic Details and Craftsmanship

The work was the result of a collaboration between great excellences of the time, many of whom were already working with Antonelli on the site of the San Gaudenzio dome in Novara:

• Frescoes: Paolo Emilio Morgari (entrance archway) and Francesco Toni (angels in the dome).
• Decorations: Stuccoes by Achille Scala and altar by Pietro Rossi.
• The Urn: The body of the Blessed rests in a double urn; the 17th-century inner one in pear wood and silver, the outer one in gilded wood designed by Don Ercole Marietti.

Devotion and Financing

The total cost of the work exceeded ITL 40,000, a large sum for the time, raised not only through legacies but also through the “feast of the offering”, established by parish priest Don Felice Rossari at the end of the grape harvest. The polychrome stained glass windows by Pompeo Bertini (1897) still narrate the life and martyrdom of Panacea, who was killed at only 15 years of age by her stepmother.

Other Antonellian Traces

The architect's influence in Ghemme extends to the Church of San Rocco, where a processional trunk designed by Antonelli. Made of wood by sculptor Francesco Sella, it is still used to transport the precious statue of Our Lady of the Rosary during town celebrations.