FRESCOES (exterior/interior) AND PAINTINGS (interior) IN THE CHAPEL
The chapel has two types of frescoes painted in totally different periods (and also there are two ancient paintings hanging on the entrance wall).
With regard to all these types of paintings, can essentially be divided into interior frescoes , exterior frescoes and paintings .
Interior frescoes (and Signs)
They are the most beautiful and the oldest frescoes of the chapel, they are those contained inside in the part
enclosed by the church and are not visible from the road in front of it.
They are on three sides around the altar which is placed in a central position.
Below I refer you to the page dedicated to each of the walls for a more detailed review and photos.
Exterior frescoes
They are the three external frescoes on the facade under the porch, which are of late period and we can say less
interesting from an artistic and valuable point of view.
In the center is the representation of the Madonna and Child, with the inscription: "Ora pro nobis Regina Montis Regalis",
to remember the Marian devotion of the city and of the inhabitants of Mondově towards the Mother of Jesus to whom
the inhabitants of Mondově rely on calling her "Regina del Monte Regale".
Above is a double date: 1876 - 1981, which suggests a late-nineteenth-century origin and a subsequent restoration of the 1981 painting.
Next to the Virgin, on the left looking at the chapel, the painting of Saint Bernard,
saint to whom the chapel is dedicated and on the right the painting of Saint Rocco, protector against the plague.
Pictures
Inside the chapel, always in the enclosed part not visible from the street, there are two paintings hanging on the entrance wall,
at the access door (one on the left and one on the right).
On the left side of the entrance there is a painting with another representation of Saint Bernard,
on the right that of Saint Mambotto (saint to whom is also dedicated a chapel in Mondovì in via San Bernolfo, not far away).
Although they are not frescoes and their dating is certainly not ancient (and the value is comparable to those of Antonio da Monteregale),
are represented here for their equal beauty and uniqueness and the affective value of the faith of the inhabitants of the village
to these saints in all these centuries.
THE ATTRIBUTION OF THE FRESCOES
The attribution of the frescoes to the hand of master Antonio Dragone from Monteregale,
has been hypothesized on the basis of pictorial elements
and particular themes, was made after scrupulous and numerous examinations of the cycles of frescoes presented.
The affinities of manner or design assume greater value in the comparative examination of the abundant documentation of the art of the Maritime Alps.
The search for the personality of this master in the figures and colors that speak to us from the ancient walls is always suggestive and exciting.
(*) ref. BIBLIOGRAPHY