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What it is and where it is
The Oleggio Museum of Religious Art was founded in 1970 by Father Augusto Mozzetti, archpriest of the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul. Father Mozzetti realized that Oleggio's churches and religious buildings concealed real treasures of art and history. But since some of these buildings were located in the open country and since there was also a lack of custodians, the archpriest decided to collect all these objects: paintings, processional banners, reliquaries, sacred vestments, etc., in the premises of some ancient confraternities that were located inside the church.
Why it is special
This museum tells of traditions now lost. There were as many as six confraternities in Oleggio ; today only one remains. Each had an oratory or chapel, and the brethren bought and commissioned paintings, furnishings, wooden choirs, and banners. They tried to adorn their space as best they could, showing off their wealth. All this has been collected here to pass on the history and work of the Oleggio fraternities.
Not to be missed
A real surprise is the 15th-century polychrome wooden statue of Our Lady of Galnago; the painting depicting Our Lady of the Roses by Bernardo Zenale is dated to the late 15th, early 16th century; The robed statue of Our Lady of the Rosary, the dress she wears is from 1743. Also part of the museum's rich textile heritage is a chasuble, a liturgical vestment worn by the priest to say Mass) made of black velvet. It appears to have been worn by the venerable Henry Stanislaus Verjus, born in Oleggio who was the first Catholic Christian missionary to New Guinea.
A bit of history
Father Mozzetti faced the decline and loss of memory of the fraternities. This difficult period began in the 1960s: as society changed, the confraternities also waned and these art objects were in danger of being forgotten. Today the work started by Father Mozzetti is carried on by a few volunteers.
Curiosity
In 2007 it was decided to restore a dressed statue depicting Our Lady of the Rosary, no one suspected that under the elegant 18th-century dress, worn by the dummies, was concealed the oldest garment: a pinafore made of blue silk damask, dated between the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
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