Magnificent sculptures are the baroque altar sculptures, metaphoric explosions of shapes meant to surprise and deeply move while manifesting the extraordinary nature of the sacred. This voyage of discovery takes us to see the extraordinary wooden altars from the 17th / 18th century preserved in the churches of Upper Valle Camonica: true treasures, often unexpected, of great historical and artistic value, documents of deep and intense religious devotion attesting the skill and artistry of the ancient craftsmen.

The churches in Upper Valle Camonica contain, even in the smallest towns, a wealth of liturgical furnishings outstanding in quantity and quality.

The altars The 17th-18th-century altar is a total art work where the architectural elements, reliefs, statues, decorations and sacred ornaments make up devices of extraordinary material and iconographic richness, set in the spectacular shapes of the baroque. The altar, in finely carved gilded wood, is formed by a frontal (a decorated panel placed before the block of the Lord’s table), a stand with tabernacle (minute but very rich architecture raised on large steps, meant to contain and highlight the Eucharistic custody) and altarpiece (monumental frame placed on the end wall of the presbytery).

The images The altar is a monumental container of images: frontal, tabernacle and altarpiece are sculpted with very many figures: carved stories, big and small statues of God the Father, of Christ, of Mary and the saints, dozens of angels and plants, fruits, flowers, birds, monsters, vases, ribbons, etc. All the figures, included the ones which decorate the architecture, make up the articulated iconographic programs which supported and guided the education and the devoutness of the believers, celebrating at once the divine presence.

The wood artisans in history Most of the liturgical furnishings of the Upper Valley were made by the Ramus family: Giovanni Battista, to whom some big altarpieces are attributed, made in the middle of the 17th century, and his sons Pietro and Giovanni Domenico, who started a famous and efficient workshop in Mu of Edolo, their father’s hometown. After the apprenticeship in their workshop, Giovanni Battista Zotti joined them. Giovanni Giuseppe Piccini instead worked independently, accomplishing the very beautiful frontals of Cedegolo and Sonico.

The wood artisans today The tradition of artistic woodworking has been handed down to the present day. In the Upper Valley indeed some artisans are working employing the ancient procedures, they make new works or they operate, with great adroitness and delicacy, for the restoration of the historical handiwork.

Workmanship and gold The wooden altars of the Upper Valley show an extraordinary executive skill: in the complexity of the setups, in the quality of the minute and dense decoration and in the very rich inventory of reliefs and figures. Such richness is emphasized by the gilding which coats the surfaces making them shine and giving them a particular brightness, expression of the divine presence. All the communities, even the smallest and most secluded ones, got high quality altars, without skimping on work, on size, on gold; the outcome of such material and spiritual investment continues to marvel us.