Aosta · Italy

Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso

A secret is kept here that nobody saw for centuries. In the eleventh century the high walls of this church were covered with a cycle of Ottonian frescoes: the story of Christ and the story of Saint Orso, large figures with fixed stares, painted to be read at a distance by people who could not read. Then, in the fifteenth century, it was decided to lower the ceiling with new vaults. The frescoes remained above them, in the roof space, in darkness, and there they lay forgotten for five hundred years. When somebody climbed up to look in the twentieth century, he found them intact: preserved by the very people who had concealed them, and with no intention of preserving anything. Below, in the church, you walk as usual. Above your head, in the dark, is a millennium of painting that no generation between theirs and ours was able to see.

Go deeper

Who was Saint Orso?

A churchman who lived in Aosta, by tradition between the fifth and sixth centuries, remembered for his charity to the poor. The church grew around his tomb, and a whole quarter around the church.

Can the frescoes be seen?

Yes, but not from the nave: you climb into the roof space, usually on a guided visit and in small numbers. It is worth the queue.

What does Ottonian mean?

It refers to the age of the Otto emperors, between the tenth and eleventh centuries. Solemn painting, large figures and fixed stares, a long way from realism: it was there to tell a story, not to resemble.

Where it is

Porticato Chiostro Sant Orso, 11100 Aosta · 45.73935, 7.32535 · Open in Maps

Listen where it happened

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