The Church of the Annunziata and the adjacent monastery of San Francesco are located not far from the center of Cortemaggiore.
Both religious buildings date back to the end of the 15th century. Construction began in 1487 and the large complex was consecrated in 1499. As early as 1492, however, it housed twenty Friars Minor from Reggio Emilia.
The Church of the Annunziata
The church has a basilica plan, in Gothic-Renaissance style, with three naves.
Inside stands the magnificent Pallavicino Chapel, where the mausoleums of the Pallavicino family were located, transferred to the Collegiate Church in 1812, after the Napoleonic suppression of the monastic orders.
Pordenone’s Frescoes
The greatest artist of the Friulian Renaissance, Giovanni Antonio de Sacchis known as Pordenone, left several testimonies of his art in the Piacenza area. One of these is the Pallavicino Chapel, located inside the Church of the Annunziata in Cortemaggiore. Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, this chapel represents the real treasure kept inside the Franciscan church, also known as the “Church of the Friars”.
The small space houses a cycle of frescoes that well illustrates Pordenone’s typical style. Through a perfect synthesis of his Venetian training, Nordic models and Roman influences, the Friulian painter created a true illusionistic masterpiece on the walls of the church. This work is today placed by scholars in the years 1529-1530.
The occasion for commissioning Pordenone to carry out this decorative feat arose in 1527, when Gian Ludovico II Pallavicino, lord of Cortemaggiore, passed away.
In fact, the family decided to commission an artist of such established fame as Pordenone, already famous for his frescoes in Cremona Cathedral, for the new decoration of the family chapel.
De Sacchis frescoed every available wall space of the small octagonal chapel. He also painted the altarpiece. Unfortunately, the original painting is now in the Farnese Collection of the Capodimonte Museum in Naples, while a copy from the Baroque period is on site. The entire decorative design exalts the theme of the Immaculate Conception, very dear to the Franciscan rule.
The uniqueness of the Pallavicino Chapel lies in the skill with which Pordenone created a synthesis between real and painted space. In fact, most of the architectural elements visible on the walls of the chapel are frescoed. The only real structures are the altar and the stucco frame with winged angel heads.
San Francesco Monastery
The monastery is coeval with the church and consists of a two-storey building organised around a central porticoed courtyard.
After the suppression of the monastery in 1805, the building was rented to a private individual together with the church (reopened for worship in 1866) and suffered severe damage from a fire.
In 1870, a community of friars re-established themselves there and undertook restoration work.
For years, the convent housed a community of Sacramentine Fathers, the state nursery school and the municipal library.
