Located in one of the oldest areas of the city, the Oratory stands on the area destined for burials, in front of the church of S. Lucia, which had been donated to the fraternity of SS. Rocco and Lucia. In 1476, the Confraternity of S. Rocco acquired a building for the chapter meetings. In 1525, the construction of the current building began; the works were completed in 1542, the year in which the bishop blessed the Oratory.
The building consists of two superimposed rooms, with an irregular rectangular plan and is open on two sides. The lower room represents the ancient chapel with the altar located on the wall opposite the entrance. The walls of the lower room are completely frescoed: the scenes, which depict some episodes from the life of San Rocco, seem to take place beyond a colonnade and the openings of the room (windows and oculi) are incorporated into the pictorial composition. The cycle, which alternates landscape scenes, domestic interiors, architectures, topped by friezes with grotesque decorations, was created between 1536 and 1545 by Domenico Campagnola (Venice 1500 – Padua 1564), Girolamo Tessari called dal Santo (Padua about 1480 – after 1561), Gualtiero Padovano, Stefano Dall’Arzere (documented in Padua from 1540 to 1564). In 1697, the altarpiece with Madonna and Saints by Alessandro Maganza was placed on the altar of the lower floor room.
Following long negotiations with the State, the Oratory passed to the Municipality of Padua, which contributed to the expenses necessary for the restorations carried out between 1926 and 1929. The facade plaster was redone, inside it was necessary to proceed with the reconstruction in cement of the ceiling of the vaults, on which the painter Cherubini reproduced the original decoration. Interventions to support the beams were carried out on the ceiling of the lower room. A subsequent restoration campaign, to meet the most urgent needs, took place in 1950. On this occasion about twenty square meters of fresco to the right of the altar were detached, cleaned, and reinstalled. The campaign started in 1984 was based on a series of preliminary investigations, aimed at documenting with scientific analyses the state of preservation of the frescoes, as well as the materials and techniques used.
Information on Oratorio San Rocco
Via S. Lucia,
35100 Padua (Padua)
049660836
musei@comune.padova.it
https://padovacultura.padovanet.it/homepage-6.0/2010/12/oratorio_di_s_rocco.html
Source: MIBACT
