ORATORY SANTI FILIPPO AND GIACOMO

ORATORY SANTI FILIPPO AND GIACOMO

The oratory, dedicated to the Saints Philip and James, is currently owned by the parish of Albettone. It dates back to the 13th century. In those times there was a hospice attached to the oratory, that was run by a secular community of religious monks. It was subsequently taken over by the regular Canons of Saint Augustine of the Congregation of Saint Mark of Mantua, who came to Vicenza in the early thirteenth century. Precisely, the oldest news that testifies to the existence of the church of San Giacomo was written on a parchment dated the 12th of March 1228. When Villa Negri was built in the fifteenth-century, the church was incorporated into the large residence, communicating with the side wings of the building, as can be seen from the map dated 1603. In 1583, on the occasion of the Episcopal visit, the church was still dedicated only to Saint James and belonged to the Campiglia family. Following the marriage between Elena Campiglia and the Marquis Guido Sforza Gonzaga, which took place in 1584, the oratory became the property of the Gonzagas. Subsequently, it came into the possession of the Brescia Count Filippo Mazzucchelli. In 1745, during the Episcopal visit, the parish priest Pietro Dalla Vecchia reported that the Maroli family owned the oratory.

Later, towards the end of the eighteenth century, the Salvi counts took over. The sacellum was rebuilt in the second half of the nineteenth century in Lombard-Byzantine style based on the design of the architect Antonio Calegaro Negrin, by a commission of the Negri De’Salvi family. On the main altar, there is a seventeenth-century altarpiece depicting: Saints Philip and James on the sides and the Virgin with Baby Jesus held in her lap, in the centre. To the right of the main entrance, there is an octagonal chapel that houses the tombs of this noble family. The solemnity of this church took place on the first Sunday of May, known as the Sagra di San Giacomo and the display of flowers in the Salvi garden. Even today in Albettone the “Sagra delle Rose” is celebrated at the beginning of May, because of the flowers once exhibited in the garden of the villa.

Photo of the interior on page 307 and photo of the side chapel on page 309