Church of Santa Maria Della Neve

Marble style

In the heart of the Premiano district stands the small church dedicated to the Madonna Della Neve (Our Lady of the Snows). The sober exterior is characterised by the simple flat façade where four slender pilasters intersect with two stringcourses with a rectangular cross-section to form six compartments. On the architrave of the portal in Botticino stone is the date in Roman numerals of 1731. The interior is opulent, with the single nave softened by wide concave corner walls. There is a rich presence of plastic decorations from the capitals to the pilasters, to the walls in which they develop in almost every compartment, from the convex walls with oval cornices set in sumptuous folders with floral festoons to the side walls with cornices embellished with plant decorations up to the folders of the counter-façade where the cornice takes on a quadrangular shape with hollowed upper corners. The vaults are heavily frescoed and divided into four medallions, whose contents (Annunciation, Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, Circumcision of Jesus, Jesus as a Child among the Doctors of the Temple) originally dating back to the 18th century have been retouched over the years. The condition of the centrally positioned Holy Family is better, perhaps produced by Pietro Scalvini, who most likely was the author of other works decorating the building. The marble altar is linear but elegant, exquisitely inspired by Massari, made of statuary Carrara marble with violet breccia mirrored panels, green marble from the Alps and a red base from France.