Da simplex ecclesia a tempio: l'oratorio di San Matteo a Selvanesco, grangia certosina

A visit to Saint Matthew oratory in Selvanesco leads us to the discovery of few spoilt shreds of paintings; but these traces are the only survivors of the 1588 complete decoration of the church, a beautiful project demanded by father Matteo Rivolta. It is essential to investigate the many carthusians possessions between Milan and Pavia to comprehend the sheer idea behind Selvanesco paintings: there we will find evidences of a wide reorganization of the grange, with the help of architects and artists, in the last quarter of XVI Century. Giovan Battista Della Rovere and Tolomeo Rinaldi, the authors of the frescoes in Saint Matthew, are well known personalities in Milan, even if Rinaldi is universally famous as an architect only. The peculiar and hidden context of Selvanesco offers some original hints to shine a light on the careers of the two artists, and to study again the circumstances of the debut in Milan of a contemporary Counter-Reformation classicism.