The Oratory of St. Joseph has a pleasant facade on the outside, on which the carved wooden portal, representing scenes from the saint’s life, opens.
This place of worship, was born on the sidelines of an important project initiated by the will of Don Giovanni Maria Santi, an island parish priest who lived at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries: when he died, he bequeathed to the islanders a livelihood fund that could bestow dignity, hope and opportunity on the less well-off. Part of his legacy was earmarked for the construction of this building, which became a symbol of the charity.
The dedication to the saint is indicated through the sculpture on the recently restored portal: here, in fact, St. Joseph is portrayed as a worker on one side, and in front of the miracle of the flowering of the sapling on the other.
Inside, a single nave welcomes the faithful by displaying rich depictions on the walls, the work of the Cremonese artist Domenico Joli, and with a cycle of paintings attributed to Vincenzo Borroni depicting the highlights of the life of St. Joseph, a figure who is interpreted in many facets, as a worker, as a man, as a father, and as a preceptor. The culmination of this character is interpreted in the depiction of the Holy Family placed in the apse.
A very important altar is placed in the small church, which has little to envy in majesty to those in the archpriest’s church. In the sacristy is placed a sacred vestments cabinet, the work of Parma master Giovanni Manfredini and his island helper Giovanni Tigoni.
So much wealth was the subject of fierce criticism from the island population in the second half of the 18th century, when Administrator Bonzi was accused of squandering the funds of the opera pia, a project that, kept in operation by many other generous islanders over time, is still in operation today in the guise of the ASP San Giuseppe. A gift of General Francesco Pistoja in 1878 is the sundial drawn on the southern facade.
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