Sebastiano Guala

Sebastiano Guala was an Italian church architect active between 1640–1680 in the area of Casale Monferrato, then capital of the Gonzaga-ruled state of Montferrat. He was born into a prominent family of Frassinello Monferrato and became a canon of the Collegiata di Santa Maria di Piazza in Casale.[1] It has been thought probable[2] that he belonged to the same family as the Casalese painter Pier Francesco Guala (1698–1757).

Works

Churches attributed to Guala include:

At Frassinello[3]
The chapel of San Bernardo, of unplastered brick and located in the open countryside.[4]
The chiesa parocchiale dell’Assunta, rebuilt by Guala in 1650/60.
At Casale
San Giuseppe in Via Lanza.[5]
Santo Stefano (1653) in Piazza Santo Stefano.[6]
San Filippo in Via Biblioteca.[7]
Santa Maria sulle Mura (also Madonna di Pompei and La Madonnina) in Viale Morozzo, with a secondary entrance from Via Saletta, was built in 1675 to contain a fresco of the Madonna upon which ‘miraculous’ tears had been observed. The image, which also depicts the infant Jesus and Saint Evasio, was painted in 1615 by Selvino Bolognesi.[8]
At Pozzo Sant’Evasio
The small church of Pozzo Sant’Evasio, near Casale, was built in 1666/1670 on the site of the miraculous fountain of Saint Evasio to commemorate a 1640 victory over the Spanish forces which were besieging Casale. The patron was Giovanni Domenico Polatto, president of the senate at Casale.[9]

Notes and references

  1. ^ See Cravino (2004). (Santa Maria di Piazza, demolished in the nineteenth century, stood in what is now the eastern part of Piazza Mazzini.)
  2. ^ The kinship is suggested in Liceo Scientifico Palli (n.d.), pointing to the rarity of Guala as a family name in the baptismal records in Casale.
  3. ^ See Associazione Turistica Pro Loco (n.d.) for photographs and short descriptions of the churches at Frassinello.
  4. ^ Cravino (2004) has a photograph of the chapel near the foot of the page.
  5. ^ Cravino (2004)
  6. ^ Amelotti 2003, p. 18; Mazza (2002, p. 9).
  7. ^ Amelotti (2003, p. 19); Grignolio (2004, pp. 143–146); Mazza (2002, p. 3).
  8. ^ Grignolio (1983, pp. 318–9); Legambiente (n.d.).
  9. ^ See Grignolio (1983, pp. 347–8); Comune di Livorno Ferraris (n.d.); and Cattedrale di Casale Monferrato (2006).

References