Saint-Catherine's chapel of the white penitents

It was the chapel of the Confraternity of White Penitents of the «Disciplinanti» of Saint Catherine built in the seventeenth century. It has a beautiful facade of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Its dimensions are impressive for a chapel of penitents.
A hieratic statue of Saint Catherine is in a high niche on the front door. She carries the palm, and at her feet are the broken cogwheel of her torment and the sword with which is decapitated.
The sober framing of the portal, in green stone of Tende, is surmounted by elegant scrolls.
The motto Hoc Unio Fecit (This place makes the union) recalls the solidarity of the Penitents. It appears under the pediment of the façade and under the interior vault.
The altar has disappeared, but the altarpiece is complete. It is made of polychrome gypsum from the 17th century. The canvas represents the mystical marriage of Saint Catherine. There are statues of Faith, Hope and Charity. It is surrounded by a rare and solemn stucco cape, red lined with ermine with golden fringes, symbol of Savoy.
The rich polychromy of the nineteenth-century frescoes of the vault, and of the choir altarpiece, is composed of real reliefs or trompe-l'oeil, medallions, friezes, false marbles, floral motifs, and angelots accompanying an allegorical vision of the saint and her symbols.
The raised choir is preceded by a balustrade in white marble dated 1864.
The very beautiful pedestal with foliage decorations and the elegant lateral promenoir on cornices dominate the room.
The bell tower with bulb and glazed tiles was added between 1860 and 1875 at the rear of the building.

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