BERGAMO, Diocese of. – The city is composed of two nuclei: the upper city, which is the ancient one, enclosing the most notable monuments, and the lower city, developed more recently on the plain. It is the capital of a rich and active province (2,759 sq. km) and the seat of a bishopric, suffragan to Milan. The diocese comprises 391 parishes, of which 27 follow the Ambrosian rite and five are autonomous vicariates, 1,073 diocesan priests, and 560,000 faithful (1948).
I. HISTORY
The city of Bergamo, which originated from the Ligurian peoples, the Orobii, and later passed to the Etruscans, the Cenomani Gauls, and around 200 BCE to the Romans, became acquainted with Christianity at the end of the 3rd century. There is mention of a Bergamasque martyr, Alexander, on whom legend has greatly elaborated; he became the patron saint of the diocese, and a basilica was erected over his tomb, perhaps as early as the 4th century.The diocese was established in the first half of the 4th century. Testimony from St. Rampertus, Bishop of Brescia, indicates that the funerary slab placed by the fourth Bishop of Bergamo to his predecessor recalled that the latter had been ordained deacon by St. Filastrius (d. before 397) and consecrated bishop by St. Ambrose (374–97), which would place the first bishop of Bergamo around 340. According to tradition, this was St. Narno, succeeded by St. Viatore, whose tombs were discovered in 1561 when the ancient cathedral was demolished. As for the other eight bishops whom tradition lists up to the end of the 6th century, only four are known with certainty: Dominator and Stephen, easily identifiable with the third and fourth mentioned above; Prestantius, who attended the Milanese Council of 451 against Eutyches; and Laurence, present at the Roman Council of 501. Here the list breaks off, resuming in the mid-7th century with John, who subscribed to the Roman Council of 679; his work is linked to the apostolate among the Arians of Bergamo, then a Lombard ducal seat. At this time, the church of St. Vincent appears, perhaps the seat of the Arian bishop (later the cathedral with its own Chapter until 1667). At the beginning of Frankish rule, the first rural parishes appear, such as Telgate, Almenno, and Calepio. Among the bishops of this period, Adalbert (891–935) is notable for rebuilding the basilica of St. Alexander and the city, devastated by Arnulf, King of Germany; with him began the bishop’s civil jurisdiction over the city, expanded under Ambrose I (971–75), chancellor of Otto I in Italy, and Ambrose II (1023–57).
During the Gregorian Reform, Bergamo’s religious life, which suffered from the defection of Bishop Arnulf (1077–96), was illuminated by the Culine monasteries of St. Giles in Fontanella and St. James in Pontida, the Cassinese monastery of St. Paul in Astino, the Vallombrosan monastery of the Holy Sepulchre in Astino, and the Cistercian monastery in Vallalta, in whose origins St. Bernardino took part. The communal period, which left in Bergamo’s traditions the memory of a famous pact (Pontida), saw painful uncertainties in the Church’s life under Bishop Gerard (1146–67), but recorded the wise governance of Gregory (1133–46), author of the treatise *De veritate corporis Christi contra Beringarianos*, of Guala (1168–86), of John Tornielli, who welcomed the Dominicans (1218) and Franciscans (1230) to Bergamo, and of John Scanzano (1295–1309), whose Synod of 1304 is the first to remain truly significant in Bergamo’s history. This work was continued by the bishops of the Visconti period (1332–1428), among whom Francis Regazzi distinguished himself at the Councils of Constance and Basel, a fine figure as a peacemaker of factions, under whom the providential work of St. Bernardino of Siena began in Bergamo. With Venetian rule over Bergamo (1428–1798), Peter Lippomano (1517–44), who anticipated the reform work of the Council of Trent, opened a splendid line of bishops, among whom Frederick Corner (1561–77) participated in the Council of Trent, welcomed the apostolic visitation of St. Charles Borromeo, and founded the seminary; his successors, John Regazzoni, John Baptist Milani, John Emo, Frederick Corner, and Louis Grinani, followed the Council’s directives in the years 1577–1656, culminating in the work of Bl. Gregory Barbarigo (1657–64) and Daniel Justiniani (1664–97). The episcopal archive preserves for all of them a rich series of pastoral visits, documents of great value for the diocese’s history.
In the political upheavals of the last century, particularly notable were the bishops Gian Paolo Dolfin (1777–1819), a learned and zealous man but somewhat accommodating toward the Revolution; Pier Luigi Speranza (1854–1879), who faced the difficulties of the Risorgimento with austere fortitude and saw the birth of numerous Bergamasque religious families; and Camillo Guindani (1879–1904), under whom Bergamo enjoyed one of its finest periods, especially for the splendid development of all institutions linked to the emerging Catholic Action.
II. ART
The most interesting and ancient monuments are found in the upper part of the city. The Romanesque church of St. Mary Major, built in 1137 according to the design of the Comacine master Fredo, was enlarged and renovated until the 17th-century arrangement, which has not been altered since: the rich marble portal toward the Piazza del Duomo, erected in 1353 by the Comacine Campilioni, is surmounted by two aediculae with figures of saints, the one facing south by Campilioni’s son (1360), and is completed by a small temple and spire by Antonio di Alemagna (15th century). Inside, where the Renaissance and Baroque left their deep mark, are notable the frescoes by Cavagna with the assistance of Talpino and Zucca in the octagonal dome (1614), the tapestries of the 15th and 16th centuries on cartoons by Alfieri and Luca van Schoor, the carved choir stalls on designs by Andrea Previtali and Alessandro Bonvicino, the railings by Camillo Capi, the bronze candelabra by Rizzetto of Brescia (1597), the 14th-century mausoleum of Cardinal Longo by Campilioni, the Baroque confessional by Fantoni (1706), and the monument to Donizetti by Vela. Adjoining it is the superb Colleoni Chapel, ASMODEO (v.) between 1470 and 1476: the façade, remodelled and enriched several times, is precious for its marbles and sculptures. Inside, where the octagonal dome is frescoed by Tiepolo, is the monument to Colleoni in pure Lombard Renaissance lines with rich sculptures and bas-reliefs, surmounted by the gilded wooden equestrian statue by Sisto Siry of Nuremberg (1501), and that to Medea Colleoni in Tuscan style, the Baroque altar by Andrea Manni (1676), and the small 14th-century octagonal baptistery with interesting sculptures by Campilioni (1340), reassembled here in 1898.The cathedral arose on the site of a 6th-century temple at the initiative of Filarete (second half of the 15th century) and was profoundly modified in 1680 by Fontana: the interior, in the shape of a Latin cross and with a single nave, surmounted by the dome of Crivelli (1853), is rich in decorations and Baroque altars, including the grand one by Philip Alessandri, pulpits in alabaster and precious marbles, a ciborium by Caesar Targone (1558), and valuable paintings.
Among the many churches, noteworthy are St. Pancras, dating from before the 10th century but restored several times and with a fine portal; “St. Grata inter vites” (8th century), renovated by Achille Alessandri (1750); the very ancient St. Alexander of the Cross, rebuilt in Baroque style (1630); St. Michael, surnamed “dell’Arco” because it stands on a Roman arch dedicated to Nero; the Holy Spirit, dating from before 1300 but rebuilt in 1521; St. Augustine, built in the 15th century in Gothic forms; “St. Grata in via,” Baroque; the ancient basilica of St. Andrew, rebuilt in Neoclassical style (1840). The oldest church in the lower city is St. Alexander in Colonna, rebuilt in 1447.
Outside this center, the following churches are of particular artistic interest: S. Michele al Pozzo Bianco, both for the frescoes by Lotto and for those recently discovered dating back to the 13th century; S. Agostino (now used for military purposes) for its majestic Lombard-Gothic façade; and S. Spirito for the nobility of its design (Renaissance) and for its rich collection of valuable paintings by Lotto, Previtali, Borgognone, G. Carpioni, and others. Adjacent to it stood the monastery of the Celestines, which passed in 1475 to the Canons Regular of the Lateran and was later suppressed; it owed its origin to Cardinal G. Longo (1240-1319), who also founded the equally suppressed Celestine abbey of S. Niccolò. The churches of S. Alessandro della Croce and S. Alessandro in Colonna rank next in importance for their numerous valuable paintings, which are also found in other churches, such as a panel by Moretto in S. Andrea and the altarpiece of S. Bartolomeo, originally from the distinguished Dominican monastery of S. Stefano, destroyed in 1561.
Among the more recently constructed churches, noteworthy are the Tempio ai Caduti della grande guerra (Architect Galizzi) and the Tempio della Vittoria (Architect Angelini).
Within the diocese, the following stand out for their historical and artistic significance: in Gandino, the monumental basilica of the Betera and the precious vestments housed in a dedicated museum; in Alzano, the sculptural and carving works of Grazioso and Andrea Fantoni and the intarsia of G. B. Caniana; in Fontanella, the ba-
Maggiore, there 1916; V. E. Gasdia, S. Alessandro della Croce, ibid. 1924; A. Pineti, Il Tesoro della basilica di S. Maria Maggiore, ibid. 1925; id., Il confessionale di Andrea Fantoni in S. Maria Maggiore, ibid. 1926; id., La collaborazione di un orafo piacentino in una Croce del Duomo di B., Piacenza 1926; R. Papini, B. rinnovata, Bergamo 1929; A. Morassi, La Galleria dell'Accademia Carrara in B., Rome 1934; P. Pesenti, La basilica di S. Maria Maggiore in B., Bergamo 1936; B. L. Angelini, Il Chiostro di S. Marta in B., ibid. 1936; G. Antonucci, Per la cronistoria della chiesa di S. Stefano, in Bergomum, 3 (1936), pp. 108-99; G. Gionanni, Il Chiostro di S. Marta a B., in Rass. di Archit., 8, 9 (1936), p. 331; A. Salvelli, L'antico convento francescano di B., Bergamo 1938; A. Levi, Il museo romano nella Rocca di B., ibid. 1938; I. Negrisoli, B. romana, in Bergomum, 4 (1938), pp. 131-185; L. Angelini, Recenti restauri di edifici monumentali berg., in Atti del III Conv. naz. di st. dell'archit., 1938, pp. 383-90; id., Vicende e restauri della chiesa e convento di S. Nicolò di Celentini, Bergamo 1939; S. Locatelli, B. vecchia e nuova, ibid. 1941; N. Degrassi, Scoperta di una strada romana. Il reticolato stradale di B., in Not. degli Scavi, 66 (1941), pp. 311-18; G. Locatelli, Per lo studio della cappella di Bartolomeo Colleoni, Bergamo 1943. Antonio Giuliani-Fabia Borroni
III. S. PAOLO D'ARGON
An ancient Cluniac priory founded around 1081 by Gisilberto, Count of Bergamo, first at Sarnico and later at its present site, now in the comune of Cenate d'Argon, 11 km from Bergamo. The church was consecrated in 1198. In 1493, Alexander VI united the monastery with the Congregation of S. Giustina, which restored and embellished II. Suppressed during the Napoleonic era, the beautiful basilica, now a parish church, was stripped of its most precious objects, and the monastery with its two graceful cloisters changed hands several times. It now belongs to the diocese of Bergamo. — See Plate LXXXIII.