CHIARAVALLE. - A place name recalling the great French abbey of Clara Vallis, Clairvaux (v.), and which was given to certain localities in Italy where Cistercian monasteries or abbeys arose. The principal ones are recalled:
1. CHIARAVALLE OF THE DOVE
The foundation of the monastery of S. Maria C. della Colomba, in the diocese of Piacenza, dates back to 3 May 1137. The church, after the restorations of 1916-20, has resumed its original appearance. Characteristic in the facade is the contrast between the brick wall (as in the other churches of the Order erected in Italy) and the stone decorations.
The interior, in the customary scheme of three naves divided by cruciform piers, contains no notable works of art. The great cloister was rebuilt in the period after the first half of the 12th century, as attested by the presence of capitals of various types with simple water leaves and figurative ones, and above all by the ornamentation of the bases, already Gothicizing. A more marked Gothic character appears in the chapter house, both in its structure and in its decorative elements, particularly in the two large triforia recently reopened. Adjacent to it is an octagonal chapel with remains of frescoes, among them a 14th-century Crucifixion.
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2. CHIARAVALLE DI FIASTRA
The Cistercian abbey of S. Maria de Flastris or de Villa Magna, in the diocese of Macerata, was entrusted in 1141 by Marquis Guarnerio III to the abbey of C. Milanese. The church, built in Cistercian forms, has a facade with a large central rose window preceded by a portico resembling a loggia, with a central door and four triforia, two per door. The interior, divided by piers with interesting capitals, into three naves and eight bays with round arches, has the central nave covered by a trussed roof except in the first bay, the only one where the groin vault was built. The transept has the central chapel flanked by four smaller ones, two on each side. In the rear wall of the choir is a rose window with a central quatrefoil circle from which eight small columns radiate. On the right side of the church is the cloister (14th-15th century).
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3. CHIARAVALLE DI FONTEVIVO
The Cistercian abbey of Fons vivus or Fontana viva, in the diocese of Parma, founded in 1142 and colonized by the abbey of C. della Colomba.
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4. CHIARAVALLE MARCHE
The monastery of S. Maria in Castagnola C., diocese of Senigallia, was erected on 14 January 1147. A church, on the same site as the present one, in the province of Ancona, is recorded as early as 1029 in the Camaldolese annals; it was then remodeled in 1125. When the Cistercians moved there, it was incorporated into the new building, as attested by the structural and decorative differences of certain parts and the asymmetry of the side naves.
This rebuilding of the church, dedicated to the Virgin under the title of S. Maria di Castagnola, is believed to be slightly earlier than the construction of the abbey of Fossanova (v.) and marks the appearance of Gothic architecture in the Marche. In 1688 Cardinal F. Chigi rebuilt the portico and consolidated the characteristic tower that rises above the transept.
The entire building is in brick masonry, except for the portal and some capitals belonging to the pre-existing Romanesque church. The interior contains no notable works of art, but is impressive for its imposing masses, clear organic quality of line and sense of ascent.
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5. CHIARAVALLE MILANESE
On 22 January 1135 St. Bernard of Clairvaux, having settled in the locality of Ravegnano, founded a monastery there, later enlarged through the activity of the monks in reclaiming the region, which they renamed with the name of C. The 13th century marks the apogee of the abbey's religious life.
The present church, consecrated in 1221 by Henry, archbishop of Milan, preserves almost intact its original organism, entirely in brickwork, a typical example of Cistercian architecture in Italy, modified in the 14th century by the tower grafted above the tiburium, and even more so in the 17th century, when the mediocre facade with portico was erected.
At that time the interior received new embellishments; Garavaglia carved the admirable wooden choir and the Fiammenghini frescoed the nave and the transept. Of the older pictorial decoration only a few fragments of fresco remained, with evangelists and doctors, of French character from the end of the 1200s, in the bowl of the dome and, below, with saints and stories of the Virgin, by Avignon artists of the 1300s. In an adjoining room is a Madonna and Child with Angels, the first dated work of Luini (1512). From here comes the famous Ecce Homo by Bramante, now at Brera.
Still in the mid-18th century, the abbey constituted an imposing complex; left in abandonment after the suppression of 13 May 1798, it fell into almost total ruin. Now only two sides of the cloister remain, along with remains of the chapter house and the cemetery, suitably restored between 1894 and 1910. The church is today a parish of Milan. - See Pl. LXXXVIII.
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Mario Zocca