L'INTERNO - INSIDE

We now enter the church of San Michele Arcangelo and immediately stop at the center of the space, because this is where the extraordinary originality of the interior is best understood. The church has an octagonal plan, organized as a large unitary space and dominated by the eight-part dome, the true visual heart of the building.

Looking up, you immediately perceive how all architecture is designed to guide the eye upwards. The dome, richly decorated in stucco, gives impetus to the space and creates a typically Baroque effect of lightness and movement. Light also plays a fundamental role: it enters through openings of different shapes and settles on reliefs, marbles and gilding, continually changing the appearance of the space.

Despite being a single room, the interior almost seems divided into two superimposed levels thanks to the balcony that runs along the perimeter. It is worth observing the very elegant wrought iron railing, where the municipal coat of arms of Rivarolo also appears along the longer sides, a visible reminder of the bond between the church and the city community.

We now turn our attention to the presbytery area, where the high altar and balustrade are located, both made of rich polychrome marble. Here the Baroque taste shows itself in all its richness: colors, polished surfaces, decorations and precious materials build a solemn space, designed to impress the visitor and visually accompany him towards the liturgical center of the church.

On the high altar there are also four gilded wooden statues, the work of the sculptor Stefano Clemente. They represent Saint John of Nepomuk, Saint John the Evangelist, Saint Anthony the Abbot and Saint Vincent Ferrer, and contribute decisively to the elegance of the whole. Their figures dialogue with the marbles and stuccoes, making the altar one of the most scenographic points of the interior.

Let us now move towards the altar of the Santissima Annunziata, which is one of the most important works of the church. This altar occupies the left major side of the large octagon and is built like a real theatrical machine: two marble columns with Corinthian capitals support a triangular tympanum, at the apex of which is fixed a large gilded wooden crown. In the center is the niche with the statuette of the Annunciation, surrounded by golden rays and supported by angels in fake white marble, also the work of Stefano Clemente.

The statuette preserved in this altar is particularly precious. It is a fifteenth-century work, also described as the late Gothic Madonna delle Grazie, then gilded in the eighteenth century in Baroque style. Local memories recall that she came from the country chapel of Santa Maria del Glario and that she was saved from the waters of the Orco stream after a violent flood. The details of the drapery also reveal its ancient origins: the pleating of the cloak retains the elegant taste of the latest neo-Gothic reflections.

Remaining in this area, it is interesting to note how much the entire altar of the Annunciation is built to concentrate the gaze. The central niche, the golden rays, the angels, the marbles chosen with great care and the strong verticality of the whole make this point one of the most refined episodes of the church. According to the building's tradition, this was one of the last altars designed by Vittone.

Continuing the visit, we can also observe some less immediate but very significant paintings. In the upper corners of the compass you can see the painting with Christ in the Garden of Olives, dated 1773 and attributed to Canon Stefano Peronetti. Under the left choir is a canvas donated by the faithful, the Dying Christ on the Cross with the Madonna and the Apostle John at his feet, a work by Nicola Arduino, placed here in 1950.

Then there is another, more collected and almost hidden canvas, which deserves to be searched carefully. It depicts Saint Dominic and a holy bishop interceding with the Virgin of Carmel and the Child on behalf of the souls in Purgatory, and is the work of Vittorio Amedeo Rapous, a painter active at the court of Turin. This painting adds an additional level of reading inside, where architecture, sculpture and painting are continuously intertwined.