Via Senatore Enrico Guicciardi, 23026 Ponte in Valtellina SO
The church stands on a historic cobbled street that crosses the town from one end to the other, passing by the parish church of San Maurizio and the Jesuit church of Sant’Ignazio.
The cobblestones are a distinctive feature of the historical center of Ponte, which has preserved its Medieval layout of narrow streets and alleys where time seems to have stopped.
In the late Middle Ages, the south side of the street was lined with patrician dwellings and a small private chapel dedicated to the saints Cornelius and Cyprian. The current church was built on the ruins of the chapel in the 17th century and gradually became to be known also as the church of the Guardian Angel.
The dedication to the two saints is evidenced in the altarpiece, with the two holy martyrs and the guardian angel represented at the feet of the Trinity. The association with Mary was introduced in the second half of the 18th century, when worship of Our Lady of Good Counsel spread through Valtellina. Her tender image watches over the faithful from a frame in the upper molding over the altarpiece.
It was only in the late Baroque period that this small church joined the other, much older, places of Marian devotion in town: the church of the Madonna di Campagna, located at the edge of town, and the splendid chapel of the Virgin in the parish church of San Maurizio.
The sober façade blends in with the walls of the neighboring houses. You only notice the telltale bell gable when you are near the tiny parvis, which may hide an old cemetery mentioned in archival documents. The interior is surprising for the richness of the frescoes that imitate marble and stuccowork, all in the pastel tones characteristic of the 18th century. The painted decorations continue into the choir balcony and the entryway.
The frescoes in the presbytery are by the Valtellinese painter Giovanni Pedrazzini (1777). The most refined décor, however, is found on the walls and vault of the nave, where four oval paintings by Alessandro Paravicini are beautifully set amid luminous decorations by painters from the Milanese school: the elderly Ferdinando Crivelli and his son Giuseppe (1766-1777). The contrast between the dark tones of the paintings and the airy colors of the walls is obviously an intended effect, the outcome of careful design and the harmony among artists who had already worked together in other parts of Valtellina.
