Potius mori quam foedari
Current Owner:
Opera Don Orione
Address:
Via del Boschetto, 29 – Genova Cornigliano
Website:
http://www.abbaziadelboschetto.org/
On the spinola.it site we are working on the revision of all the repertoires.
Many of these are still to be updated in content and formatting.
Located within the Abbey is the tomb of Doge Battista Spinola along with the commemorative plaques of Giovanni Battista Spinola, first Duke of San Pietro, his wife Maria Spinola and their second son Philip, Prince of Molfetta. The tomb pillows of these last two nobles are also preserved here. The Capitol Hall of the monastery was finally built at the behest of Baptist and Domenico Spinola.
THE SPINOLA FAMILY AT THE ABBEY OF SAN NICOLO’ del Boschetto
The transcription of the headstone of Doge Battista Spinola reads:
D.O.M. BAPTISTA SPINOLA THOMAE FILIUS, OB VIRTUTEM PERPETUO HONORUM
CURSU TOTI CIVITATI PERSPECTAM, ALTERA RECUPERATA LIBERTATE
GENUENSIUM DUX CREATUS, BIENNIUM REMPUBBLICAM BENE ET FELICITER
GESSIT. MOX ANNO MDXXXIX, III KALENDAS SEPTEMBRIS, AETATIS VERO SUAE
SEXAGESIMO VI, BELFORTI QUOD OPPIDUM EIUS ERAT, VITA DEFUNCTUS, HIC UNA
CUM THOMASINA PRIORE CONIUGE QUIESCIT.
This translates as:
“(Deo Optimo Maximo – To God, most good, most great.) Battista Spinola, son of Tommaso, for
virtue manifested to the city during the entire course of his various responsibilities, nominated
Doge, the second after the regained freedom of the Genoese people, for two years governed the
Republic well and happily. He was buried here after passing away in Belforte* which was his fief,
in the year 1539 on the 30th of August, at the age of 66. He rests here together with his first wife
Tomasina”.
The Doge, Battista Spinola, was born in 1472. He was the son of Tomaso Spinola of the family branch of San Luca, Lord of Belforte Monferrato and Mrs Giacomina Doria. He is remembered for his honesty, valour and prudence, and for being among the 12 reformers of the city. As such, in 1527 he laid down the laws of the Republic of Genoa. He had two wives. The first was Tomasina Lomellini and as stated in the inscription above she was buried with her husband. From this union an only daughter was born, Luigia, who married Gerolamo Doria. After the death of his wife, Doria became a Cardinal of the Holy Church. The chronicles record that after giving birth to her little daughter Luigia, the Doge’s first wife abandoned herself to a platonic and non-carnal idyll that eventually led her to suicide. Jean d’Auton, historiographer of Louis XII, wrote about this in one of his poems. His second wife was Maria de Marini with whom he had an only daughter, Perinetta, who later married the magnificent Luca Grimaldi of Gerolamo.
In the Abbey of San Nicolò del Boschetto you can find, in addition to the tomb of the Doge Battista Spinola, another tomb with the commemorative plaque of Giovanni Battista Spinola, the first Duke of San Pietro. There are also the plaques of his wife Maria Spinola, sister of the famous Ambrose, and their second son Filippo Spinola, Prince of Molfetta. The tomb cushions of these last two nobles are a recent discovery, and are now also conserved here.
The tomb of the Doge is located in front of the entrance to the Chapel of St Benedict in the left nave.
The other three are in the Chapel of the Madonna, which closes off the right aisle of the Church. Shown below is a modest but not entirely exhaustive family tree to help clarify the relationships which bound the Lercari and Spinola families.
Figure 1
(1). Stefano Lercari, son of Giovanni Battista Lercari (Doge from 1563 to 1565), attempted to end the life of the elderly former Doge Luca Spinola. For this reason he was sentenced to death and died on 19 February 1567 at the age of 26.
(2). Giovanni Battista Spinola was the first born of Giovanni Maria Spinola of the San Luca family branch and Pellina Lercari, nephew of Doge Giovanni Battista Lercari. He was the first Duke of San Pietro in Salento, as written on his commemorative plaque.
Translation:
“Deo Optimo Maximo. Here lies Giovanni Battista Spinola, distinguished for the magnitude of his
virtues, above even those of his ancient noble lineage. He was appointed duke of San Pietro in
Salento (Galatina, Lecce) by Philip King of Spain (Philip III). His homeland at first assigned him to
a fleet of Triremi before making him the designated ambassador at the imperial court. At the first
signs of a terrible war, he was sent as ambassador to Philip IV, in Spain, well known to him, to
make use of his prudence and financial resources. His premature death subtracted him from the
highest of honours (dogato) but he shines from reflected virtue, in the year of health 1634. His wife
Maria Spinola to her beloved husband and his son Giovanni Maria to his good father.”
The Spanish King Philip IV gave the Duchy of San Pietro in Galatina in Salento, Italy, to the Spinola family in exchange for their financial and military aid. The Spanish Royal Family had adopted the system of paying for services supplied by awarding titles and land.
The Villa of Sampierdarena, for example, is today still called ‘Villa Spinola di San Pietro’ directly from the title given to Giovanni Battista. An entire cycle of frescoes is preserved here, dedicated to the exaltation of the Spinola family and how it is linked to that of Lercari.
(3). Agostino Spinola, brother of Giovanni Battista, became a Benedictine monk of the ‘Boschetto’.
(4). Maria Spinola, the wife of Giovanni Battista Spinola, died in 1649. She was buried here, in the Chapel of the Madonna without any marble epitaph to remember her by. However, her tomb cushion, made from lead, is conserved. The engraved inscription reads: “Maria Spinola, Duchess of Saint Peter, died on 15 August 1649”.
(5). Gio. Filippo the second son of Giovanni Battista Spinola and Maria Spinola died in 1660 and was buried together with his parents. He is called the second son because he was second in the line of succession:
“…The body as a precious temple of the soul. Giovanni Filippo Spinola, Prince of Molfetta, second
son of G. Battista, Duke of S. Peter in Galatina, whom the heavenly grace, in death granted, riches
greater than those that in life had been granted in equal measure, fortune, the nature, the virtues
and the glory. Envied by others, he endured an odious death devoutly…. 9 October 1660″.
Gio. Filippo married his niece Veronica, the daughter of his sister Pellina and Luca Spinola, the Prince of Molfetta from whom he inherited the title (see note 7). This was besides already being the Duke of San Pietro.
(6). Pellina was the daughter of Giovanni Battista Spinola, the Duke of St Peter and his wife Mary Spinola, sister of Gio. Philip. In 1625 she married Luca Spinola, Prince of Molfetta († 1657). The latter is remembered for having been the great-grandson of Doge Luca Spinola, already cited in note (1).
(7). Veronica, daughter of Luca Spinola, Prince of Molfetta and his wife Pellina Spinola, was born in 1625, the year of the wedding of her parents. She would later marry her uncle, Gio. Filippo. After the death of her husband she waited ten years before retiring to private life in San Francesco da Paola. In 1669 she had obtained the giuspatronato (a family duty or privilege to protect a church or altar) with burial rights, of the choir of the Church in the same monastery. She was buried there, together with her son Francesco Maria.
The main bibliographic source for this last paragraph is from Bonzano U., Prince of Molfetta Gio
Filippo Spinola, New Editrice Genovese, Genoa 2007
The translation of the commemorative inscription that recalls the founders of the Capitulary Hall of the Abbey recites:
“The famous citizen Battista Spinola, celebrity of the city and his illustrious brother Domenico, both
sons of the deceased Giorgio, outstanding for their proven nobility, built this capitol hall with
spontaneous donations, inspired by their pious devotion toward the monastery and the Benedictine
Order. 16 July 1470″.
The actual date of construction of the Capitol hall is not the one on the inscription but is thought to be around 1455. This was the year in which the altar of San Giovanni Battista was built within the Church, donated by the Spinola brothers. The iconography overlying the text depicts the Virgin between San Nicola Vescovo (left) and San
Benedetto Abate (right), the two patron saints of the monastery.
For further information http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbazia_di_San_Nicol%C3%B2_del_Boschetto
Immagini su gentile concessione della Provincia Religiosa S. Benedetto di Don Orione
Via del Boschetto 29
Genoa-Italy
A chapel dedicated to San Nicolò was first built in 1311 at the behest of Magnone Grimaldi. A year later the Grimaldi family became its patrons in accordance with the provisions of Pope Clement V.
In 1410 the church was entrusted to the Benedictine Order of monks, who transformed it into a conventual church (ie: a church attached to a convent or monastery).
This followed confirmation in 1415 from Pope Martin V of the necessary donation made by the Grimaldi family.
The church was consecrated in 1502.
This started an important building process that transformed the small chapel into a monastery. The change of title of the original chapel of San Nicolò, now dedicated to San Benedetto, dates back to this period halfway through the 15th century.
The monastery received considerable donations from the nobility of Genoa, particularly from the families of Grimaldi, Spinola, Doria and Lercari. As a result, many of their exponents chose it as their place of burial.
In the Abbey the remains of three Doges including, Battista Spinola, lie at rest.
In the Baroque Age and especially in the 1700’s, the Abbey underwent a series of relevant
transformations and embellishments.
Unfortunately, the decline of the monastery began with the war of the Austrian succession during which the Boschetto became the base for the troops stationed in Val Polcevera.
In 1748, when the war ended, the monks returned to discover the building had been looted and badly damaged.
In 1810, the monastery was expropriated under the Napoleonic decree of confiscation of
ecclesiastical property. The complex was auctioned off with the subsequent plunder of all the artworks it contained.
After various and often sad changes of ownership, it was eventually returned to the Benedictines in 1912. However, the abbey was definitively abolished in 1939 although it retained the order’s presence until 1958.
From 1960 onwards the complex has belonged to the Opera Don Orione.
The decoration of the Chapel of the Madonna, Lercari-Spinola Mausoleum.
What is most impressive about this chapel is the marble railing, allegedly the work of Gian Giacomo Paracca from Valsoldo. At the centre of the railing’s architrave is a precious marble crucifix flanked by two statues, one of the Virgin Mary and the other of St John.
According to some, the frescoes of the chapel are attributable to the brothers Lazzaro and Pantaleo Calvi. However, others suggest they are by Perin del Vaga. The vault is decorated with frescoes of The Creation in the centre with the prophets Noah, Abraham, Jeremiah and Isaiah at the sides. In the lunettes (arching apertures in the wall) are stories of the life of the Virgin. On the side walls are frescoes of two monumental sarcophagi over a background of false niches. Under these are the tombstones dedicated to Giovanni Battista Lercari and his son Stefano.
Vico San Luca, 1
16123 Genoa, Italy
c.f. 95023180102
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