The heart of faith of Sant'Angelo in Grotte
The cult of Saint Michael the Archangel and the particular shape of the land above the grotto were the factors that gave rise to the settlement of Sant'Angelo in Grotte, which grew around a church dedicated first to the Prince of the Archangels and later to the first successor of Christ, Saint Peter.
Anyone trying to picture the original church would hardly recognise it in today's architecture: the building is the result of a long series of transformations and extensions, following fires, war destruction, earthquakes and human neglect over the centuries, up to the last rebuilding in the 1700s. Restored in recent years, the church today looks harmonious and full of light.
Inside the church
Just past the entrance door, on the right, the visitor is greeted by a fine stone holy-water font; a little further on, near the presbytery, an ancient baptismal font is preserved. In the niches along the walls stand the statues of the Saints, among which the wooden figures of Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Joseph stand out for their artistic value.
At the centre of the presbytery, on the throne set against the wall, stands the statue of the titular saint, San Pietro in Vinculis (Saint Peter in Chains), carved from a large oak trunk. At the top of the apse, the Crucifixion by the Molise painter Mario De Tollis captures the gaze of even the most distracted visitor, conveying the drama of the event through the harmony of colours and respect for perspective. On the vault, as if chasing one another, further painted masterpieces unfold: a paradise to be contemplated with your head tilted upward.
The Crypt of the Works of Mercy
The church's "eternal flame" is a very modest crypt enriched with astonishing frescoes: a true jewel of art, history and faith, the pride of Sant'Angelo in Grotte. It is reached by a staircase inside the church, to the right of the entrance. Rediscovered by chance in 1960 during some modernisation works, it holds a highly valuable painted cycle, in excellent condition, covering the walls and vaults.
They are frescoes of the Sienese school, of fully medieval art, datable to the late 14th century: in some scenes one can catch echoes of the architectural depictions of Giotto and Lorenzetti. In recent years they have drawn the attention of scholars and artists, both from Molise and abroad. The crypt, dark and of a rough medieval beauty, holds the cycle of the seven corporal works of mercy, a theme widespread in the Middle Ages.
The whole narrative in images becomes a path of purification through charity: the barrel vault is an eloquent metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Heavenly Jerusalem to which love for one's neighbour leads; in the lower part of the walls, instead, some faces recall a kind of Dantean hell, a circle of suffering and torment. It is an invitation to conversion, a call to open one's eyes and heart to the needs of the poor and to break the "panis caritatis" (bread of charity).
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
The Seven Works of Mercy
Starting from the far end of the room and continuing along the right wall and then the left, the seven corporal works of mercy unfold:
- Feed the hungryThree people seated under a portico are eating, while the hungry guest approaches from the left.
- Give drink to the thirstyA columned hall frames the scene: a man drinks from a distinctive spouted vessel, a woman offers a drink to the thirsty.
- Clothe the nakedThe most complex scene: a woman undresses to cover a kneeling poor man; above, an angel descends from heaven with a scroll — “ubi caritas… ibi deus adest” (where there is charity… there God is).
- Shelter the pilgrimsA woman takes the guest by the hand — barefoot and with a sack on his shoulders — inviting him into the house.
- Visit the sickIn a room ringed by small columns, the bedridden sick man is visited, reaching out his hand towards the drink offered.
- Visit the imprisonedThe prison is a tower of squared stones with a barred window; a man knocks at the door with a vessel to refresh the prisoner.
- Bury the deadThe deceased are buried near a small chapel; beside the cross, a group of monks in prayer.
The cycle closes with a view of the city of Bethlehem and the image of a great radiant star with a human face — perhaps the comet star — a symbol of life, light and eternity. At the far end of the crypt remains a small stone altar, once used by those who took part there in the celebration of the Eucharist.