Parish Church of Santa Stefania

BELL TOWER The bell tower (see photo of bell tower) , standing about a metre away from the church, is a tall, massive square tower in which at least two different building phases are evident, identifiable in the section of the elevation, starting from ten metres or a little more above the ground on the south side and at a height a couple of metres above that on the north side, where the masonry, following a transverse line, shows almost a line of fracture because of the irregular joining of the blocks of the upper parts with those of the lower sections; the latter are built with stones, some of them large, perhaps coming from the nearby rural residential settlement of the Roman period [2] (see photo of base of bell tower) . This section of the tower is slightly wider than the part above it, indicating an earlier construction, perhaps not actually used for religious purposes given the total absence of openings (one might hypothesise remains of the “ castrum diruto ”, which the medieval documents locate near the pieve, adapted in the Romanesque period as a bell tower, with the construction of the upper parts of the tower). The upper parts differ in their building system through the use of smaller stones, squared and laid with a technique comparable to that used in the outer walls and the façade of the church. There are no openings, except for four round-arched brick windows opening in the bell chamber, a narrow slit on the north side at the height of the first floor, and the entrance to the tower, on the east side and raised to the height of the first floor (reached today by an iron staircase). Near the south side of the church, lying on the ground and abandoned, are two square column bases in white stone and a column shaft in pink Verona marble. Their place of origin is not known. INTERIOR From the entrance portal one has to go down a few steps to reach the level of the floor of the church, which has been relaid and restored in recent times. The interior is a single hall, divided into four bays by three wide transverse arches resting on massive piers projecting about a metre from the side walls, and ending to the east in the apse semicircle ( see photo of interior) . Evident signs of the Renaissance work are precisely the pointed transverse arches and the heavy plastering that covers the stretches of wall not decorated with frescoes or covered by altars. The roof is made of exposed wooden beams with painted tiles forming the ceiling. Various stretches of painting appear well preserved, both those in the left side chapel and those of the arch and the walls of the presbytery area. Traces of fresco are also visible along the side walls and on one of the piers supporting the pointed transverse arches, clues that this decoration must have extended well beyond what is still visible. That the inhabitants of Nuvolento appreciated painted decoration (which also supports the hypothesis of much more extensive painting cycles) can be seen in the particular feature, unique moreover in the Garda area, of having had not only the walls of the church painted but also the roof tiles (“ Terracotta tiles set between the beams covering the four bays ”) with motifs ranging from sacred to profane subjects, certainly of a late date, as can still be read in some inscriptions set within the decorative motifs: “ There follow devotional inscriptions, dates, geometric lozenge motifs, depictions relating to the Passion of Christ, stamped elements… ”. The most noteworthy painted part of the roofing is that of the second bay from the entrance where, alongside religious motifs, there are profane symbols linked to popular culture (Christ, the angels, the signs of martyrdom, the sun, the moon, death, the depiction of the three-headed Trinity and others), (see ceiling tiles: see photo of three-headed Trinity ). Frescoes of the left-hand chapel (set in the north side wall). This chapel or altar is thought to be dedicated to the Virgin of the Annunciation, and is in the form of a small semicircular apse with a semi-dome frescoed with a shell. On the right-hand wall the date 1521 is painted. The lower parts show depictions of saints and martyrs: the stoning of St. Stephen on the left ( see photo of fresco of St. Stephen) and St. Lawrence on the gridiron on the right: the latter, in a good state of preservation, shows a refined and assured stylistic execution, competent and artistically in keeping with the best painting traditions of the Lombard workshops of the first decades of the 16th century) ( see photo of fresco of St. Lawrence) . The border of the lunette is painted with the busts of the Prophets. Some scholars associate the pictorial achievements of this Annunciation with Saints and Martyrs with the school of Floriano Ferramola (?) and with the paintings preserved in the church of the Carmine in Brescia and in the church of S. Eufemia at Nigoline. Older frescoes, on the other hand, are found on the south wall, where a penitent Mary Magdalene and another, headless saint [3] are depicted, datable to the beginning of the second half of the 14th century, with the exception of the Madonna Enthroned with Child, St. Bartholomew and a donor painted beside the apse semicircle, on the north front (see photo of fresco, detail) . This depiction stands out from the other frescoes preserved in the pieve for its particular display of bright colours and its finely drawn and well-proportioned features. Other figures of saints appear in the painted decoration of the presbytery area: St. Roch, St. Anthony Abbot, St. Bernardino of Siena and another Madonna and Child. An Annunciation is painted on the front of the arch. Set in the floor, at the foot of the inner façade wall, one on each side, are two rectangular tombstones: the northern one is dated to the 18th century, while the southern one, older, has the particular feature that its round seal has been decorated with the depiction of a pair of compasses. ANNEXED STRUCTURES The building, now used for agricultural purposes, located north of the apse, has stretches of masonry probably of the medieval period, which can be identified on the west and south sides, where the lower parts are built of large squared stones of different materials and sizes; on the southern side the remains of a slit window, now walled up, can be made out and, just above, there remains a window with squared monolithic blocks as jambs: remains of an oculus (with a frame of light-coloured stones, now walled up) are visible just below the apex of the roof pitches. In this upper section, the materials used are mainly pebbles and rough stones ( see photo of apse area) ; the western section of masonry of this building repeats in places, in its type of construction, the arrangements of the south side, although the alterations and adaptations made at various times are very evident, as shown by the remains of two openings: the lower one was a round-arched brick door, while of the opening at the level of the first floor the monolithic jambs remain, walled up. [2] For information, we report that not far from the pieve the remains of a Roman rural villa have been discovered, a site that was also used in the early Middle Ages, reusing part of the earlier Roman structures. [3] Again according to the author of the website cited in note 1, this is “St. Leonard of Limoges, recognisable by the iconographic attribute he holds in his left hand: a ‘stock’ used to hold prisoners’ feet firmly bound, of whom he is considered the patron”.