La devozione al Sacro Chiodo fra Lombardia e Piemonte nell'età moderna

Drawing on local sources and on old and new historical literature, the author examines the social and geographical spread of the cult of the Holy Nail, a relic from Christ’s Cross preserved in the Milan Cathedral. The related iconography centers round the procession organized by Carlo Borromeo during the plague of 1576, when the Sacro Chiodo was carried through the streets of Milan, and the Saint’s personal veneration for the relic. From Milan, where most of the surviving paintings were produced, the cult spread to the near-by province of Novara, including the town itself, lake Orta and the Sesia and Ossola valleys. The Sacro Chiodo devotion can thus be regarded as typical of the religious climate of the area spanning present-day western Lombardy and eastern Piedmont.