I was not going to take more photos until I finished my photo sorting project. But it was gorgeous today and I wanted to photograph an 18th-century Cino Wall Madonna that had recently been restored. So I broke my rule and in doing so found three Wall Madonna’s that my dozens of walks on the streets of Cino had missed. It was a good day. I hope you enjoy my discoveries.
This is the 18th-century Wall Madonna that was restored in October 2021. The photo on the left is from November 11, 2019 and the photo on the right is from today – January 17, 2022. The artist who restored the fresco did a fabulous job! It is gorgeous. The house hosting the Wall Madonna sits on the east side of the Torrente Valle Chioso – one of two Torrente that run through Cino to the Adda River outside of Mantello. I think the author of this fresco painted three others on the old local road that leads from the cemetery church in Mantello to the eastern end of Cino.
This is a 20th-century Wall Madonna on the same street. The Wall Madonna has always been in the shade when I visited the village. Today I was there at the perfect time. She looks perfect. This main road through the town has Wall Madonna’s all the way to the end of the road that leads from the town into the mountain summer pastures of La Piazza.
This modern ceramic Sacra Famiglia is placed perfectly above a green door. The colors make a lovely work of art.
This is my best discovery today. I have walked this street – Strada per San Giuliano – leading to the narrow road that ends at La Piazza at 1000 meters (Cino is at about 460 meters). This driveway to the right leads to a narrow alley of old homes. The Wall Madonna on the facing of the pillar of 18th-century. The Madonna on the left side is a 20th-century replacement. Honestly, I cannot believe I missed these two frescoes! What a lucky day!
Here is a montage that shows the small alley leading off the street to a courtyard shared by a group of old stone homes. A careful comparison of the frescoes shows the newer is a copy of the older which is likely from the late 18th-century.
This was once a very beautiful Madonna and Child with two saints. This is another fresco I walked by many times.
This very colorful 19th-century Wall Madonna – a pieta – is on the via Roma that leads through the center of the village passing the parish church and the Lavatoio Comunale which sits on the western Torrente Valle Maronara. This street has the older homes some of which retained their Wall Madonna’s when they were rehabbed.
The same fresco seen from via Roma. The date and dedication are clearly visible.
This Wall Madonna shows the Madonna and child and Santa Lucia on the left holding a plate with her eyes which were plucked from her as a method of her torture. The saint who was on the right is completely eroded.
This beautiful Wall Madonna is located on the via Giuseppe Mazzini in front of the large fountain and trough for animals. I am standing on via Unione above the via Giuseppe Mazzini which morphs into the via Roma at the junction.
These are the Wall Madonna’s that I think were painted by the same artist. The fresco in the upper left is in Cino on the via Giuseppe Garibaldi on the east side of the Torrente Valle Chioso. The other three frescoes are on via Torchi in Mantello. The via Torchi leads into the more modern and much less steep via Monbello or Strada Provinciale 5 (SP5) that leads to Cino. There are pieces of the old mulatierra that still runs between the small groups of houses that speckle the road to Cino. The two frescoes on the right have visible 18th-century dates. The smaller, square fresco on the lower left is badly damaged. But I think there is a good chance the same artist painted that fresco also. All three are in the same little localita’.
Here is a pretty view from the courtyard of the Chiesa San Giorgio.
These next photos show Wall Madonna’s – likely from the late 19th or early 20th-century that are on an arch which originally connected a home to its surrounding wall. Neither is in good shape.
This fresco is on the Strada per San Giuliano and the woman who lives in the home that hosts it attests to it age pre-dating her grandparents’ memories of its origin. The home is likely 18th-century and the fresco has been restored. Saint George – the patron saint of Cino is to the right and Saint Peter is to the left.
This is the Lavatoio Comunale – the community washhouse where women still wash laundry in the freezing water of the Torrente Valle Maronara! Every village has a communla washhouse.
Here is a pretty modern Madonna shrine to finish the narrative. Most homes have a Madonna to bless them and those who live there.
Wall Madonna's of the Valtellina 