A chapel built by farmworkers in 1914 among the vines of La Morra and never consecrated, repainted in 1999 by Sol LeWitt outside and David Tremlett inside.
At a glance
- Type
- Chapel, never consecrated
- Where
- Brunate, La Morra, Province of Cuneo, Piedmont, Italy
- Coordinates
- 44.6280728° N, 7.9449767° E
- Built
- 1914, by farmworkers of the surrounding vineyards
- Repainted
- 1999 — Sol LeWitt (exterior), David Tremlett (interior)
- Earlier names
- Cappella della Santissima Madonna delle Grazie
Overview
The Cappella del Barolo — earlier known as the Cappella della Santissima Madonna delle Grazie, and also called the Cappella delle Brunate — stands among the vines in the comune of La Morra, in the Langhe of the Province of Cuneo, in Piedmont.
It was built in 1914 by farmworkers of the surrounding fields and vineyards, as a place of temporary shelter from storms and weather. It was called after the Madonna delle Grazie but was never consecrated for worship.
History
Beside it stood an earlier votive chapel frescoed by Giovanni Savio of La Morra; the archive gives his dates as 1963-1950, evidently transposed, and they have not been corrected here for want of a source.
The chapel fell out of use and stood abandoned for years. It was bought with the surrounding land by the Ceretto family — the archive entry gives the purchase twice, once as 1970 and once as 1972, and the discrepancy is left standing rather than settled without evidence.
In 1999 the family commissioned a reinterpretation of the chapel in contemporary terms from two artists: David Tremlett (born 1945), who repainted the whole interior, and Sol LeWitt (Hartford, Connecticut, 1928 — New York, 2007), who took the exterior.
What you see
The result is a small building of flat, saturated colour standing alone in the vines of the Brunate cru — the archive entry calls it unique of its kind in Italy.
Practical information
- Location: Brunate, 12064 La Morra (CN), Piedmont. The chapel stands in open countryside among the vineyards and can be reached on foot from the road.
- The interior is not always open; the exterior is visible at any time.
Sources
- Cultural Heritage Online historical archive — original Italian entry (beniculturalionline.it), transposed and corrected 2026.
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