Key facts

• Il Battista da Morcote e le 200 statue di stucco: perché lo stucco policromo di Ossuccio è tecnicamente diverso dalla terracotta policroma di Varallo o Varese: the Battista da Morcote attribution (the master sculptor who made the statues in the Ossuccio chapels c.1680–1714 CE is documented in a contract of 1685 CE at the Archivio Parrocchiale di Ossuccio as “Battista da Morcote”: a Ticino-origin sculptor (from Morcote, the current municipality in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, 8 km from Lugano); the specific stucco technique (the Ossuccio statues are made in “stucco policromo” (polychrome stucco) rather than the “terracotta policroma” (fired polychrome clay) used at Varallo, Orta, Varese, and Cividale; the difference: stucco (a mixture of gypsum + lime + fine aggregates) can be worked at room temperature without firing; the stucco sets hard in 30–40 minutes; the sculptors applied paint directly to the stucco surface while it was still wet (the “a fresco” technique in sculpture): the color penetrates 2–3 mm into the surface and cannot chip off without removing the stucco itself; the result: the colors in the Ossuccio statues have survived 300 years without restoration, while the Varallo terracotta polychrome required 3 full restoration campaigns in the 20th century CE)); the 24-figure Assunzione (the largest chapel group at Ossuccio: the 14th chapel (Assunzione della Vergine al Cielo (c.1710–1714 CE)): 24 stucco figures; the specific composition: the Virgin in a mandorla (a golden almond-shaped frame) rising to Heaven, surrounded by 12 Apostles (in two groups of 6 each, on the ground); 6 angels (3 supporting the mandorla + 3 carrying lilies); and the resurrected Christ waiting above (the perspective: the chapel space is 12 m × 9 m; the Virgin mandorla is suspended from the vault by iron rods (the suspension rods are the 1714 CE originals; still load-bearing after 300 years))
• GPS (Sacro Monte di Ossuccio, ingresso percorso): 45.9581° N, 9.1567° E