Finally I can see my effigy portrayed among the statues of the Santo Monte. Can you see the bishop of Assisi, dressed in white and gold? That is me, because I had this beautiful chapel built at my own expense. Just think of all the difficulties I had to overcome! With the authority by the Sacred Council of Trent, I, Carlo Bascapè, bishop of Novara and earl of the Riviera d'Orta San Giulio and of the parish of Gozano, as well as lord of Soriso, have the honor and the duty of leading my diocese on the right path, in these times of heresies and malpractice.
And so I decided to leave a mark on this Monte and wanted the best artists of the great city of Milan to prove their skills. The famous Cristoforo dei Prestinari, who also worked on the Dome in Milan, and the Fiammenghini, who now live in Orta and which are so called for their father, who reached Lombardy from the Flanders. It is wonderful to see my ideas take shape. I decided everything: what to represent, where, the number of figures and the spaces. Look at the decorated columns, doors and frontispieces, designed by the faithful father Cleto, the architect of this Fabbrica! A great man, you will perhaps meet him lingering under a tree on the Monte, contemplating his work.
And now that the building is almost completed, I will have the chapels decorated, as such a holy place deserves.