The Arrival of the Wise Men
The chapel depicts the arrival of the Wise Men at the cave where Jesus was born. It is part of the complex of Bethlehem, one of the oldest of the Sacro Monte.
It was started around 1520, probably supervised by Gaudenzio Ferrari and his collaborators. They also created the statues and paintings by 1525.
Gaudenzio integrated terracotta figures and frescoed backgrounds, thus obtaining a coherent composition. In fact, behind the three-dimensional figures of the Wise Men and their servants, a procession of horsemen is parading on the walls.
The bay horse on the left is extremely realistic: frightened by noise, it seems to come out of the wall, and suddenly break into the chapel.
The original entrance allowed visitors to visit the room, walking alongside the statues. But in 1614, a corridor was built on the western side of the building, changing the viewpoint. In the mid-nineteenth century, the external portico was added and the original sixteenth-century pediment was partially demolished.