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ORTA:
Sacre Monte
St. Francis’ Life

Twenty tiny chapels dot the Sacred Mountain's centuries-old landscape. Inside each gem, frescoes and terracotta sculptures that range from High Renaissance to Baroque illustrate stages of St. Francis’ life.

    In the sculpture of Chapel XIII, the Carnival celebrants ignore the half-naked St. Francis, insisting on enjoying themselves. They will not don pious ashes until absolutely necessary. His brothers lead him through the streets, as nervously protective as a pack of border collies hovering around a crippled lamb. To the left [not visible] is the “Pervert of Orta,” a bearded man dressed in a woman’s gown; he flirts with the soldier-type who swats him away. While some might call the man a drag queen, he seems more like a typical Carnival reveler who turns day into night and is probably a traditional heterosexual pulling the leg of someone who knows him well enough to be rude.

     Except for his brethren, only a couple of the celebrants heed St. Francis's humiliation as a call to repent. One man in the back [not visible] is especially riveting; he not only clasps his hands in prayer but also seems to be either defending his right to piety or barking at his neighbor to follow his lead and not wait until the last minute to step onto the righteous path.