Chiesa del Santo Nome di Gesu

Where the houses of Fornico begin, the road passes a small church the hamlet built for itself. Raised in 1613 by the local community and dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, it holds a 1615 altarpiece set in a stucco frame, while the facade shows traces of an eighteenth-century fresco of Saints Vincent, Valentine and Anastasius.

Why it matters

Fornico's church is a case study in how a hamlet asserted itself. The villagers erected the building collectively in 1613; a diocesan decree of 16 June 1614 authorised a small church in the settlement. Its dedication follows the post-Tridentine wave of devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, rare on the Garda shore, and the fading saints on the facade once announced that devotion to everyone walking the old road. The small church expresses the village’s ordinary devotional life.

What to notice

Inside, the 1615 altarpiece shows the Holy Name of Jesus adored by the Virgin and Saint Charles within a stucco aedicule. The figure of Saint Charles Borromeo points to the Milanese reform current that inspired Holy Name devotion. The facade preserves traces of an eighteenth-century fresco depicting Saints Vincent, Valentine and Anastasius, and a small bell tower stands beside it. At the entrance to the village, the church marks the beginning of the settlement.

Context and history

Fornico, a hamlet of Bogliaco on the slope above the lake, belonged religiously to the parish of San Pier d'Agrino and had tried unsuccessfully to gain independence from it in the fifteenth century. A 1614 decree authorised the church. The church was built by the local community in 1613; its 1615 altarpiece and facade frescoes preserve the building’s early artistic history. The church forms part of the area’s network of subsidiary churches.