Tortona celebrates the Jubilee Year 2025 with an exhibition that combines art, devotion and historical research. Until November 30, 2025, the Diocesan Museum of Tortona is in fact hosting the exhibition Pilgrims of Hope. Bovo, Contardo, Rocco, an exhibition that aims to tell the story and devotion linked to three pilgrim saints particularly venerated in the Tortona area through works of art. The initiative was created in response to the invitation of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, which, on the occasion of the Jubilee Year, promoted a nationwide cultural project entitled “In Your Name. Art Speaks of Community,” designed to enhance the ecclesiastical artistic heritage as a tool for spiritual growth. Within Piedmont, the Council for Ecclesiastical Cultural Heritage developed the interdiocesan program “Communities on the Way,” of which the Tortona exhibition represents one of the main stages. The set-up was supervised by the Cultural Heritage Office of the Diocese of Tortona and the Sacred Art Commission, and the exhibition was curated by Lelia Rozzo, head of the Diocesan Museum, and scholar Emiliano Stefenetti, an expert in wooden sculpture.
The heart of the project is dedicated to three emblematic figures of popular faith: St. Bovo, St. Contardo and St. Rocco. Three saints who, although with different histories, share the dimension of pilgrimage and a cult deeply rooted in the territory. The exhibition aims to restore to the public the richness of their artistic and spiritual representation, with an itinerary that illustrates their iconographic peculiarities and devotional fortune developed over the centuries.
The Diocesan Museum of Tortona is located at 7 Seminario Street. The exhibition can be visited on Saturdays and Sundays from 4 to 7 p.m. until October and from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. from October. Special openings and guided tours by appointment are available for schools and groups of at least 10 people, with the possibility of educational workshops. Information and contacts are available at beniculturali@diocesitortona.it or 0131.816609 and 0131.816613.
“Three figures of saints deeply rooted in the tradition of our territory, whose presence has significantly marked the life of local communities, leaving a lasting imprint not only on the level of popular devotion, but also in historical and artistic terms,” explains Lelia Rocco. “One of the main objectives,” Emiliano Stefenetti echoes her, “was to deepen and enhance the historical and artistic heritage of the Diocese, a research work that has led to significant rediscoveries, now presented to the public for the first time. These are complemented by prestigious extra-diocesan loans, which have made it possible to build an organic, coherent exhibition itinerary of high cultural value.”
The exhibition itinerary is divided into several thematic sections and presents more than 45 works including paintings, sculptures, engravings, goldsmithing and liturgical artifacts, some of which have never been exhibited before. The works come from parishes in the diocese, as well as from important Italian ecclesiastical institutions and museums. Among the masterpieces are Manfredino Boxilio’s Polyptych of St. Bovo , dated 1495 and until now known only through a black-and-white photograph, now visible to the public for the first time, and then Guercino’s Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Francis, Anthony Abbot and Bovo, made between 1616 and 1617, and Saints Geminianus, Omobonus and Contardo painted by Francesco Stringa around 1699.
The path dedicated to Saint Roch is the most extensive and documents the evolution of his iconography from the 16th to the 19th century. Two monographic rooms are instead reserved for Saint Bovo and Saint Contardo, enriched by works from Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy and Emilia. A specific section is devoted to popular devotion, with reliquaries, votive offerings and liturgical objects from churches in the area. Special attention is also paid to the book heritage. A space with unpublished documents and ancient texts dedicated to the three saints, coming from the Diocesan Historical Archives, the Municipal Archives of Voghera and diocesan libraries, will be set up in the Archival and Book Heritage Room of the Diocesan Museum.
The exhibition thus presents itself as an opportunity to study and enhance the diocesan artistic heritage. Eleven works are presented for study for the first time, while all those from the territory of the diocese find their place in a museum context for the first time. The exhibition thus also becomes an opportunity for critical and attributive updating. Conservation work was also carried out on eleven works, five of which are accompanied by a card in the catalog. The restorations were made possible thanks to the support of the Piedmont Region, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria and the Fondazione della Comunità della Provincia di Pavia, along with CEI funds and other local entities. The project is accompanied by a scholarly catalog published by Linelab of Alessandria, with contributions by twenty-seven authors including essays and fact sheets that offer an updated and articulate picture of the works and their historical and artistic context.
Fundamental support for the realization of the initiative came from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Tortona, the Foundation of the Community of the Province of Pavia, the Lions Club Tortona Host and Tortona Castello, the Rotary Club of Tortona, the Italian Women’s Center of Tortona, the Sacred Constantinian Order of Saint George - Lombardy Delegation, companies such as Piber Group and the Italian Society for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Tortona Delegation.
The diocese of Tortona, among the oldest in Italy, traces its origins back to the 4th century. Its location, at the crossroads of Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria, fostered the formation of a rich and varied cultural heritage, influenced by political, artistic and social changes. Devotion to the saints Bovo, Contardo and Rocco has deep roots in this area, particularly in Voghera and Broni, cities that were the custodians of the relics, places also traditionally linked to medieval pilgrimages. In those centuries, major communication routes such as the Via Postumia and the Via Francigena favored the spread of devotion, interweaving religious routes and cultural exchanges.
The cult of St. Bovo, linked mainly to the city of Voghera, intensified from the 15th century and spread to areas of Piedmont, including Asti, Alba, Novi Ligure and Alessandria, as far as the Veneto region. His iconography, which often presents him as a knight in armor and banner, found ample space in art, with examples ranging from frescoes and sculptures to works by leading artists. Prominent among these is the Boxilio Polyptych, from the abbey of San Bovo in Voghera, which was destroyed during the Napoleonic era.
St. Roch, among the most venerated saints in the Christian tradition, is depicted mainly while showing the plague plague, accompanied by dog, staff and shell. The diocese of Tortona played a leading role in his devotion, guarding his remains until 1483, when they were moved to Venice. The exhibition itinerary dedicated to him traces his iconographic fortune through paintings, statues and wooden sculptures, with particular attention to 18th-century Genoese production.
St. Contardo, patron of Broni and co-patron of Modena, enjoys a more circumscribed but no less intense devotion. His most widespread depiction is that of him dying or as a pilgrim. Among the most significant works is the gonfalon of the city of Modena by Francesco Stringa and other canvases dedicated to miracles attributed to the saint.
The set of works on display thus aims to highlight the complexity of the representations of the three saints, highlighting the deep connection between art, spirituality and pilgrimage. The exhibition aims to offer visitors not only a devotional path, but also a tool for knowledge and appreciation of the historical and artistic heritage of the area.
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| An exhibition in Tortona on Saints Bovo, Contardo and Rocco with several unpublished |
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