Essays on Life 



than is absolutely necessary ; and the off-side 

 of the figure is neglected ; they will be found 

 chiefly, if not entirely, at the top of the steps. 

 The other figures are more solidly built, and 

 do not remind me in their business features 

 of anything in the Valsesia. There was a 

 sculptor, Francesco Sala, of Locarno (doubtless 

 the village a short distance below Varallo, 

 and not the Locarno on the Lago Maggiore), 

 who made designs for some of the Oropa 

 chapels, and some of whose letters are still 

 preserved, but whether the Valsesian figures 

 in this present work are by him or not I 

 cannot say. 



The statues are twenty-five in number; I 

 could find no date or signature; the work 

 reminds me of Montrigone; several of the 

 figures are not at all bad, and several have 

 horsehair for hair, as at Varallo. The effect 

 of the whole composition is better than we 

 have a right to expect from any sculpture 

 dating from the beginning of the last century. 



The ninth chapel, the Annunciation, pre- 

 sents no feature of interest ; nor yet does the 



tenth, the Visit of Mary to Elizabeth. The 



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