Essays on Life 



about 1670. A similar treatment of the Last 

 Supper may be found near Brieg in the church 

 of Naters, and no doubt the two altar-pieces 

 are by the same man. There are, by the way, 

 two very ambitious altars on either side the 

 main arch leading to the chancel in the church 

 at Naters, of which the one on the south side 

 contains obvious reminiscences of Gaudenzio 

 Ferrari's Sta. Maria frescoes at Varallo; but 

 none of the four altar-pieces in the two tran- 

 septs tempted me to give them much atten- 

 tion. As regards the smaller altar-piece at 

 Saas-Grund, analogous work may be found at 

 Cravagliana, half-way between Varallo and 

 Fobello, but this last has suffered through the 

 inveterate habit which Italians have of show- 

 ing their hatred towards the enemies of Christ 

 by mutilating the figures that represent them. 

 Whether the Saas work is by a Valsesian artist 

 who came over to Switzerland, or whether the 

 Cravagliana work is by a Swiss who had come 

 to Italy, I cannot say without further con- 

 sideration and closer examination than I have 

 been able to give. The altar-pieces of Mai- 



rengo, Chiggiogna, and, I am told, Lavertezzo, 



172 



