Soiano del Lago

The parish Church of Soiano del Lago is dedicateci to Saint Michele Arcangelo and it was built in 1622. lt is considered that it had been built on a pre-existed ancient chapel, used during the military settlement of the castle.

We think about this origin because the proximity with the castle and the dedication to the saint warrior Michele, to whom the Langobards, who ruled in this area from 569 to 774 d.c.,were particularly devoted. The saint is illustrateci on the front of the chapel in a little ands ancient low relief ­ too much consumed- and also in the major altarpiece .

The church was embellished during the 1600 and in the later centuries, and it was completely restored in 1926 with many increases of Liberty art. In generai the structures stili has its seventeenth century scansion with three chapels on each sides and the large apsidal space.

The altar on the right side was, during the time, replaced with a side entrance, and on the top of it there is a monumental organ. The pictorial adornments of the ceiling and of the apse, polychrome glass windows, the paving,the wooden statues of the altars date back to the last restoration ,that happened in the first postwar period. Looking at the most remarkable decoration or statue in the church, we can find :

• The Altar dedicateci to Saint Rosario, the first entering on the right side. This devotion was already present in the old parish church and was kept in the new one in 1600 too; and it was erected in memory of the victory in Lepanto aver the Turks. The plastic decoration is in stucco with fiorai motif and the statues of the Saints Caterina da Siena and Domenico date back to 1700 and they are remarkable thanks to expressiveness and quality.
• The organ was realized in Verona in 1693 by the organ-maker Carlo Ridolfi. The wooden structure , richly decorateci with green and gold, dates back to 1700. The organ is functioning.
• The apse is dominateci by the Major Altar, that dates back to 1790. lt has two candelabra and in the middle there is the monumental tabernacle in the shape of a tempie and two statues on the top.The altarpiece represents the Blessed Virgin in adoration of the Divine lnfant with Saints Michele Arcangelo and Sebast iano. The portray has traditionally attributed to the painter Andrea Bertanza,a skilful artist who was active around the Lake Garda in the first two decades of the 17th century;but Monica lbsen linkens the painting to Giovanni Antonio Caroto's works of the early sixteenth century. Looking with attention at the painting we can see two increases at the bottom to adapt it to the size of the structure.

We finish the visit looking at the third Altar on the right side, that includes the most precious and celebrateci painting of the Church: the Altar of the Annunciation with the marvelous painting of the Genoese painter Bernardo Strozzi, known as the Genoese Priest,it dates back to the first years of 1600. We can underline the influence exercised by Tintoretto during the venetian period of Strozzi. The altar was commissioned and offered by the rich ventian family of Carminati,who had extended properties in Valtenesi and a sumptuous villa in Soiano. The Carminati's offered in 1652 the saint relics of Saint Albano Martire, co-protector of Soiano, visible in the shrine on the bottom of the altar. Also the altarpiece gold wooden is a typical example of carving from Brescia from 1600 with good