- 15 November 1905, Cochin, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

) was an Italian Jesuit brother and late baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, mostly famous for decorating the church of the St. Aloysius College, Mangalore

Mangalore

Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...

, India.

Biography

Moscheni’s artistic talent was discovered early and he was sent to the famed Accademia Carrara in Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

 where he spent several years. He studied under able masters and acquired considerable proficiency in the art of painting. He then went to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 to study the masterpieces of the Vatican

Vatican City

Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...

. Fresco

Fresco

Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

 painting now became his passion and several of his works can be found in churches of the Bergamo area. In 1889, at the age of 35, Moscheni renounced the prospect of a brilliant career

Career

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually considered to pertain to remunerative work ....

 and joined the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

. But his religious superiors did not wish his talents to be buried. After the usual two years of novitiate

Novitiate

Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....

 he was sent to decorate churches in Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

, Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 as well as in his own country, Italy. Moscheni left for India in 1898. He was sent to Mangalore with the specific mission of painting the Chapel of St. Aloysius College, an educational institution recently founded by the Italian Jesuits.

The Saint Aloysius' Chapel

• In true baroque style Moscheni covered walls, ceilings, pillars and every available space with vivid tableaux on the life of St Aloysius Gonzaga
  Aloysius Gonzaga
  - Early life :Aloysius Gonzaga was born at his family's castle in Castiglione delle Stiviere, between Brescia and Mantova in northern Italy in what was then part of the Papal States. He was a member of the illustrious House of Gonzaga...
  
   (the patron saint
  Saint
  A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
  
   of the college), other Jesuit missionaries
  Missionary
  A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
  
  , saints and martyr
  Martyr
  A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
  
  s, the mysteries of the Christian faith (the Trinity
  Trinity
  The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
  
  , Christ
  Christ
  Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
  
   and his Mother), glories of other religious orders, etc. It took him a little over two years to complete the work.

• Besides the chapel he painted also some frescoes in the Jesuit dining room: scenes evocative of Ignatius of Loyola
  Ignatius of Loyola
  Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
  
  's early years and the foundation of the Society of Jesus. And, less known but strikingly unusual - as this was done in the 19th century... -, a painting of the Hindu
  Hindu
  Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
  
   goddess of Knowledge, Saraswati
  Saraswati
  In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
  
  , on the college stage fittings. Notable also, because proving that Moscheni was a man ahead of his time, is the coat of arms painted above the stage with Sanskrit words: Satyam eva Jayate.

Other works

The original intention of his religious Superiors was to call Moscheni back to Europe after completing the St Aloysius College work, but his fame has spread in India and requests came that could not be ignored. The chapel of the Kankanady hospital, the Agrar church, the Mangalore’s seminary, the Holy Name cathedral of Bombay were next to benefit from his talent. But nowhere is the experience as total and wholesome as it is in St Aloysius chapel of Mangalore. The bishop of Cochin called him in 1905. Moscheni had hardly completed the work in the sanctuary of the Cochin cathedral when he fell sick: a case of acute dysentery

Dysentery

Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...

 that ultimately proved fatal. He died on the 15 November 1905 and is buried in the Jesuit cemetery

Cemetery

A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...

 of Cochin.

Conclusion

The Saint Aloysius Chapel remains a unique case of baroque art

Baroque art

Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival, but the existence of important Baroque art and architecture in non-absolutist and Protestant states throughout Western...

 in India. Some compare it to the Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio...

 of the Vatican. It attracts thousands of visitors every year. Quite naturally the Indian postal department chose to depict one of the chapel’s painting of Antonio Moscheni when, in 2001, it decided to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the College’s foundation.

Bibliograpgy

• COELHO, J.: Inspired Jesuit painter and Artist, in 'Jesuit profiles', Anand, 1991, pp. 289-297.

External links

• Saint Aloysius Chapel of Mangalore.