Descrizione
The church was completely restored in the period from 2007 to 2009, restoring the original state of the internal and external architecture, under the direction of the architect Gianluca Ghedini. The smooth façade houses the statues of Saints Philip and James the minor, patrons of Cortina d'Ampezzo (although he is portrayed with the iconographic features of Giacomo Maggiore, that of Compostela). The interior has a single nave, with shallow niches, closed by the large presbytery (choir), illuminated by two rectangular windows. It is enriched by the frescoes by Zeiler, of which we will tell below, and by the ceiling by Ghedina.
The pictorial cycles
The painter Franz Anton Zeiler (1716-1793), famous in the Tyrol, of which he adorned many churches, was responsible for the pictorial decoration of the nave, carried out between 1774 and 1775. He also painted the altarpieces of two side altars, now moved to the church della Difesa, on the other hand, the altarpiece that he had prepared for the main altar has mysteriously disappeared and never reached Cortina d'Ampezzo. In the first panel of the ceiling of the nave, near the entrance door, is depicted "The martyrdom of St. James", in the second "The expulsion of the merchants from the temple", accompanied by gold-ground shields with the traditional figures of the evangelists, in the third bay is “The martyrdom of St. Philip”. The 14 stations of the Via Crucis are by the same author. In the vault of the presbytery a precious frame encloses the "Trinity", the work of Giuseppe Ghedina (1825-1898), built in 1859, on commission from the Municipality. On the walls of the presbytery there are two large biblical paintings by Zeiler: on the right the episode of "Esther before Ahasuerus" (Esther 5,1-14) and on the left "The judgment of Solomon" (1Ki 3,16-28 ). Unfortunately the images were dulled in 1859 and cleaned by the parish priest Don Pietro Frenademez in 1929.
The altars
The high altar was built in 1773 by Johann Müssack jr, with the two statues of Saints Peter and Paul, all in wood decorated with stuccolustro. The altarpiece, made in 1679 by Giuseppe Zanchi (1631-1722), portrays the "Madonna and Saints Philip and James" (once again confused with the Major), the altarpiece was lengthened by Giuseppe Lacedelli (1754-1833) to adapt it to new frame. In the cymatium (high above the altar) we identify a bas-relief of the Immaculate Conception, made by P. Höpfner in 1773, who is also the author of the processional crucifix (erroneously attributed to Brustolon) and the valuable confessionals at the main entrance. Also by Müssack are the first two side altars, also in imitation marble, adorned with pairs of wooden statues of saints. Under the altar on the right are the relics believed to be of St. Liberal, the altarpiece is by Giuseppe Ghedina and depicts "St. Joseph with Child", the lower part was adapted to the new frame in the thirties, probably by the painter's son. On the left altar are placed relics believed to be of St. Theophilus. In the altarpiece "L’ Addolorata ", a canvas by Luigi Gillarduzzi (1822 - Vienna 1856): it is the only work of this painter existing in his homeland. In the central niches of the nave there are the two oldest altars, coming from the previous church. On the right we find the altar of the Madonna del Carmine in carved, painted and gilded wood. In the dossal an altarpiece from the Venetian-Tolmezzina school, ordered by the Magnificent Community in 1693 and attributed to Antonio Lazzarini (1672-1732): depicts "The Madonna offering the scapulars to Saints Teresa of Avila, Simone Stock and Pietro d'Alcantara" . On the left the altar of the Madonna del Rosario, which was originally the main altar and probably contained another altarpiece. Work by Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732) and his workshop, it was built around 1703. The niche now houses a statue of the Madonna, from the Brissinese school of the early 1600s: this is the image venerated by the Rosary brotherhood . The beautiful tabernacle is an autograph work of the same artist, and has recently been restored by the Superintendency of Venice.