Claudio Parmiggiani Creates Altar and Ambo for Gallarate Basilica

Claudio Parmiggiani, a major international artist born in Luzzara in 1943, has designed a new altar and ambo for the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Gallarate. The project was commissioned by the Church in collaboration with the MA*GA Museum, thanks to benefactor Franco Moggio and organized by Provost Mons. Ivano Valagussa. The altar is made of white onyx, a light-transparent material, and features a multitude of male and female faces, both pagan and Christian, referencing classical imagery and the history of the Church. The ambo is a simpler parallelepiped in labradorite stone, chosen for its metallic, blue, and gold reflections. Parmiggiani previously created sacred works, including the Porta Speciosa for Camaldoli in 2013 and a work for AMEI in memory of Don Puglisi in 2016. The initiative is complemented at the MA*GA Museum until February 24, 2019, with a video documentation of Parmiggiani's works and the exhibition "Moltiplicazioni" by Armin Linke, featuring photographs exploring the symbolism of the altar in pastoral community life. Emma Zanella, director of MA*GA, notes that Linke's work reflects on the relationship between spiritual and artistic research, using photography as a collaborative, non-static practice.