Interior view

Vittone’s design for Santa Chiara was a centralized space bound by four identical chapels laid out as segments of a circle. The shell of the dome is borne by four very narrow piers, and the view from the chapels into the central space is framed by the vertical intersection of two superimposed arches, the upper part of which cuts deeply into the shell of the dome. Four large apertures in the shell of the dome open up the view to a second shell painted with a heavenly image with angels. The external silhouette of this second spaces receives direct light from adjacent windows.

View the section and plan of the Santa Chiara, Bra (engraving).