Chapel of the white penitents / Chapel of the Immaculate Conception

The chapel of the Immaculate Conception, or White Penitents, was built from 1680, in the Capitol district, on land outside the walls of the medieval city, donated by Prince Louis I Grimaldi and the family of Monléon. Witness to the shift of the city towards the West, it was opened to worship in 1687. From then until the French Revolution, it was the seat of the brotherhood of the White Penitents. It saw its vault destroyed by the earthquake of 1887. Three years later, the vault was raised and frescoed by two local artists: Guillaume Cerutti-Maori and Patrizio Rogolini. In 1987, it was completely renovated. Jewel of the narrow forecourt suspended between heaven and earth, this chapel is a hymn to the art of the Counter-Reformation. It was declared a Historical Monument in 1947.
The brotherhoods of the White Penitents were numerous in the Middle Ages. They brought together lay people for a particular purpose of piety and Christian charity.
No one was a member by virtue of his position, age or profession, but by his choice, his free will.
Their setting was the most austere devotion, that of penance and death.
Coming from the companies of Flagellants, the White Penitents retain the practice of discipline. Their open dawn in the back allowed flagellation hence the name of «beaten».

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