Cappella del Barolo at Brunate

The chapel was built in 1914 as a shelter for vineyard workers, never consecrated, and left to fall apart until the estate that owns the land invited two artists to paint it. LeWitt took the outside, Tremlett the inside, and the result is a small building in flat, saturated colour standing entirely alone among the rows.

It is the strongest single subject in the Langhe because of that contrast. Everything around it is green in summer and gold in autumn, in soft natural tones; the chapel is not, so anything placed near it reads immediately.

The painted walls are matt and take light well from any angle, but the colours are strongest under a high sun or a bright overcast; low golden light warms them and shifts the reds. There is no shade at all on the site.

Access is a short walk from a small parking area at Brunate, on a track between working vineyards. The chapel exterior is freely accessible; the interior opens on limited days, so check before making it the centre of a session.