The chapel is unique in LeWitt’s oeuvre as his only wall drawing to cover an entire building. Its inlaid stone floor, stained glass windows, and pastel walls and ceilings were assembled by Tremlett. The doors of the chapel are always open, and once inside, the visitor finds an intimate and reflective space whose colours echo those of the land. Exuberant and joyful, it is a beacon for the tens of thousands who seek it out each year. In contrast with the earthy palette of the landscape, LeWitt painted the exterior of the chapel in bold colours using geometric and curvilinear forms. It was through his invitation that Sol LeWitt and David Tremlett came to paint and pastel the chapel and start a new chapter in its history. Wishing to celebrate the land on which his business was dependent, whilst offering it something new and culturally meaningful, Ceretto decided to commission an artwork for the restored chapel. Over the course of the century the countryside depopulated and the chapel was left to ruin until it was restored in 1999 by Bruno Ceretto, a farmer and winemaker who had acquired the vineyards amongst which the chapel stood. We can imagine that folk music and cattle bells would have met the ears of passersby more often than evensong. It was never consecrated, and farmhands used it as a shelter from the elements.
Although it looks baroque, the Cappella del Barolo was built in the early part of the twentieth century. It is found in a grid of vineyards, stitched to the rolling hills of the Langhe in Piedmont, Northern Italy.