rancis had a vital role to play at this mo-ment in the history of the Italian peninsula, and in no place is the case for his relevance made more beautifully, completely and com-prehensively than the Sacro Monte di Orta. Riding a wave of enthusiasm created by the success of the Sacro Monte di Varallo, forty miles to the west, this Sacro Monte is both spectacle and hagiography…