Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption
Location, Object
Municipality of Santa Maria in Calanca, Canton of Grisons, at the entrance to the valley of Calanca. Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption (Chiesa Santa Maria Assunta); built in 1385 and 1416, enlarged 1606; choir decorated and painted 1626–1628 and 1646; restored 1954–1958.
Emblems (10)
Context
Right side altar (altar of the Rosary), arched canopy (ciborium), plastered jambs of the east-west and north-south arches: 10 painted emblems in oval stucco frames, five on each arch (nos. 1–5 and 6–10), some in poor condition.
Authorship, Date
Signed and dated by Georg Wilhelm Graesner (of Constance), 1646.
Significance
Glorification of the Virgin Mary, the patroness of the church.
Source
Traditional epithets of the Virgin Mary, taken from the Old Testament and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Literature
Kdm GR 6: 290; KF 2: 296–297; Birchler 1987: 8; Augustoni 2005: 38–39; Besomi/Barelli 2009: 139; Oberli 2021: 193.
exterior from south.
view of decorated choir with canopied side altars.
canopy of the altar of the Rosary, decorated arch (emblems nos. 6–10).
canopy of the altar of the Rosary, decorated arch (emblems nos. 1–5).
A bright star above trees.
STELLA IACOB [cf. Num 24:17].
A white lily.
LILIUM CONVALLIUM [Song 2:1].
An enclosed garden.
HORTUS CONCLUSUS [Song 4:12].
A rose.
QUASI PLANTATIO ROSAE IN IERICHO [Eccl 24:18].
A cedar with red fruit.
QUASI CEDRUS EXALTATA SUM IN LIBANO [Eccl 24:17].
An olive tree.
QUASI OLIVA SPECIOSA IN CAMPIS [Eccl 24:19].
A roofed tower.
TURRIS EBURNEA [Song 7:4].
An open door, with an angel above it.
IANUA COELI [cf. Ps 77:23]
A cypress tree.
QVASI CYPRESSVS IN MONTE SION [Sir 24:17].
A fountain.
FONS SIGNATUS [Song 4:12].
Copyright note: Added 2012; revised 2026. Photos of interior and emblems taken by the author, October 2009. Photo of exterior by Mike Lehmann (Wikipedia). Floor plan reproduced from Kdm GR 6: 28.