Sequences in the Landscape. Sacri Monti as Early Picturesque devices

Sacri Monti, or Holy Mountains, are an Italian Catholic invention dating back to the late fifteenth century and then spread through all the world. They are devotional paths in landscape, composed by a series of chapels which narrate the life of Jesus or a Saint. As Sergei Eisenstein wrote, the Sacri Monti are perfect examples of cinematic sequences arranged in the real, physical landscape. Despite that, the studies conducted on them from an architectural perspective are just a few, and the majority failed in conducting a proper analysis of the design method on which they are based on.