The church of San Bernardino and the adjoining convent are located in the green area of Ivrea, in the centre of the Olivetti industrial district, once known as the “La Crosa” region, just outside the town. The foundation stone for the construction of the convent with annexed church was laid on 14 September 1455 and was blessed by Bishop Giovanni di Parella, as we are reminded by a marble plaque positioned in the left wall. The former convent complex included the church with the cloister, dormitory, infirmary, guest quarters and workshops. At the time of its consecration in 1457, the church consisted of a single nave with a quadrangular floor plan, with a cross vault and a single altar. Large attendance by worshippers made it necessary to extend the building, which was completed in 1465 with the extension of the original nave, the erection of a partition and two side chapels dedicated to the Virgin and Mary Magdalene. The building took on the characteristic appearance of convent churches, with the separation of the area destined for use by the members of the clergy from that to which the lay people had access. The fortunes of the convent began to decline during the 17th century, when the Observants were driven out by the Reformed Franciscan friars. From the beginning of the 18th century until the Napoleonic conquest and the abolition of ecclesiastical property, the complex was repeatedly used as an encampment for military troops and later as an agricultural depot, resulting in the ruin of all the buildings, including the church, which was used as a granary. In 1907, the entire area was purchased by engineer Camillo Olivetti who, between 1955 and 1958, promoted the overall recovery of the church with the renovation of the original architectural structure and the restoration of the frescoes decorating the interior walls. Prominent among these is the pictorial cycle with the Stories from the Life and Passion of Christ, which occupies the whole partition on the side that used to face the public church. They are the work of Giovanni Martino Spanzotti, an artist who was rediscovered only in the last century but who is an essential point of reference in the development of Renaissance art in Piedmont, permeated with influences from the Po Valley and Lombardy, the French and evocative Flemish echoes. The twenty frescoes depicting highlights in the life of Jesus are arranged around the large central panel portraying the Crucifixion. Created between 1488 and 1495, they reveal the artist's excellent understanding of perspective, in line with the most innovative cultural trends in the Milanese sphere. The two central pendentives house the Last Judgement and a depiction of hell showing the damned subjected to a variety of tortures, while the two pillars below depict Saint Bernardine and Christ as the Imago Pietatis. The decoration is completed by the expulsion from the Earthly Paradise and a glimpse of Purgatory on the two side pendentives. The wooden coffered ceiling, which has been partly restored and partly reconstructed, conforms to the original structure.