A narrow spiral stairway leads up to the altana, the large covered roof-terrace.
Here, in the early 1970s, Bruno Cordati painted the interior walls. He worked directly on the plaster in the style characteristic of his late period.
The first figure one sees coming up the stairs on the left is a guardian menacingly holding a stick. The body is not clearly outlined, red over a red background. It’s not exactly a welcoming figure, and perhaps it represents the artist’s mocking reference to his own aloofness. Those who knew Cordati remember him as a generous but often surly and solitary person.
Next is a scene portraying one of the most characteristic themes of Cordati’s paintings, transferred from the canvas to the wall: the outcast, people dazed and weighed down by life. Their oppression is depicted well by the bent neck of one of the figures; then there is a seated man who seems to be working with a machine, painted blurry and indistinct as was typical of Cordati’s late period.
Following is the largest scene: a figure is lying on the floor, with another figure holding it up, two others observing close behind and two children at its feet. Cordati was not religious, and perhaps this scene simply depicts a wounded peasant or worker, yet it could very well evoke a Deposition, although not everybody agrees with this interpretation.
Continuing the tour of the roof-terrace, we see two figures washing clothes; the woman seems busier than the man, who perhaps is only helping her. Beyond the large window, there are two other figures with clearer features, followed by more figures once again blending in with the background landscape.
This roof-terrace, like the others one can see, was also once open to the elements. From the exterior one can see the wide arches that were later filled in. A curious detail is the black spot at the centre of the floor: it’s the mark left by the fires lit by refugees after the war.
From the many windows there are suggestive views of Barga and its surroundings: a vista of the valley with the new part of town in the foreground and in the distance the towns of Albiano and Sommocolonia; a view of Mount Pania, right above the roof top, with the “V” shaped tiles pointing to it as an arrow; a remarkable view of Barga’s houses and roofs; and finally the cathedral, framed with uncanny precision in one of the windows, with the Appennines providing a backdrop.