BORGO SAN LORENZO (pieve di San Lorenzo) – The mural painting, a dry tempera type, placed in the apse area of the pieve represents, in the center, the Pantocrator (i.e. omnipotent) Christ, sitting on a throne of clouds and embedded within a golden almond. His right hand shows the three fingers, a symbol for the Trinity, and the left one holds a small case. The left foot rests on a golden globe, symbol of the whole creation. At its side, on a blue background, the ancient protectors of Borgo San Lorenzo, San Martino (on the right) and San Lorenzo (on the left), clearly recognizable by their attributes: respectively the sword and mantle and the graticule with the flames. The work dates back to 1906 and was executed by Galileo Chini, who had just arrived in Borgo San Lorenzo to found the famous Fornaci San Lorenzo together with his cousin Chino, one of the most important Italian ceramic factories of the first half of the twentieth century. In this work, despite being Galileo one of the most prominent figures of the Liberty period, also putting into practice his long youthful experience as a restorer of medieval frescoes, he presents himself to the citizens of Borgo San Lorenzo with a clear neomedieval language. The latter is revived and reinterpreted by his sophisticated illustrative sensitivity, from the sure and flickering design, admirably combining the stern taste for the ancient (perhaps even to precisely adapt the pictorial text with the austere sacred space) together with a lively modern spirit.
© Il Filo – Idee e Notizie dal Mugello
