The church, dating back to the 11th – 12th centuries, but having undergone several reconstructions, was noted by Father Lino Chini in the last century for the work of Pietro Alessio Chini, who decorated Montefloscoli among other parish churches between 1860 and 1862, though he did not specify the subject or location of the painting.
It is most likely that Pietro Alessio painted the small vault of this chapel, which still today features a Madonna with Child surrounded by small angels, set against a background that illusionistically portrays an open sky. The painting, now heavily damaged and difficult to interpret, can be compared both in style and in the emphatic rendering of the figures to the Baptism of Christ in the parish church of San Giovanni Maggiore. Furthermore, it is possible that Pietro Alessio’s decoration also extended to the ceiling soffit of the church’s single nave, which was removed and replaced by the current trussed roof during the restoration work in 1910.
During this restoration, a tabernacle produced by the San Lorenzo Furnaces in glazed terracotta, imitating Robbian style, was placed on the altar of the Chapel of the Virgin of Good Counsel. This replaced an 18th-century canvas of The Nativity of the Virgin. The tabernacle features a glass reproduction of the Madonna with Child in the center, adorned with a festoon of fruit and vegetables, while the tile panel framing it displays modern decorative motifs—triangles and stars—which are characteristic of the Furnaces. The ceramic coats of arms applied to the pendentives of the vault can also be attributed to the same manufactory.
This type of production, frequent in the area, reflects a trend of adapting to the ancient character of the space by combining modern decorative elements from the manufactory’s own repertoire with a recovery of traditional figurative themes.
Scheda di Marco Pinelli, foto di Massimo Certini
© Il Filo – Idee e Notizie dal Mugello
Progetto Itinerario Liberty Mugello – Unione montana dei Comuni del Mugello
