On the wall of the rectory on Alighieri Street is a splendid polychrome majolica ogival lunette depicting the Madonna and Child. The coat of arms visible below alludes to the work’s commissioning parish priest Don Giuseppe Focacci and allows it to be dated to around the mid-1920s.
Derived from the same cartoon as the lunette preserved in the Florentine cemetery of the Porte Sante, from which it differs practically only in the Virgin’s astonishing dress, the Barberino version, a true ceramic painting, can be traced to the hand of Galileo himself. It is to be admired for the refinement of the design, the splendor of the decoration and the attention to detail, and it also once again underscores the uncommon quality of execution and technique of the Chinian kilns. Also of note is the uncommon use of two elegant ceramic lamps supported by wrought iron arms.
File of Marco Pinelli
Photo by Marta Magherini
© The Wire – Ideas and News from Mugello.
Art Nouveau Mugello Itinerary Project – Mountain Union of Mugello Municipalities
