Madonna con Bambino in trono tra i santi Murlo

Artist: ANDREA di Niccolò
Year: 1514
Current location: Pieve dei Santi Giusto e Clemente a Casciano
Original location: Cappella di Santa Maria a Piantasala o cappella della Tagliata

DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Sigismund, Augustine, Roch, and Sebastian

The painting was created using the fresco technique. The work is somewhat altered, although the subject is still visible. Mary, seated on the marble throne, supports the infant Jesus, who, standing on his mother's lap, blesses with a gesture of his hand. Behind the throne, behind them, are two angels in prayer.

To the right of Mary are Saints Sigismund and Augustine, while to the left are Saint Sebastian, pierced by arrows, and Saint Roch.

The saint is dressed in a long cloak that covers almost his entire body.

Leaning against the Virgin's throne is a long staff reminiscent of the attire of a pilgrim, such as Saint Roch of Montpellier.

Orphaned, he went on a pilgrimage to Rome and, during the plague of 1348, helped the sick, contracting the plague himself.

You can also see the face of a small dog holding a loaf of bread in its mouth, recalling the episode in which it was a dog that fed Rocco when he was dying of the plague.

In Casciano, it was solemnly celebrated on August 16th. The scene appears to take place outdoors, and a wall divides the figures from the sky in the background; the floor on which they stand is tiled.

Overall, the painting is very accurate in its depiction of the details of Saint Augustine's or Saint Roch's clothing. The compositional and spatial patterns are simple and repetitive, echoing other sacred conversations painted by Andrea di Niccolò.

The artist of the fresco, which has been removed, is, according to the bibliographical attribution, Andrea di Niccolò. The painter worked on it in the first quarter of the 16th century, almost certainly in 1514.

The fresco was originally painted for the church of the Madonna di Piantasala, located in the municipality of Murlo, in the Casciano area.

When it was detached, the fresco was moved to the church of SS. Giusto and Clemente, in the Casciano area.

Agostino appears to the left of the Virgin, standing, wearing episcopal vestments, a miter, and a halo on his head, with the face of an old man with a thick beard. The saint's appearance corresponds to the typical cliché of his iconography.

The preparatory drawing of the detached fresco still survives.