Massa Fermana Altarpiece

Amico Ricci (1834) quotes a local traditions that the work was commission by a count of the Azzolini family from Fermo, who were also lords of Massa Fermana.

It was later exhibited in the municipal residence and then in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino, where it remained until the end of the Second World War, after which it returned to the church of origin.

The polyptych is composed of five main panels with the Madonna and Child in the center (105x44 cm) and on the sides the saints John the Baptist, Lawrence, Sylvester and Francis (105x44cm each).

At the top it is refined by the red cloth that covers the backrest and by two large cranes resting on the sides, a peach and a quince, alluding to the Original Sin.

The halos, of Mary and of the saints, are of an archaic type, like golden discs pinned to the back of the head and not foreshortened, on which the artist applied decorations in relief.

The body of Christ stands at the same time heroic in its strong plastic physicality, and painful for the suffering of martyrdom, remembered not only by the grimace, but also by the cross that appears behind him with the three nails driven into the wood.

The inspiration from Mantegna's San Zeno Altarpiece is evident for the scenes (excluding the Flagellation), attempting to convey the drama of the events even more, as can be seen clearly in the Crucifixion where the elderly Mary is transfigured by a grimace of pain.