16th-Century Fresco by Oldrado Perini

Site overview

A fresco by Oldrado Perini from 1577 is on the outside wall of a private house. The roughly square painting, 175 cm per side, shows a sacred scene framed by four black bars intersecting at right angles. These bars are subtly highlighted to create a faint relief effect and are bordered outside by a decorative pattern resembling red damask. It is possible that this pattern was once enclosed by another set of four black bars.

In this scene, five figures are depicted. On the left, the Madonna is seated on a wooden throne, with the Christ Child standing upright on her lap. The Virgin Mary, wearing a red tunic and a blue mantle that are now nearly faded, supports her Son’s chest with one hand and gently holds his small foot with the other.

The Christ Child, dressed in a small white pleated tunic with lace trim, steadies himself with one hand on his Mother’s shoulder while holding the universe’s globe in the other. To the right of the fresco, the Eternal Father sits on a wooden throne, wrapped in a full red robe, symmetrically supporting the cross where Christ is crucified, topped by the Holy Spirit dove. Instead of the traditional Golgotha skull, the cross is anchored on a heavily weathered cherub affected by the elements.

Behind the Trinity, there is another piece of tapestry similar to the first, with red leaves on an ochre background and a central band of red leaves on a green background. It also includes an additional grey panel where the hieratic face of God is visible within a cruciform nimbus.

Both thrones sit on a flower-filled meadow that extends to the horizon. At the centre of the fresco is Saint Maurice, dressed in armour with a sword and a standard bearing a cross. The inner lining of his mantle has nearly faded away, but overall, the fresco remains quite well preserved.

The horizontal bar at the top of the fresco bears the inscription: Hoc opus fecit fieri il co.le Giacomo Genoa a li doi di luglio 1577 (this work was commissioned by the Commendable Giacomo Genoa on 2 July 1577).