Cristo crocifisso con la Madonna, San Giovanni Evangelista e San Francesco Asciano

Artist: Francesco Nasini
Year: 1664
Current location: Museo Civico Archeologico e d'Arte Sacra Palazzo Corboli
Original location: San Lorenzo a San Francesco

DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION

The canvas, created in 1664 for the Church of San Francesco, where it was placed over the second altar on the right, documents a new phase in the artistic evolution of Francesco Nasini, who four years earlier, also in Asciano, had painted the frescoes "Scenes of the Passion of Christ" in the lunettes of the Oratory of Santa Croce. Compared to this fresco cycle, the "Crucifixion" from San Francesco is characterized by strong color tones and chiaroscuro contrasts, undoubtedly derived from the direct influence of the paintings of Mei and Manetti visible in Asciano.

In particular, in the canvas for San Francesco, Nasini seems to have drawn inspiration from the "Crucifixion" that Mei had painted for the Oratory of Santa Croce, from which he drew inspiration for the pose of Christ and, above all, that of the Madonna.

The coat of arms in the lower left corner of the painting could refer to the patron or donor of the work. Thanks to heraldic repertoire, it was possible to trace the Ascarelli coat of arms (Jewish Family of Rome), identical in the division of the shield to the one on the painting under consideration, but different in the metal: in the Ascarelli coat of arms, blue is combined with gold, while in the coat of arms of the painting, blue is combined with a neutral color. It could be hypothesized that the gold pigment was lost, leaving the light background as we see it today, or that the painter used a neutral color to replace the gold.

From the documents held in the Archives of the Superintendency of Artistic and Historical Heritage of Siena and Grosseto, we learn that the painting was restored by the Superintendency and returned to the Collegiate Church for temporary storage in 1989.

When the Palazzo Corboli Museum was established, this work, like many others, found its final and appropriate home within it.