11 MADONNA DI SAN MARTINO – EN

11 MADONNA DI SAN MARTINO - EN

10 and 11; the Works Ten and eleven are two preparatory charcoal drawings for the fresco in the apse of the church of San Martino in Freddana from 1940

11 Madonna di san Martino, 1944-45 charcoal on paper, cm 60 x 49

This vertical preparatory drawing presents the face of the Madonna from the front, half-length. Her robe has the same decorative motif on the neck as that of San Paolino. Her beautiful youthful face is framed by long hair covered by a veil, and her gaze is sweet and turned downward.

Insights

In 1943, the war forced Catarsini and his family to move to San Martino in Freddana, near Lucca. There, in July 1944, he was commissioned to paint the fresco for the choir and presbytery of the parish church. This horizontal work combines traditional sacred themes with modern and dramatic elements: the Madonna descends between San Martino and San Paolino, against a backdrop of houses destroyed by bombing, a vision that brings the heavenly Jerusalem to Versilia, tormented by war, with tanks, planes and paratroopers. In the foreground, desperate evacuees are depicted on the right, while on the left others place their hope in the Madonna. The strong realism and historical references of the fresco contrast with the serene figure of the Virgin who descends to comfort the faithful. The dull colors intensify the gravity of the moment.

News about the fresco in the apse of the church of San Martino in Freddana (Pescaglia, Lucca), a stop on the Cammino I luoghi di Catarsini. The adapted and audio-recorded description of the fresco cycle is on the totem at the entrance to the church.

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