Key to Umbria: Bevagna
 

Wooden Statues (ca. 1300)

    

These two statues, which are thought to have been bought by the Blessed James Bianconi in Perugia, were moved here from in SS Domenico e Giacomo in 2016:

  1. ✴a wooden Crucifix, which is said to have covered him in blood as he prayed before it (in the chapel to the right of the apse); and

  2. ✴a figure of the Madonna and Child (in the chapel to the left of the apse).

Both statutes were recorded in the 17th century the Cappella del Crocifisso at SS Domenico e Giacomo, which belonged to the Antici family.  

Ciccoli Altarpiece (ca. 1565)

The inscription records that Gisberto Ciccoli commissioned this altarpiece of the Madonna and Child, which came from his family chapel in San Francesco.  It is attributed to Dono Doni: Gisberto was married to a member of the Sermattei family, which, like Dono Doni, came from Assisi.

The altarpiece commemorates his nephew who had died when only ten: the boy is shown at the Virgin’s knee receiving the blessing of the baby Jesus.  Gisberto was a doctor, and one can sense his grief at having been unable to save his nephew: two inscriptions below the arms of the Ciccoli and Sermattei families lament his early death.

Model of Santa Maria delle Grazie (1583)

Valentino Martelli submitted this wooden architectural model prior to the construction of Santa Maria delle Grazie outside Bevagna.  In fact, many changes were made during the subsequent construction, and the dome and campanile in particular differ from the original intention.  This exhibit compares the model with a photograph of the actual church.

Works by or Attributed to il Fantino

The Pinacoteca contains a number of works by or attributed to Ascensidonio Spacca, il Fantino:

Scenes from the life of the Blessed James Bianconi (1589)


Il Fantino painted these three scenes on the front of the wooden sarcophagus that contained the relics of the Blessed James Bianconi in SS Domenico e Giacomo in the period 1589-1686.  They depict the Blessed James:

  1. ✴resuscitating the mason Maurizio who had fallen from the campanile of the church (originally dedicated as San Giorgio);

  2. ✴praying before the Crucifix in the church that sprays him with blood; and

  3. ✴turning water from the fountain in the adjacent cloister into wine, as he approaches death.

Crucifixion (1609)

This damaged altarpiece of the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St Francis (of whom only the face and one hand survives) is of unknown (but certainly Franciscan) provenance.






Madonna di Constantinopoli with saints (1609)

Surviving documentation records that Loreto Duranti commissioned this (now damaged) altarpiece in his will for his family chapel in San Francesco.  A fragmentary inscription indicates that it is the work of il Fantino.  It depicts the Madonna and Child in Byzantine clothes, with SS Francis and Bernardine of Siena.





Annunciation (late 16th or 17th century)

This altarpiece is of unknown provenance.







St Vincent Ferrer (ca. 1600)

This damaged altarpiece is of unknown (but certainly Dominican) provenance.

Works by or Attributed to Andrea Camassei

The Pinacoteca contains a number of works by or attributed to Andrea Camassei:

SS Joseph and Antony of Padua (ca. 1626)

These two panels, which are attributed to Andrea Camassei and may have formed part of a polyptych, came from SS Domenico e Giacomo.  They depict: . 

  1. ✴St Joseph holds the Virgin’s wedding ring and the staff that flowered in order to identify him as the chosen bridegroom. 

  2. ✴St Antony holds his uncorrupted tongue (a relic venerated in Padua that symbolises his skill as a preacher) and an image of the baby Jesus, whom the Virgin passed to him in a vision.

Head of a saint (17th century)

This fragment, which is part of an otherwise lost altarpiece of unknown provenance, is attributed to Andrea Camassei.




St Sebastian (17th century)

This altarpiece came from the Franciscan church of SS Annunziata (outside Bevagna), and has the arms of the Franciscans at the lower right.  It is usually attributed to Andrea Camassei, although not by the Pinacoteca.





SS Charles Borromeo and Philip Neri (17th century)

This altarpiece passed from the church of San Filippo to the Commune in or shortly before 1880.



Trinity with Saints (17th century)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Giovanni Battista Pacetti, called Lo Sguazzino, depicts the three figures of the Trinity, attended by angels, one of whom holds a globe.  Below, SS Philip Neri, Joseph and Vincent and the Blessed James Bianconi kneel  in front of a cityscape of Bevagna that includes the Porta dei Molini. 

The altarpiece was presumably painted after:

  1. ✴the nuns of Santa Margherita received important relics of St Philip Neri in 1627; and

  2. ✴Blessed James Bianconi was beatified in 1632.

The presence of these protectors of Bevagna, as well as the more ancient St Vincent, suggests that this was a civic commission.

Holy Family (ca. 1700)

This undocumented altarpiece, which was latterly attributed to Andrea Camassei, has recently been attributed to Carlo Lamparelli of Spello.  It depicts the Madonna and Child in a landscape with the young St John the Baptist, who holds a lamb for the baby Jesus to pet.



St John the Baptist (ca. 1730)

This altarpiece, which was originally oval, is of unknown provenance.  It is a replica of an one that Francesco Mancini sent from Rome to Fano in 1726 in thanks for having been given citizenship there.  (This original is now in the Pinacoteca there: search on “Battista” to see an illustration).  There is a similar copy that is now in the Museo Capitolare, Perugia: both are attributed to Francesco Mancini or his workshop.


Adoration of the Magi (18th century)

The attribution of this fine altarpiece to Corrado Giaquinto was confirmed during its restoration in 1970, but its provenance is unknown.  There is a similar picture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.




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