Il Morrocco
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On the hilltop of Morrocco there was once a castle belonging to the Florentine Sernigi family. They say that the nobleman Niccolà Sernigi, passing by one day, was struck by an image of the Virgin left on an oak tree by some pilgrims on their way to Rome. Moved by renewed faith, he decided to found a church and a monastery on this site. The complex, begun in 1459, was entrusted to Carmelite monks, led by Father Luca Lanfranchini from Mantova. The portico is a 17th century restoration of the original. Under the arches are the remains of 15th century frescoes depicting stories of Mount Carmel and tondi with Carmelite saints. After the plague of 1630, the interior underwent major Baroque renovations, ordered by Father Giovanni Maria Mitelli. Between the 17th century side-altars, fragments of frescoes are visible: these depict the Twelve Apostles and scenes from the Life of Christ, attributed to Giovanni di Francesco, a mid 15th century Florentine painter. On the High Altar is a copy of the venerated Madonna enclosed in an elegant Baroque structure. In the apse is the wooden funerary urn which once contained the remains of Saint Andrea Corsini, brought here from Florence in 1649 because of fears that the Arno might flood and damage the Corsini chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine. On the right wall is a painted terracotta garland surrounding the bust of the church’s founder, Niccolò Sernigi, possibly the work of Andrea della Robbia. Below it, the date of the church’s foundation can be read: 20th Febuary 1458, recorded in the Florentine manner, therefore to be understood as 1459, since the Florentine year began on the 25th of March. In 1473 the same Sernigi commissioned the Florentine artist Neri di Bicci to paint a series of panels for the church, today exhibited in the Museo d’Arte Sacra in San Pietro in Bossolo. Under the portico, adjacent to the convent, the remains of 17th century frescoes are visible, depicting scenes from the life of Saint Andrea Corsini. The frescoes in the cloister painted in 1637, are the works of a lesser known artist, Antonio Nannoni. They represent the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, the Saint who reformed the Carmelite order, who was canonized in 1622.
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Return to San Casciano in Val di Pesa