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In praise of Agnolo Gaddi’s most chic frescoes strip

 

When you enter the Cathedral of Prato, the first span of the left nave is dedicated to the relic of the Holy Cintola, kept in the Chapel of the Sacred Belt, which was built in 1386-90 according to a plan by Lorenzo di Filippo, master builder of the cathedral of Florence. The chapel is entirely decorated with frescoes depicting Stories of the Virgin and the Holy Girdle, painted with surprising homogeneity by Agnolo Gaddi (about 1350-1396) and his workshop in 1392-95.

 

Unfortunately, the frescoes are not always by visitors. The chapel is indeed enclosed by a bronze gate. It is considered a Renaissance masterpiece, designed by Maso di Bartolomeo (1438-42), continued by Antonio Cola and concluded by Pasquino da Montepulciano in 1468. Nevertheless, the beautiful gate is most of the time closed, and therefore very rarely visitors can enjoy the spectacular cycle realised by Agnolo Gaddi, still very well preserved (except for some effects of a couple of invasive interventions over the centuries). In this gallery you can then see the frescoes inside.

The froescos illustrate famous, and lesser known stories from the Bible. Not to be misses is the scene of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, a very suggestive nocturnal painting. And, in the lunette of the east wall, the ship with “the two young men return to Italy with the Sacred Belt”, which fits perfectly into the bezel, with an effective interplay of curves.

 

Some parts were damaged. The scene of the Virgin’s death, for example, is partially lost. A criminal placed there a cabinet of relics, which also damaged the “Assumption giving the Cintola to St. Thomas”. Even the scene of the procession carrying the relic in the church of Santo Stefano was partly destroyed. In this case the cause was the new organ, place there in 1454.

 

Another remarkable passage pictured in the fresco is the return of Michael to Prato, where a concise view of the city can be spotted. You can recognize the Praetorian Palace, with the angular tower which collapsed in 1532. This former institutional building is now the beautiful new art museum of the City – a beautiful “predella” by Bernardo Daddi depicting the stories of the Sacred Belt is preserved here.

 

A visit to the chapel of the belt is compulsory for those entering Prato’s dome. The view of the frescoes by Agnolo Gaddi is certainly an experience that should be done, despite the various opinions that over the centuries have discredited his work. From Giorgio Vasari, who did not spend too many words of appreciation for the painter, to the Italian art historian Pietro Toesca who considered Gaddi a “boring and lifeless, long-winded narrator, made popular by the same lack of psychological depth, the inanity of plastic expression, the vagueness of the surface color.” However, it’s up to you to judge!

September 22, 2014