M. Moretti - Abstract

The research examines the works commissioned to Giorgio Picchi for the church and the convent of the Friars Minor Conventual of Casteldurante. By analyzing the pastoral visits of Bishop Pietro Barugi (1686-1708), the author recreates the structure and the décor of the ancient Chapel Della Rovere in St. Francis, with particular attention to the painting of The Glory of the Saints, also called The Paradise, commissioned by the duke Francesco Maria II. The study focuses also on the frescoes of the ancient cloister of Friars, bringing together for the first time the few surviving paintings and the preparatory drawings now preserved in the most important public and private graphic collections of the world. An unpublished letter of 1784 allows, finally, to document the debate about the destruction of the ancient cloister and its paintings, which began as a result of the protests made by Francesco Luzi, once guardian of the convent, staunch defender of the Picchi’s frescoes, in strong opposition with the bishop of Urbania Paolo Antonio Agostini Zamperoli (1779-1812), who decided to sacrifice the frescoes to allow the friars to build a new arrangement of the interior spaces of the convent, after the damage of the earthquake happened in 1781.