Florence, the Macinghi Altarpiece by Verrocchio and workshop returns to its church

The Macinghi altarpiece, a work executed by Verrocchio, Leonardo’s master, together with his workshop, returns to the church of San Martino a Strada in the municipality of Grassina, just outside Florence. The large panel painting depicting the Sacred Conversation with Saints Zanobi, Francis, John the Baptist and Nicholas is the property of the Uffizi Galleries, but for about a century it has adorned the high altar of the church, which is located in Grassina, on the outskirts of Florence. In the past year it has been the protagonist of a real tour: first it was at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure to undergo careful restoration work, after which it went on display right at the Uffizi, after which it reached Perugia, where it was exhibited as part of the major retrospective on Perugino on the 500th anniversary of his death organized in recent months by the National Gallery of Umbria. Now it finally returns to San Martino a Strada: and its return on Sept. 12 will be celebrated with a special mass in the church that houses it, celebrated by Cardinal and Archbishop of Florence Giuseppe Betori at 6 p.m.

“The church of San Martino a Strada, on the day on which the Church celebrates the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” says Florence Archbishop Giuseppe Betori, “returns to welcome the Macinghi panel, which we now admire in all its beauty, after careful restoration. Thanks to the concession of the Uffizi Gallery, as part of the Uffizi Diffusi project, the work is thus reproposed in the liturgical and devotional context for which it was intended. Mary enthroned at the center of the scene is surrounded by saints linked to the identity of this land, St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, and St. Zanobi, bishop patron of the Florentine Church, and then St. Nicholas of Bari and St. Francis of Assisi. Verrocchio’s masterpiece, with a traditional iconography, but also with some more unusual characters, leads us to the divine mystery, shows faith entering human history through the incarnation, through the mediation of Mary, the saints and sacramental action.”

“The Uffizi’s repositories are not only in the museum, but they can also be outside, that is, scattered around the world, often in public offices or embassies,” says Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt. “And then there are repositories like the one in San Martino a Strada, where in the early 20th century the Macinghi altarpiece was sent, about which little was known, but which attracted the devotion of the faithful and the attention of scholars. Returning to the church after a long restoration and after being exhibited in two prestigious venues, the magnificent work again connects the museum to the territory, becoming an exemplary case of the ”Uffizi diffusi" project.

Florence, the Macinghi Altarpiece by Verrocchio and workshop returns to its church

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