Key to Umbria: Spello
 

This Sienese artist [trained in Rome ?]  He is first documented in Spello in 1600, when he signed an altarpiece in Santa Maria di Vallegloria: this was recorded in 1891 but subsequently lost.  He lived in Foligno until 1621, when he moved to Spello, where he spent the last 30 years of his life.

Spello

Pinacoteca

The following altarpieces by or attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi in the Pinacoteca Comunale were (unless otherwise stated) probably removed from Santa Maria Maggiore during the remodelling of 1644:

  1. Madonna and Child in glory with saints (1603)
  2. This altarpiece, which is signed and dated by inscription, depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Mary Magdalene, Francis, Jerome and Raymond of Peñafort (a Dominican who died in 1275 and was canonised by Pope Clement VIII in 1601). 





  3. St Antony Abbot enthroned (1604)

  4. This altarpiece, which is dated by inscription and attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi, contains a portrait of the unknown donor.

  5. St Felix Altarpiece (ca. 1610)
  6. This altarpiece, which depicts the Madonna and Child with St Felix and the Blessed Andrew Caccioli, is attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi.  It is probably the altarpiece that was  removed from the Altare di San Felice in 1930.  It provides evidence that both of these saints were considered to be patrons of Spello in the early 17th century.



  7. St Felix with angels (1617)

  8. This altarpiece, which is signed and dated by inscription, depicts the standing St Felix with two angels, one of whom holds a cityscape of Spello.

  9. Madonna of Constantinople with saints (early 17th century)

  10. This altarpiece, which is attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi, depicts the Madonna of Constantinople with St Michael (who holds the scales of justice in his left hand points the sword in his right hand at a dragon) and St Francis.

Santa Maria Maggiore

These two panels (17th century) in the Cappella del Sacramento, Santa Maria Maggiore that are attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi depict:

  1. St Charles Borromeo; and

  2. the Virgin of Mount Carmel.

San Lorenzo

           

Three altarpieces in San Lorenzo are attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi:

  1. two in the the Cappella del Sacramento (illustrated above), which were sent to Spello from Rome in 1589:

  2. the Annunciation; and

  3. the Madonna and Child in glory, with God the Father above and SS Felix and Laurence to the sides; and

  4. St Francis and two angels (1646), in the main part of the church.

Santa Maria di Vallegloria

Works in Santa Maria di Vallegloria that are attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi include:

  1. an altarpiece (17th century) of St Charles Borromeo in prayer; and

  2. frescoes (17th century) on the counter-façade .

Palazzo Comunale Vecchio

Madonna di Loreto (1636)

This panel in the Palazzo Comunale Vecchio, which is attributed to panel Marcantonio Grecchi, depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Felix and Francis and the Blessed Andrew Caccioli.  The inscription identifies the date and the donor, Francesco Bongrazio da Gualdo Tadino, the Chancellor of the Commune.

Amelia

Holy Family with saints (1639?)

This altarpiece in San Matteo, Sambucetole (6km outside Amelia) is signed by Marcantonio Grecchi and dated by inscription, in the time that Nereo Trasatti was priest.  It depicts:
  1. the  Madonna and Child with St Joseph on a cloud above;

  2. St Matthew writing his gospel with the aid of an angel, below and to the left; and

  3. a bishop saint and St Roch, below and to the right.

[I am grateful to Signor Paolo Pennazzi for sending this image to me, together with a transcription of the inscription:

                                         SUMPTIBUS COMITATIBUS

TEMPORE R.D. NEREI

TRASACTII LUNIANENSIS

CURATI HUIUS ECCLESIE

PICTORE D.M. ANTONIO

GRECO SENENSIS

A.D. MDCXX(X?)VIIII

Signor Pennazzi has seen local documents that identify the bishop as St Ubaldus (the patron saint of Gubbio).  However, the priest Nereo Trasatti came from Lugnano in Teverino, which was probably the same place as Castellum Luchianum, where the relics of St Himerius were originally preserved.  I wonder if the saint in the picture could be St Himerius, and the date could be 1639, as apparently was the case in the panel in the Duomo (see below).]

Madonna and Child with saints (1639)

This altarpiece in the Duomo (in the 3rd chapel on the right) is signed by Marcantonio Grecchi and dated by inscription.  It depicts the Madonna and Child in glory with SS Laurence, Himerius, Roch and Sebastian.





Trinity (17th century)

This small panel above the altarpiece on the left wall of San Magno is attributed, somewhat uncertainly, to Marcantonio Grecchi.


Bevagna

Madonna of the Girdle (17th century)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi, was removed from an altar in Sant’ Agostino in 1945 and is now in the sacristy there.   It depicts the Madonna and Child, seated on clouds, with SS Augustine and Monica,  and includes portraits of the donor and his family.

Foligno

Martyrdom of St Stephen (1613)

This altarpiece on the 1st altar on the left of San Nicolò, which is attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi, is dated by inscription.  The inscription also identifies the donor as “Jacobus Miliani Fulginas”.





Madonna of the Rosary (1625)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Marcantonio Grecchi and dated by inscription, is on the left wall of San Giovanni Profiamma.  It depicts the Madonna and Child with [SS Dominic and Catherine of Siena] and two angels, surrounded by 15 small scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin.

Holy Family (1634)

This altarpiece on the altar on the right of the Chiesa del Suffragio is signed by Marcantonio Grecchi and dated by inscription.  It was moved here in 1728 from an altar in the Duomo.


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Marcantonio Grecchi (1573-1651)


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