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S. Maria di Viepri: the Interior

Inside the abbey church of S. Maria, according to sources on the Web, the visitor will find a beautiful old chalice, "finely worked"; and by Andrea Polinori (1586‑1648), an oil painting of the Birth of the Virgin Mary — and maybe even a second, of the Madonna of the Rosary with Saints. If so, I didn't see them, and I hope they're carefully locked away in the sacristy.

Polinori is not much to miss, frankly: one of many minor mannerist painters, whose reputation doesn't seem to have spread much beyond his native Todi, only about 10 km SW of here. If you're eager to see his work, you'll travel there: a Madonna and Child in the Pinacoteca, a St. Francis Receiving the Rule in the church of the SS. Crocifisso; and in the Tempio della Consolazione the main altar may have been designed by him.

By the entrance door, the holy water stoup seen here on the right: it's less movable and less salable, plus it's got to be there — no question of stashing it away somewhere. It has been cobbled together from bits of old stone: the bowl is probably of the Renaissance, the base is a fine piece of medieval carving, maybe 12c, looking very much like a capital now turned upside-down.

Among the attractive stone, this Maltese cross, which may stand for a presence of the Order of Malta here — and then again, not necessarily.

Interestingly, it looks very much like the device of the Cross has reappeared on the breast of this faded 17c fresco of St. Sebastian, on a kind of T‑shirt. If so, it's unusual, since he is almost always depicted nude or nearly so.

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