Chiesa del Crocifisso

Crossing the entrance, partially blocked by a plant that has its roots on the landing, you immediately notice the width of the vaulted hall, illuminated by three high windows through which the light spreads evenly on the white walls. On the ground the terracotta floor, one of the few that could be said to be preserved, has unfortunately been partially disassembled, we do not know why and above all by whom. Using the appropriate words we will say that it was stolen. The same fate awaited the stucco side altars which in the 90s risked being sold [4]. Furthermore, if we imagined the recovery of the structure, we would have the problem of the sacristy whose access is now prevented by an infill wall thanks to which the environment has been incorporated into the former rectory, and is therefore now in private domain. On the main altar is still in place what remains of the grandiose sixteenth-century wooden ornamentation, transported here in the nineteenth century, but coming from S. Angelo in Vado where it framed the altarpiece donated by Federico Zuccari to the Vada community. The ornament was adapted to the very reduced fresco of the Crucifixion through a decoration painted on canvas by the painter Paolo Lanaro and mounted on a gilded frame. The humidity due to a deposit of earth irresponsibly leaning against the external wall has also damaged the fresco by Giustino Episcopi painted in the jubilee year of 1575. The high altar lies in pieces with the tabernacle, allowing one to emerge under the Crucifixion spur of sandstone discovered, suggestive in its ruinous aspect. The origin of the church dates back to the second half of the sixteenth century, when a certain Mastro Paolo [5] built a "cell" where, according to tradition, he himself painted an image of the Crucifix. The current work is instead ascribable to the painter Giustino Episcopi, as confirmed by another source and stylistic evidence [6].