On the way from the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Recanati

When they say that the destination is not the journey itself...
The stretch of road from the Grazie district to the Castelnuovo district is the subject of study documented in this publication. Numerous cultural assets were encountered along this short journey, allowing us to trace the spiritual and community roots of the people who lived there or stopped there on their pilgrimages to Loreto. Some of these assets still reveal their aesthetic, spiritual, and social values, despite the calamitous events and human actions that have altered their original appearance. This is the case with the fifteenth-century frescoes in the small church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, which received particular attention during this journey.
Although interrupted by concretions of plaster and cracks, the same pictorial fragments of the ancient narrative cycle periodically emerge from the pale layer of lime like archipelagos from the water, opening glimpses towards the transcendental and spreading not only that primitive religious devotional sentiment that the artist (or artists) was able to instill in the depicted characters but also the consequent spiritual journey of the faithful, who from the same images have reinvigorated feelings of faith, hope, and asceticism.

Antonella Chiusaroli graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. For several years, she has taught the course "Cultural Heritage of the Territory" at the "Don Giovanni Simonetti" University of Permanent Education in Recanati. She has published the following volumes: Giacomo Leopardi's Monument in Recanati (Eli Edizioni, 2019); Landscapes and Atmospheres of Recanati in the Late Nineteenth Century; Matteo Tassi's Paintings in the Council Chamber of the Town Hall (Eli Edizioni, 2021); and The Ancient Frescoes of the Convent Church of Sant'Agostino in Recanati and the "Rediscovered" Saint (Elective Affinities, 2023).