Church of Saint Mary of Peace

whose construction started in 1521 in order to protect a venerated image depicting the Madonna of the Milk, between Saints John the Baptist and St. James, frescoed on a modest votive shrine. The painting can be dated to the middle of the 15th century and attributed to Bartolomeo della Miranda, a painter tenaciously linked to the late Gothic tradition, it is today behind the high altar of the 16th-century building, inside a complex structure designed in the 17th century by the Todi painter Andrea Polinori. The friars belonging to the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, who had been present in the area since the 14th century and until then lived in the nearby convent of Sant’Antonio di Busseto, settled down in the church, completed in 1589. The octagonal building was then covered by a sloping roof, which the Franciscans replaced with the imposing dome between 1595 and 1598, whose dome was completed in 1623. In the meantime, the monks began construction of the convent, which lasted until 1647. Numerous works of art are preserved inside the church, including paintings by Palminio Alvi (St. Charles Borromeo adoring the Crucifix, 1612; St. Francis handing the girdle to the Third Order, 1613, a St. Francis praying in front of a skull attributed to Sensini and a Virgin in prayer that recalls the style of Barbiani. The decoration of the dome, frescoed between 1647 and 1649 by Giovanni Antonio Polinori from Todi, brother of the more famous artist Andrea Polinori, is extraordinarily impressive. The paintings, arranged in concentric bands, run from the bottom to the top and illustrate stories from the Old and New Testaments, from the Creation of Adam to Christ the Judge. The decoration is completed by the figures of the apostles, some saints and, higher up, a large group of angels playing music, while cherubim and seraphim appear from the top of the dome. The figures, of considerable plastic prominence, are depicted with a variety of poses, gestures and expressions. The chromatic range, recovered in its original tones from a recent restoration, is very refined and lively. The effect of spatial illusionism is very fascinating, with architectural backdrops and passages of landscape that really seem to transcend the boundaries imposed by the dome.
Curiosity: The frontals that decorate the side altars were made using a very original technique, scagliola, which was very much in vogue in the 18th century. This type of artefact is particularly interesting and quite rare in Umbria.