In the seventeenth-century Villa Porciani, now the seat of the Municipality of Pieve a Nievole, there is a beautiful Madonna and Child frescoed in the second half of the sixteenth century. The subject, very common in the history of art, is here interpreted in the light of the most widespread artistic taste in Tuscany at the time, that of the Counter-Reformation. The Virgin Mary, in fact, dressed in the traditional pink dress and blue cloak, is depicted seated - probably on a large chair that has unfortunately been lost - while trying to hold on her lap an already large and particularly lively Jesus, captured in the act of holding the globe with the cross on it, symbol of his royalty. Evidence of this liveliness is the position and gestures of the Child who, on one side, tries to escape from his mother's embrace by pushing her away with his leg, but on the other, points to her. The Madonna's face is turned to the right: her gaze is absorbed, as if to suggest a distance of thoughts, an intimate and profound reflection on what will be the destiny of her Son. In such an everyday scene that narrates the relationship between mother and child, her serious and melancholic expression goes straight to the heart, also pushing the observer to meditate on the sacred mysteries of Christ. Depictions of this type, of high devotional impact, look a lot to the lesson of the great Florentine masters of the early sixteenth century, in particular Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530), from whom derive almost literal quotations of some details, such as the anatomy of the baby Jesus. Precisely for this reason, art historians have thought of attributing this work to a painter belonging to the circle of Francesco Brina (1529-1586), perhaps Francesco Mati (1561-1623), an artist who shared a workshop in Florence with Domenico Soldini, originally from Pescia. In fact, the regular and soft features of the two figures would appear similar to the Pieve fresco, as well as the freshness of the brushstroke, enhanced by a chromatic range that plays on acidulous tones, traceable in other works by Mati, such as for example in the frescoes of the vaults of the Chapel of the Male Ward in Santa Maria Nuova and in the panel depicting the Madonna of the Rosary from the Pieve of Romena, now preserved in the church of the Santissimo Nome di Gesù in Pratovecchio in Casentino.
