On the traces of the Marian devotion: from the Civic Art Gallery to the district of Teramo.

The veneration of the Virgin Mary is undoubtedly one of the most widespread devotions in Christianity. A testament to this is the fact that almost all churches are also dedicated to the Madonna, with many artworks inside dedicated to her.

The tour begins with the images of Mary found within the Civic Art Gallery of Teramo, among which the panel painting "The Madonna of the Pomegranate" attributed to Giacomo da Campli stands out. This work is presented as a polyptych depicting the Madonna enthroned with the Child in the center and, in the side lunettes, Saints John the Baptist, Francis, Bernardino, and Jerome. The composition, gilding, volumes, and the insertion of the figures within architectural frames clearly show a strong influence from the Marche art of the era of Gentile da Fabriano.

Another work of great interest is the detached fresco mounted on canvas, depicting the Madonna of Succour, which came from the Church of Sant'Agostino in Teramo, where it remained until 1910. This work, also attributed to Giacomo da Campli, is recognized as the "Nursing Madonna," a theme very recurrent in Italian painting after the great plague epidemic of 1348.

The painting depicting the Madonna of the Rosary with saints, by the great Neapolitan painter Francesco Solimena, originally came from the Church of Sant'Agostino in Teramo, where it remained until 1873. Solimena, an artist shaped by the influences of Lanfranco and Preti, opened his art to Cortona, Giordano, and Maratta, creating works of great visual impact characterized by a rigorous compositional and formal control, in contrast to the more common Baroque compositions.

After observing these splendid works, the tour moves towards the hamlet of Colleminuccio where the Church of San Lorenzo Martire stands. Rebuilt in the village center between the 18th and 19th centuries, the church houses a valuable late 16th-century canvas depicting Saint John on Patmos, by the Flemish painter Dirk Hendricksz, as well as the altarpiece of the Immaculate Conception with Child and Saints. The Virgin is depicted in an "Urania" version, with her feet resting on a crescent moon and her left hand holding a crucifix resting on a celestial sphere. This high-quality work reflects the artistic production of the Marche region at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century. Another 17th-century altarpiece of local production again depicts the Immaculate Conception with two saints. Inside the church, there is also a stone holy water font, with a basin decorated with a rope motif and a checkered band under the rim, accompanied by an inscription dating from the 15th to the 16th century.

The Church of Santa Maria di Ponte a Porto, in the locality of Frondarola, has a single nave covered by a gabled roof. It features a masonry of river stones laid in irregular courses, a simple stone portal with a flat lintel, flanked by two square windows. The date 1640 engraved on the portal suggests the enlargement of a pre-existing structure, probably dating before the early 16th century. Inside, a fresco depicting the Madonna with Child and Saints Rocco and Sebastian, not only in style and iconography but also in the graffiti dated from the 1540s, testifies to its antiquity. In the fresco, the Madonna sits on a majestic throne richly decorated, with the Child on her knees, blessing and holding a bouquet of flowers in his left hand. The Virgin wears apotropaic coral jewelry, following a fashion attested by Delitio's frescoes in Atri. Inside the church, the roof trusses painted red and white are arranged diagonally, and two small Baroque altars in stucco are also noticeable.

The tour then moves to Garrano where, between Garrano Alta and Garrano Bassa, stands the Church of Santa Maria ad Melatinum, named in honor of the ancient medieval abbey located near the Melatino castle. The current structure, dating from the 17th century, is built in brick with a single nave, a gabled roof, and a small porch adorned with a ceiling of red-painted bricks with diamond motifs and arabesque friezes. Inside, the main altar, made of painted and gilded wood, is distinguished by its twisted columns adorned with vegetal motifs, Corinthian capitals, and a shaped flat architrave. In the center of the altar, a central tabernacle features a painting of the Eternal Father, framed by elaborate foliated friezes. In the side niches are gilded wooden statues of Saints Peter and Paul, decorated with arabesque garments, although the statue of Saint Peter is missing its keys. In the center of the altar, instead of an altarpiece, there is a clay statue of the Madonna with Child. The altar follows the style of wooden altars with twisted columns, very common in the Teramo area and inspired by the canopy made by Carlo Riccione in 1677 for the Cathedral of Atri. The statue of the Madonna with Child belongs to the 16th-century artistic tradition of the Campli area and reflects the model of the adoring Madonnas by Silvestro dell'Aquila, Giovanni di Biasuccio, and Giovan Francesco Gagliardelli. The statue, probably repainted later, presents a high artistic quality with solemn drapery and a gently absorbed face. The Child, adorned with apotropaic coral ornaments, recalls the model of the Child of Campovalano and the fresco of Sant'Agostino of Atri by Andrea Delitio. The church also houses a modest holy water font with a basin decorated with engraved lobes, completing the elegance of this place of worship.

The tour concludes with the visit to the hamlet of San Vittorino, where the namesake church, of early medieval origin, presents itself today in a reconstruction presumably from the late 16th or early 17th century, with subsequent restoration interventions. Its bare and rectilinear facade hides a precious 9th-century relief on the right side. The interior, characterized by a single nave supported by arches, hosts a Baroque altar in gilded and painted stucco, adorned with twisted columns with vegetal decoration. In the central niche stands a clay statue of the Madonna with Child, made in two pieces, heavily repainted, and of modest craftsmanship, bearing the date 1606 on its wooden base. Among the treasures preserved in the church, a stone holy water font stands out, consisting of a simple basin supported by a fragment of an ancient fluted column. There is also a canvas, probably from the early 18th century and of local manufacture, depicting the Madonna of the Rosary surrounded by the usual vignettes of the Mysteries. Unfortunately, this canvas is in poor condition.