The Co-cathedral of SS. Marziale and Alberto in Colle Val d'Elsa

Final episodes of Jesus' life

Other paintings are devoted to the final moments of Christ’s life. The Last Supper is shown in the chapel of the Holy Sacrament, commissioned by the Usimbardi family in the early decades of the seventeenth century. The painting, made in 1636 by the Florentine painter Ottavio Vannini, shows Jesus who, by blessing the bread, instituted the Holy Eucharist. The artist borrows from Caravaggio the use of light to make the figures emerge from the dark background. Jesus’ death, foreshadowed in The Last Supper, is vanquished by the Resurrection, to which the fourth chapel on the left is dedicated, decorated in 1635-1642 on a commission from the Opera del Sacro Chiodo, the official organization administrating the Co-cathedral. The painting above the altar, by the Florentine artist Filippo Tarchiani, shows Jesus emerging from the tomb and striking terror into the soldiers on guard. Illuminated by divine light, Jesus rises to God the Father accompanied by angels. This is Easter, the principal feast of the liturgical year: Christ defeats death and saves all mankind for all time, whom he will raise up when he returns to earth.
On the same side, in the second chapel from the door, are shown Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene and to the Apostle Thomas after the Resurrection. The canvases were painted, on a commission from the Colle nobleman Ottavio Dini, at the end of the seventeenth century by the Roman artist Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari, an exponent of Roman classicist painting. In the central picture Jesus rises into heaven before the astonished eyes of the apostles and Our Lady, symbol of the Church. The Ascension is one of the most important feasts of the liturgical year and is celebrated forty days after Easter.