Crucifix with the Virgin and Saints Francis and Agatha

The painting was part of an ensemble probably realized for the Orator of the Holy Cross in Asciano, and then moved at the beginning of the XVIIIth century to the one of the Holy Nail. The artwork shows us an artist intent on offering a passionate and intensely expressive rendering of figures without bowing to conventionalities, such as the languid Saint Agatha embracing the cross in an almost voluptuos way, wrapped in her elegant courtesan's robe. Note, in the background, the bit of city and the horseman rendered by Mei with the great style of an illustrator, recalling examples by Callot.