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Madonna del Cantuccio: Painted on panel, it depicts a Madonna and Child in the Byzantine manner. By an unknown author, it probably dates from the 13th century and has always been an object of veneration by the Sienese, so much so that it is believed that in front of this image Saint Catherine prayed for the reconciliation of Tolomei and Ubaldini with the Maconi family. Blessed Andrea Gallerani is also said to have prayed to her and to have received a vision of his own passing in front of this Madonna.
Saint George and the Dragon, by Maestro dell'Osservanza: Painting commissioned by the rector of the church and hospice Giorgio Tolomei, it depicts the saint of his namesake, riding a white steed, in the act of defeating the dragon and saving the princess; the upper left corner shows a walled city and some buildings within it. Giorgio Tolomei was proposed by the magistracies of Siena as bishop of the city to Pope Martin V, after San Bernardino had renounced this office, in 1427. "Maestro dell'Osservanza" refers to a group of anonymous painters who worked in the early fifteenth century in the workshop of Sano di Pietro, who differed from the master in a more lively, dynamic and expressive style.
Saint Christopher, by Sano di Pietro (1406 - 1481): This panel painting was certainly part of a larger polyptych now destroyed, mentioned in a pastoral visitation. It presents the titular saint of the church fording a river with the infant Jesus on his shoulders and beside him a rudimentary representation of the then known world. Sano di Pietro trained in Sassetta's workshop in 15th-century Siena, developing over time his own style in which an excellent mastery of gold stands out, in an overall conception of painting that still looks to the late Tuscan Gothic style. He was a very prolific painter, and many works belonging to his industrious workshop are preserved in Siena.
News regarding the life of this saint is collected in the Golden Legend by Jacopo di Varagine although from the origins of Christianity Christopher was one of the most popular saints. Eastern tradition speaks of this saint as a man of considerable size serving with the Roman army who converted to Christianity and was tortured and executed by his fellow soldiers. Western tradition, on the other hand, tells a different story based on the etymology of the Greek name namely "bearer (phoros) of Christ (Christos)." In this version Christopher is always portrayed as a huge man, in which case he was a ferryman at a river in Lycia; a gruff and wild man he would find himself carrying to the other bank a child who seemed heavier with every step, to the point of exhaustion. Having succeeded in the titanic feat, the child would reveal that he was Christ and carried the weight of the entire world; the man, who according to some legends was originally called Reprobus, was baptized with the new name of Christ-bearer and was martyred as a result of his preaching. It is speculated that he lived in the 3rd century and suffered martyrdom under Emperor Decius around the year 250 AD.
The stained glass window in the apse of the church with St. Christopher crossing the River.
In some predominantly Eastern representations, which draw on patristic texts, St. Christopher is depicted as cynocephalus, or dog-headed, similar to the depiction of the Egyptian god Anubis. The cynocephalians were considered from ancient times to be a truly existing and monstrous population along with the Cyclopes and other mythical creatures characterized by their enormous size and hideous appearance. Christopher, who as a ferryman has many characters in common with Anubis himself as a ferryman of souls, is instead the reversal of such traditions, becoming by conversion more "human." St. Christopher is considered one of the twelve Auxiliary Saints particularly invoked during natural calamities and epidemics, while his specific patronage occupies everything related to travel and transportation, thus pilgrims, commuters, wayfarers, railroaders, chauffeurs, and travelers more generally. His iconography is unique and depicts him as a giant carrying the infant Jesus on his shoulders; this unmistakable figure was often painted externally on churches, in colossal proportions, so that he could be seen from afar by the very people who were traveling. Another invocation raised to St. Christopher is in fact against sudden death, and the traditional cult has it that anyone who, being on a journey, had seen one of his images on a church from afar would be saved for that day: some invocations on the frescoes representing him are in fact: "Christophore sancte, virtutes tuae sunt tantae; qui te mane videt, nocturno tempo ridet (Holy Christophore, your virtues are many; he who sees you in the morning laughs at night)" and "Christophori sancti speciem quicumque tuetur, ista nempe die non morte mala morientur (Whoever of St. Christopher the image sees, one day at least against ill death he provides)." St. Christopher is celebrated on May 9 in the East and July 25 in the West.
The works preserved here are copies; the originals are kept in the diocesan museum at the oratory of San Bernardino.
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