Full title | An unknown Saint, Saint Cosmas and Saint Francis: Left Pilaster |
---|---|
Artist | Giovanni dal Ponte |
Artist dates | about 1385 - 1437 |
Group | Ascension of John the Evangelist Altarpiece |
Date made | about 1420-4? |
Medium and support | Egg tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 9.8 x 9.8 cm |
Inscription summary | Inscribed |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1857 |
Inventory number | NG580.4 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
These three saints stand on the left side of a large multi-panelled altarpiece painted for the high altar of the church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Pratovecchio near Florence. Several of its panels are in the National Gallery’s collection.
A label above him tells us that the saint in red is Cosmas, the twin of Saint Damian in the opposite pilaster. They were especially important in Florence as they were favoured by the Medici, the ruling family in the city.
Saint Francis at the bottom might be a reference to a local Camaldolite prior called Francesco, who may have been involved in commissioning the altarpiece: in other Italian altarpieces the officials who were in charge of the commission had their patron saints included in smaller panels.
These three saints stand on the left side of a large multi-panelled altarpiece painted for the high altar of the church of San Giovanni Evangelista in Pratovecchio, Tuscany, by the Florentine artist Giovanni dal Ponte. Several panels from it are in our collection – it’s one of the most complete early Renaissance altarpieces that we have.
There is no very obvious explanation for the selection of saints in the pilaster and we don't know who the small saint in the roundel at the top is meant to be. A label identifies the saint in red as Cosmas, the twin of Saint Damian on the opposite pilaster. Both wear the red clothing of a late medieval doctor and carry a martyr’s palm. According to their legend, Cosmas and Damian were Arab physicians and early Christian martyrs, who practised their profession without asking for fees. They were enormously popular throughout Europe, though especially in Florence where their cult was encouraged by the Medici, the city’s ruling family.
In Italian medieval altarpieces smaller figures of saints were sometimes included as local references. Here Saint Francis at the bottom might be included as a compliment to the Camaldolite prior of Poppiena, a Florentine called Francesco, as well as an example of poverty and austerity. Francesco might well have been involved in organising the commissioning of the altarpiece itself: in other Italian altarpieces the officials who were in charge of the commission had their patron saint shown in the pilasters.
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Unknown Saint, Saint Cosmas and Saint Francis
Ascension of John the Evangelist Altarpiece
This large, gilded polyptych (multi-panelled altarpiece) is one of the few almost complete early Renaissance altarpieces in the National Gallery’s collection. It was made for the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, in Pratovecchio, Tuscany, probably in the 1420s.
Altarpieces on the high altar had to show the saint to whom the church was dedicated. Here, in the centre panel, we see Saint John the Evangelist being raised to heaven by Christ. A crowd of saints seems to watch from the large panels on either side.
The nuns at Pratovecchio were Camaldolites – a small, strict religious order found mainly in Italy – and the saints on the altarpiece would have been those who were important to them. This is one of the few surviving paintings of this date which might well have been commissioned by women – two abbesses – for the use of women.
This large, gilded polyptych (multi-panelled altarpiece) is one of the few almost complete early Renaissance altarpieces in our collection (the frame is modern). It was made for the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, in Pratovecchio, Tuscany, probably in the 1420s. This was the church for a house of nuns, making this one of the few paintings of this date we think may have been commissioned by women – two abbesses – for the use of women.
It probably sat on the high altar, as it shows the saint to whom the church was dedicated. In the centre panel, Saint John the Evangelist is being hauled up to heaven by Christ while scenes from his life are shown in the predella. A crowd of saints watch from the large panels on the left and right, while smaller saints stand in the pilasters. In the Middle Ages people believed that saints could intercede with God on their behalf at the Last Judgement, and the saints here are those who were important for the nuns at San Giovanni. Some of them are identified by inscriptions, although these are not original and might not all be correct.
In the pinnacles at the top are the Trinity – God the Father holds the crucified Christ while the dove of the Holy Ghost hovers between them – and the Annunciation, when the Virgin Mary was told by the Archangel Gabriel that she‘d bear a child. On one side we see Gabriel and on the other Mary. Below this is the descent into limbo, where Christ breaks down the gates of hell and leads souls out of purgatory.
The nuns at Pratovecchio belonged to the Camaldolese Order, a small reformed monastic order founded by an Italian monk, Saint Romuald, in 1012. Although they followed the Rule of Saint Benedict, Romuald wanted them to live a stricter and more solitary life. They wore white habits and lived in individual cells, like hermits, although they came together to eat and pray. We have parts of two other altarpieces made for Camaldolese houses, one from San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence, and another also for Pratovecchio.
This altarpiece may well have been commissioned by two abbesses of San Giovanni, Catherine and her successor Agatha. Saint Catherine of Alexandria appears in the right-hand main panel, while the saint in the bottom left corner with the inscription ’Apollonia' might have been intended as Agatha. Often, the objects that saints hold help us identify them, but it’s not clear if what she is holding is meant as a tooth or a breast (Saint Agatha was tortured by having her breasts cut off, while Apollonia had her teeth pulled out).
We do not have any documents showing exactly how this commission worked, but the artist, Giovanni dal Ponte, had a workshop in Florence, about 50km from Pratovecchio. The nuns presumably did not deal with the artist themselves, but would have been assisted by a male advisor, perhaps the prior of the local Camaldolese monastery at Poppiena; when this altarpiece was made its prior was a Florentine called Francesco, and Saint Francis appears here in the left pinnacle.












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