The saints arranged neatly in rows look towards the central panel – which shows Christ crowning the Virgin Mary – of the four-tiered altarpiece that this picture comes from. A panel on the other side of the central image mirrors the scene here. Together, these three panels formed the main level of the altarpiece.
The altarpiece was commissioned for the Florentine convent church of San Pier Maggiore, where it formed the backdrop to a ceremony related to the ordination of every new bishop of Florence. The bishop would offer a ring to the convent abbess to signifiy his spritual marriage to the church. This may explain the prominence of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, shown on the right of the front row in a pink dress, who was symbolically married to Christ.
This is one of three panels of the main tier of a large altarpiece made for the Benedictine convent church of San Pier Maggiore, Florence. It was placed to the right of a central image showing the coronation of the Virgin.
We see saints arranged in neat rows, looking respectfully towards the coronation. As in the panel to the left of the central scene, the saints are painted in detail. While their facial features are quite similar, the artist has taken care to show their individuality though their skin tone, hair colour and costume. They can be identified by the objects that they hold – their attributes. These are often the instruments used to torture them for their Christian faith. Kneeling at the front is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, resting her right arm on the spiked wheel upon which she was tortured before being beheaded. The palm she carries is a symbol of martyrdom. Saint Lawrence holds one too, along with the grill upon which he was burned.
As in the left-hand panel, several of the saints depicted here had particular significance for the wealthy commissioners of the altarpiece, the Albizzi family. Saint Agnes, shown in the second row in blue, holds a lamb – her name means lamb in Latin – which connects to the Albizzi family’s fortune, which had come from trading in wool.
The choice of saints also reflects the altarpiece’s use as a backdrop to an important religious ceremony. When a new bishop of Florence was appointed, he was enthroned before this picture and offered the nuns of the convent a ring. This symbolised his marriage to the church, which had been founded by the first bishop of the city and patron saint, Saint Zenobius. Saint Catherine of Alexandria, according to legend, was married to Christ when he offered her a ring. The city’s other patron saint, John the Baptist, can be seen at the front of the second row at Christ’s right hand. The camel-hair tunic tells us who he is, as this is what he wore while preaching in the wilderness. His right hand hints at his role as a prophet: he gesticulates as though speaking.
The position of the saints in the panels relates to their significance but also to the traditional format of pairing particular saints together. Saint Lawrence, at the edge of the front row, appears opposite Saint Stephen in the left panel, a conventional pairing. Other pairings were less usual but still explain the position of the saints. Saint Jerome, in the red cardinal’s hat in the penultimate row, is shown next to Saint Augustine, who had a vision of Jerome after his death. This visual network of associations adds meaning and complexity to what looks like a simple functional arrangement.
