Full title | Saint Peter: Left Main Tier Panel |
---|---|
Artist | Niccolò di Pietro Gerini |
Artist dates | documented 1368; died probably 1415, certainly by 1427 |
Group | Baptism Altarpiece |
Date made | 1387 |
Medium and support | Egg tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 123.5 x 37 cm |
Inscription summary | Inscribed |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1857 |
Inventory number | NG579.2 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
This is Saint Peter, recognisable by the colour of his robes – he is traditionally shown wearing yellow and blue – and by the large golden key he holds. It is the key to the kingdom of heaven, which was promised to him by Christ (Matthew 16: 19).
The saint’s bare feet express his simplicity and humility, but he stands upon a textile decorated with phoenixes and gilded peacock heads against fanned out tail feathers, reflecting his status. Niccolò di Pietro Gerini used a technique called sgraffito to achieve the richness of the textile. It involved painting over a layer of gold leaf and then scratching the paint away in places, revealing the gold beneath.
The panel comes from the left-hand side of the main tier of an altarpiece showing the baptism of Christ.
This is Saint Peter, recognisable by the colour of his robes – he is traditionally shown wearing yellow and blue – and by the large golden key he holds, his attribute. It is the key to the kingdom of heaven, which was promised to him by Christ (Matthew 16: 19).
The panel comes from the left-hand side of the main tier of an altarpiece showing the baptism of Christ. Saint Peter is often shown with Saint Paul, probably because they were the two main apostles, and here Paul appears in a panel on the other side of the altarpiece.
The saint is shown with bare feet to express his simplicity and humility, but he stands upon a textile decorated with phoenixes and gilded peacock heads against fanned out tail feathers. This reflects his status as one of the most important apostles.
Niccolò di Pietro Gerini often included elaborate details such as this in his paintings, and here used a technique called sgraffito to achieve the richness of the textile. This involved painting over a layer of gold leaf and then scratching the paint away in places, revealing the gold beneath. He has also textured the gold leaf using a fine tool called a punch and a technique called stippling. This texture would catch the candlelight in the chapel and glow, creating a dazzling effect.
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Saint Peter: Left Main Tier Panel
Baptism Altarpiece
This altarpiece is the earliest known example that shows the baptism of Christ as the central image – in large multi-panelled altarpieces it was usually the Virgin and Child.
It was made for a chapel in Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Camaldolese monastery in Florence. The chapel was dedicated to the feast commemorating Saint John the Baptist’s death, but the central panel depicts the key moment in his life: when he baptised Christ in the river Jordan.
The inscription tells us that it was commissioned by one of the monastery’s monks, Don Filippo Nerone Stoldi, in memory of his mother. The monastery contained many altarpieces commissioned by Florentine families, which served as memorials. One of the monks’ duties was to say prayers for the souls of the dead on days specified by the families.
This altarpiece is the earliest known example to show the baptism of Christ as the central image; the Virgin and Child usually took this position in large multi-panelled altarpieces.
It was made for a chapel dedicated to the feast commemorating Saint John the Baptist’s death, in the infirmary of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Camaldolese monastery in Florence. One of the monastery’s monks, Don Filippo Nerone Stoldi, commissioned it in memory of his mother, Monna Agnola (Angela), and his deceased relatives. The church contained several similar altarpieces which were privately commissioned, often by families of the monastery’s monks, which served as memorials. We know from the monastery’s records that one of the monks’ duties was to say prayers for the souls of the dead on days specified by the families.
Surviving documents reveal that the chapel was founded according to Angela’s wishes. She left money in her will for the foundation of the chapel and all its furnishings; the will also instructed that Mass should be said for her and her husband on 20 April as well as the feast day of the martyrdom of John the Baptist (29 August).
Although the chapel was dedicated to the saint’s martyrdom – he was killed on the orders of King Herod – the central panel depicts the key moment in his life: when he baptised Christ in the river Jordan. The gory moment of his decapitation was reserved for a small panel in the predella. We don’t know exactly why Angela chose Saint John the Baptist for her chapel. Perhaps her son was called Giovanni but changed his name to Filippo after becoming a monk or, more likely, because John the Baptist was the patron saint of Florence. There were two other chapels in the church that were dedicated to him.
The altarpiece was moved in the fifteenth century to the church of San Giovanni Decollato (literally meaning ‘Saint John decapitated’) in the town of Sasso, near Arezzo. The church had become a Camaldolese institution in 1414 when it was united with Santa Maria degli Angeli. The subject matter made it the ideal altarpiece to use as the church’s high altar.
It was probably originally much larger. The predella is missing a central scene and there might have been two more saints on the main tier– possibly Saint Michael the Archangel, in honour of Angela, and Saint Philip, in honour of her son.
At some point before it entered the National Gallery the uppermost panels that sat on top of the main tier were replaced with three small panels by Giovanni di Milano showing the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist and the Apocalyptic Christ (Christ as the judge of mankind). These panels belonged to a different altarpiece altogether and they have now been removed and are displayed separately. Three panels by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini – including an image of the blessing Redeemer (Christ seated on the clouds), now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich – have been identified as the original pictures that crowned the altarpiece.





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