Spinello Aretino, 'Two Haloed Mourners', about 1387-91
About the work
Overview
This is a fragment of a painting in fresco, a technique that involved painting directly onto fresh plaster. It has been repainted and only a layer of tin remains on the haloes, which may originally have been gilded.
It formed part of an image showing the burial of Saint John the Baptist; here, two of the saint’s disciples bow their heads in grief, gazing sorrowfully upon his body. Saint John was beheaded on the orders of King Herod, who had offered his stepdaughter Salome whatever she desired. Influenced by her mother, she asked for John’s head.
The painting decorated the wall of the Manetti chapel in the Florentine church of Santa Maria del Carmine, along with other large scenes depicting the life of the saint. The series of frescoes were destroyed but 11 fragments – cut from the wall by the English artist Thomas Patch – survive in other European collections.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Two Haloed Mourners: Fragment from the 'Burial of Saint John the Baptist'
- Artist
- Spinello Aretino
- Artist dates
- born 1345-52; died 1410
- Date made
- about 1387-91
- Medium and support
- fresco
- Dimensions
- 51.3 × 51.3 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1856
- Inventory number
- NG276
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Dillian Gordon, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Italian Paintings before 1400’, London 2011; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1772T. Patch, 'The Life of Giotto', in Engravings after Masaccio, Fra Bartolommeo, and Giotto with some Account of their Lives and Description of the Plates, Florence 1772
-
1818H. Tresham, W.Y. Ottley and P.W. Tomkins, The British Gallery of Pictures, London 1818
-
1848British Institution, Catalogue of Pictures by Italian, Flemish, Dutch, French and English Masters (exh. cat. British Institution, 1848), London 1848
-
1878G. Vasari, Le vite de'più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori: Con nuove annotazioni e commenti di Gaetano Milanesi, ed. G. Milanesi, 8 vols, Florence 1878
-
1887M.-F. Reiset, Une visite à la Galerie nationale de Londres, 2nd revised edn, Rapilly 1887
-
1906G. Vitzthum, 'Un ciclo di affreschi di Spinello Aretino perduto', L'arte, IX, 1906, pp. 199-202
-
1923R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
-
1932U. Procacci, 'L'incendio della chiesa del Carmine del 1771', Rivista d'arte, 1932, pp. 141-232
-
1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
-
1975M. Boskovits, Pittura fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, 1370-1400, Florence 1975
-
1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
-
1988Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Italian Schools before 1400, revised edn, London 1988
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2011Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Italian Paintings before 1400, London 2011
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.