Allegretto Nuzi and Francescuccio Ghissi, 'Saints Catherine and Bartholomew', about 1350
About the work
Overview
Saint Catherine rests her hand on a wheel studded with metal spikes – the instrument on which she was tortured for her Christian faith, according to legend. Saint Bartholomew holds a knife, the symbol of his martyrdom: he was flayed alive.
The panel probably formed the right-hand side of a triptych (a picture with three parts). The saints look to their right, where the central panel – most likely an image of the Virgin and Child – would have been.
The painting has been connected with the workshop of Allegretto Nuzi on the basis of the decoration of the haloes, though the style of painting and the lettering in the inscriptions resemble works by Francesco Ghissi. Saints Catherine and Bartholomew had churches dedicated to them in Nuzi’s hometown of Fabriano, where he returned after leaving Florence in 1348. In Fabriano he collaborated with Ghissi on several works, and it seems likely that this painting was made there.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Saints Catherine and Bartholomew
- Artist
- Allegretto Nuzi and Francescuccio Ghissi
- Artist dates
- active 1354; died 1373/4; active 1345 - 1374
- Date made
- about 1350
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 83.2 × 51 cm
- Inscription summary
- Inscribed
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Herbert Charles Coleman, 1949
- Inventory number
- NG5930
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 20th-century Replica Frame
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
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1930R. Offner and K. Steinweg, A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting, 8 vols, New York 1930
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1955The National Gallery, The National Gallery: 1938 - 1954, London 1955
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1988Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Italian Schools before 1400, revised edn, London 1988
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1994E.S. Skaug, Punch Marks from Giotto to Fra Angelico: Attribution, Chronology and Workshop Relationships in Tuscan Panel Painting, With Particular Consideration to Florence c.1330-1430, Oslo 1994
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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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.