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Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d'Alemagna, 'Saints Francis and Mark', about 1440-6

About the work

Overview

Two saints stand on a fantastically cusped stone plinth in front of a rose hedge. They are Francis and Mark, identified by their attributes – the symbols with which they are traditionally associated – and by the inscriptions in the front of the plinth. Mark, one of the four authors of the Gospels, holds a copy of his Gospel, while Francis is dressed in a brown habit and holds a crucifix.

They were once the right wing of a triptych (an altarpiece in three parts) painted in Venice in the 1440s by Antonio Vivarini and his brother-in-law and partner Giovanni d'Alemagna.

The altarpiece originally stood in the church of Saint Moisé in Venice, and the saints on it would have been chosen by its patrons. Saint Mark was the patron saint of Venice; Saint Francis, founder of the Franciscan Order, was hugely popular in the fifteenth century.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Saints Francis and Mark
Artist dates
probably active 1440; died 1476/84; died 1449/50
Part of the series
Panels from an Altarpiece
Date made
about 1440-6
Medium and support
egg tempera on wood
Dimensions
135.3 × 45.1 cm
Inscription summary
Inscribed
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1889
Inventory number
NG1284
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

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.

Images

About the series: Panels from an Altarpiece

Overview

These two pairs of saints were originally the side panels for an altarpiece painted by the Vivarinis, a Venetian family of artists working in the second half of the fifteenth century. The central panel, showing the Virgin and Child enthroned, is now in the Museo di San Tommaso Becket Martire in Padua, although the altarpiece was made for the church of San Moisè in Venice.

The saints are identified by inscriptions and by their attributes – symbolic objects associated with them. They are Saints Peter, Jerome, Francis and Mark. They stand on a pedestal, a detail common in sculpture but in Venetian painting used only by the Vivarinis.

Although the altar was a triptych (a painting in three parts) with panels set in a gilded frame, the ornately shaped stone pedestal would have run along all three panels, and the balustrade behind them connected with the Virgin’s throne – the figures seem to exist in the same space.

Works in the series

Two saints – Peter and Jerome – stand on an extravagantly carved stone pedestal. They once formed the left wing of a triptych (an altarpiece in three parts) painted by Antonio Vivarini and his brother-in-law, Giovanni d‘Alemagna, probably in the mid-1440s.The saints’ names have been painted as if...
Not on display
Two saints stand on a fantastically cusped stone plinth in front of a rose hedge. They are Francis and Mark, identified by their attributes – the symbols with which they are traditionally associated – and by the inscriptions in the front of the plinth. Mark, one of the four authors of the Gospels...
Not on display