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Medici (Overdoor?) Panels:
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Entry details

Full title
Medici (Overdoor?) Panels
Artist
Fra Filippo Lippi
Author
Dillian Gordon and Susanna Avery-Quash

Catalogue entry

, 2003

Extracted from:
Dillian Gordon, The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings, Volume I (London: National Gallery Company and Yale University Press, 2003).

© The National Gallery, London

© The National Gallery, London

NG 666
The Annunciation

c. 1450–3

Egg tempera on wood, 68.6 x 152.7 cm

[page 143]

NG 667
Seven Saints

c. 1450–3

Egg tempera on wood, 68.0 x 152.8 cm

The Annunciation (NG 666) and the Seven Saints (NG 667) were almost certainly painted as pendants and commissioned by a member of the Medici family for one of the Medici dwellings in Florence.

[page 144]
Fig. 1

Detail of NG 666 showing urn of lilies and Medici device (© The National Gallery, London)

The Annunciation

The Angel Gabriel, with magnificent peacock wings, is about to raise his right hand in blessing; in his left hand he holds a stem of lilies. He hovers above a flowered lawn, in front of a walled garden (hortus conclusus). The Virgin has been reading near her bedchamber, which has an inlaid marble floor. She is sitting on a chair draped with a cloth of gold that spreads out in front of her. She leans slightly forward with bowed head, averting her eyes from the direct gaze of the angel. Behind her is her bed, decorated with intarsia. In the centre of the painting the hand of God sends a dove in a golden spiral towards a slit in the Virgin’s robe, from which emanate dotted golden rays. A stone urn with lilies (fig. 1) echoing those of the angel rests precariously on the parapet of pietra serena with an Ionic capital, below which is carved the Medici device of three feathers in a diamond ring. In the background is a doorway with a view of the beginning of a flight of steps.

The Virgin’s bed, with a chest at one end and the chest/step at the side, faithfully reflects the design of fifteenth‐century Florentine beds.1

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Maximum height to top of arch 68.6 cm (a very slender fillet has been added around the arch). Width, including added strips at each side, 152.7 cm; excluding added strips at each side, 152.1 cm. Height of the left vertical side 30.7 cm; height of the right vertical side 29.5 cm. The panel has been planed to a thickness of 1.2 cm.

From the X‐radiograph it seems that the painting consists of three horizontal planks, measuring between 17 and 28 cm in width. The panel has been cradled, probably in Florence in the mid‐nineteenth century. The fillet may have been added at the same time. Across the central horizontal member of the cradle are the letters G.M., and below, on the central member, No.21./0. On the fourth member of the cradle, seen from the left, is pencilled 50.

Subject

The Annunciation is described in Luke 1:26–38.

Iconography

The Annunciation was an extremely popular subject in Florence, which venerated the miracle‐working image in Santissima Annunziata and where, as in a number of cities, the calendar year began on 25 March, the Feast of the Annunciation (see also p. 415). It was a subject Lippi treated at least thirteen times. The iconography of NG 666 has been fully discussed by Edgerton and Steinberg.2 They link it with the science of optics and theological dogma, and see the impregnation of the Virgin by the Dove as reflecting the perception of light as understood in fifteenth‐century Florence, namely [page 145] as a synthesis of visual reception and ocular radiation. They also argue that the iconography reflects the thinking and sermons of Antonino Pierozzi, Archbishop of Florence and close adviser to the Medici, especially to Lucrezia Tornabuoni, wife of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici.

Fig. 2

Gentile da Fabriano, The Annunciation, c. 1420. Tempera on wood, painted surface 40.8 x 49 cm. Reproduced courtesy of the Matthiesen Gallery, London. © Reproduced by Courtesy of Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd, 1995. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited Formerly with The Matthiesen Gallery, London. Photo courtesy of The Matthiesen Gallery

Fig. 3

Attributed to Andrea Pisano, Annunciate Virgin, c. 1336. Gilded wood reliquary, 68 x 31 cm. Private collection. © Courtesy of G. Kreytenberg

The scattering of golden rays symbolising impregnation is earlier found in the two versions of the Annunciation (Pinacoteca Vaticana and private collection) painted by Gentile da Fabriano (fig. 2).3 The piercing of the Annunciate Virgin’s dress is found already in fourteenth‐century sculpture (fig. 3) and painting.4 The division of the composition into two, with the angel alighting on a flowery meadow and the Virgin in an interior, is found in a late fourteenth‐century fresco of the Annunciation (fig. 4) on the interior of the façade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.5

Although Lippi had previously used peacock feathers for Gabriel’s wings – for example, in the Annunciation for the Murate (now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich), thought to date from c. 14436 – it is worth noting that peacock wings would have had an added resonance in the context of the Medicean connections of NG 666, since the peacock was also a personal device of the Medici.7

Fig. 4

Attributed to Pietro di Miniato, The Annunciation, late fourteenth century. Fresco. Florence, Santa Maria Novella. © Fratelli Alinari, Florence. All rights reserved 2003 Photo: DeAgostini Picture Library/Scala, Florence

[page 146]
Fig. 5

Detail of NG 667 showing Saint John the Baptist (© The National Gallery, London)

Fig. 6

Infra‐red reflectogram mosaic detail of NG 667 (© The National Gallery, London)

[page 147]
Fig. 7

Infra‐red reflectogram mosaic detail showing Saints Damian, Anthony Abbot and Peter Martyr (© The National Gallery, London)

Seven Saints

The seven saints are seated on a white marble bench with inlaid panels of coloured marble. At the centre is Saint John the Baptist; on either side of him are Saints Cosmas and Damian in their customary red robes, their golden medicine boxes on the ledge behind.8 The three central saints are slightly separated from the paired saints who sit on the returns on either side of them. To the left is Saint Lawrence, dressed as a deacon, a martyr’s palm between his clasped hands, the grill of his martyrdom behind him.9 Beside him is Saint Francis, seen in profile, his hands crossed in front of him, his stigmata depicted in gold.10 To the right is Saint Anthony Abbot, holding a staff11 and turning with a gesture towards Saint Peter Martyr, who leans contemplatively on a book, with a knife buried in his scalp.12 The light falling from the left casts shadows on the parapet behind. There are flowering shrubs similar to those in NG 666 in front of and to the side of the bench, and behind is a landscape with trees and a view to a distant castello (fig. 8). The rectangular panels of inlaid marble echo the floor of NG 666, but are of a different colour.

[page [148]]

The Annunciation (NG 666), detail (© The National Gallery, London)

[page 149]
Technical Notes
Panel construction

Maximum height to top of arch 68 cm. Width, including added strips at side, 152.8 cm; width, excluding added strips at side, 151.8 cm. Height of left vertical side 30 cm; height of right vertical side 30.5 cm. The panel has been planed to a thickness of 1.3 cm. The panel has an identical cradle to NG 666. Nothing is written on the back except the number 49 in pencil.

The X‐radiograph indicates that the painting is constructed from three horizontal planks, measuring between 17.5 cm and 29 cm in width. The similarities with NG 666 suggest that both panels were constructed at the same time, perhaps using planks of wood hewn from the same tree trunk.

The Annunciation and The Seven Saints:
Restoration

X‐radiographs confirm that NG 666 and NG 667 were made up on all the edges in a nineteenth‐century restoration with a border measuring between 2 cm and 2.5 cm around the arch in NG 666, and between 2.3 cm and 3.3 cm in NG 667, but with the retouching extending in places into the original painted surface. Along the bottom of both paintings is a strip of restoration about 6.5 cm deep. The left and right edges are original – the paint reaches to the edge.

Although NG 666 and NG 667 have been extended in the same way, the restorations seem to be by two different hands, and in this context it is interesting that the panels were in different collections between the years 1855 and 1861 (see Provenance). In NG 666 the repairs to the gilding are crude and often disfiguring, especially around the head of the Virgin (see detail on p. 153), where the outline of her head is distorted, and along the profile of the angel (see detail opposite), whereas in NG 667 the repairs to the gilding are well done.

Condition and Technique

The varnish and nineteenth‐century restorations are now discoloured.

In NG 666 the landscape and architectural setting have suffered some damage, but the figures are generally well preserved. The robe of the Virgin is abraded and there are small scattered retouchings. The red lake in her dress has faded and become transparent, as has the robe of the angel, revealing the characteristic underdrawing of a few widely spaced, thick, short parallel strokes. This underdrawing material is, however, relatively transparent to infra‐red.

The decoration is achieved by various combinations of mordant gilding and painted effects, a technique typical of Lippi’s works (see also NG 727, p. 275): the border of the Virgin’s robe at the bottom has been water‐gilded, painted, and then the pattern carefully scraped through (sgraffito), while on her shoulder the border is partly mordant gilt (retouched) and painted; the spirals above the dove are made up of both mordant‐gilded and painted spots, and similarly the opening in the Virgin’s robe (see detail on p. 153) has some mordant‐gilded and some painted dotted rays.

Apart from the haloes, the water‐gilding is generally well preserved: the cloth of honour is water‐gilded, and has an incised and punched pattern with a sgraffito border and a brownish glaze for the folds; its dark green lining has flaked badly. The angel’s wings, shoulder feathers, and cuffs, collar and front are water‐gilded. The sgraffito decoration on the robes is a blue paint mixed with white and then scraped through to the gold beneath; the shoulder feathers are glazed with red lake mixed with white (now very damaged) and a green which has discoloured. The water‐gilded wings are glazed with red lake, green, and blue mixed with white for the peacock eyes – all well preserved.

Some indecision in the position of the angel’s hands is evident in the X‐radiograph. Vermilion dots are randomly applied over part of the angel’s folds of drapery. The main architectural lines have been incised, especially the horizontals.

NG 667 has suffered overall wear and abrasion. The landscape and architecture are well preserved, but the figures are worn, particularly in the flesh painting. There are numerous discoloured retouchings, and extensive stippled and hatched retouching in all the flesh painting, which has tended to discolour to grey, especially in the face of John the Baptist and in his right foot. In spite of the poor condition, some of the draperies retain the very fine hatching in the modelling of folds.

NG 667 was extensively underdrawn with a brush (unlike NG 666, the drawing material used here registers in infrared reflectography; see figs 6 and 7) and a number of changes were made, particularly in the positions of the hands; for example, Saint Anthony Abbot’s right hand was originally lower, with an open palm, rather than pointing upwards. Some of the paint has become transparent – especially the red lakes, which have faded, revealing the bold underdrawing in the pinks of Saints Cosmas and Damian. There has almost certainly been some fading of the red lake component of the purples.

Fig. 8

Detail of a castello in NG 667 (the Medici villa at Cafaggiolo?) (© The National Gallery, London)

[page 150]
Fig. 9

Detail from NG 667 showing Saint Cosmas (© The National Gallery, London)

Fig. 10

Detail from NG 667 showing Saint Damian (© The National Gallery, London)

As in NG 666, both mordant‐gilded and painted dots are used, for instance in the foliage of the trees. The mordant gilding is well preserved in the caps and boxes of Saints Cosmas and Damian, the staff of the Baptist’s cross, the borders of the robes, Saint Anthony Abbot’s staff and the stigmata of Saint Francis. Again as in NG 666, the architectural lines have been incised, except for the short receding orthogonals of the tiled floor.

There is a pentimento in the Baptist’s pointing fingers, which originally extended further up. Where the edges of the painted areas overlap the gilding of the haloes, the artist has first painted a layer containing lead white, which is visible in the X‐radiograph, both to obscure the gold and perhaps to improve the adhesion of the paint layers.

Patronage and Date13

The provenance of these two panels from the Palazzo Riccardi (formerly Palazzo Medici) in the Via Larga (now Via Cavour) in Florence strongly suggests a Medicean origin. The emblem of three feathers within a ring, here carved in the pietra serena of the parapet of the Annunciation, was one of the Medici devices,14 and all seven saints are connected with the Medici: the larger scale of the two physician saints, Cosmas and Damian (figs 9 and 10), gives prominence to the Medici (medici = doctors).15 It is generally agreed that NG 667 is imbued with a genealogical significance.16 However, which member of the Medici family commissioned the panels has not been firmly established.

Martin Davies suggested that the two paintings had ‘a connection’ with the branch of the Medici (see fig. 12) descending from Cosimo, Pater Patriae (1389–1464).17 He argued that the saints were connected as follows: John the Baptist stood for Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (1360–1429),18 who had established the family fortunes; Saints Anthony Abbot, Cosmas, Damian and Lawrence for Giovanni’s four sons – Antonio, Damiano, Cosimo and Lorenzo (1394–1440); Saint Peter Martyr for Cosimo’s son Piero the Gouty (1416–1469), and Saint Francis for Piero’s father‐in‐law, Francesco.19 Damiano and Antonio, according to Litta, had died in infancy, Damiano in 1390 and Antonio in 1398; as Davies observed,20 it is extremely unlikely that Litta would have invented them. Davies’s implicit argument for Cosimo as patron is supported by the emphasis placed on Saint Cosmas. He not only sits on the right hand of the Baptist, who is of course one of the patron saints of Florence, but appears to be the recipient of some kind of vision; he alone of all the saints is looking upwards with raised hands.

Davies linked NG 667 with a picture of eight saints painted by Baldovinetti (fig. 11) for the Medici villa in Cafaggiolo, now in the Uffizi, Florence, which shows the same saints as NG 667 with the addition of Saint Julian and is thought to have been commissioned to celebrate the birth in 1453 of Giuliano, whose father Piero was Cosimo’s eldest son.21 The omission of Julian from NG 667 would therefore give it a terminus ante quem of 1453. Davies suggested that the Annunciation, NG 666, was commissioned in expectation, rather than celebration, of the birth of Lorenzo, later called the Magnificent, in 1449.22

Francis Ames‐Lewis took up the thrust of Davies’s arguments and developed them in a different direction. He argued more specifically that the paintings were overdoors for the Palazzo Medici and that they were commissioned by Piero di Cosimo, ‘il Gottoso’, whose personal device was, from 1447, three feathers within a diamond ring.23 He later pursued this line of reasoning in greater detail,24 seeing John the Baptist both as standing for the city of Florence and as alluding to Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici,25 with Cosmas standing for Cosimo ‘il Vecchio’, Pater Patriae, Lawrence for Cosimo’s brother Lorenzo, and Peter Martyr for Piero di Cosimo himself. Ames‐Lewis suggested that Saint Francis stands for Lorenzo’s son Pierfrancesco (1430–1476).26 In this account the paintings are explained not merely as a family tree, but also as a statement of the Medici’s civic and political position in Florence, [page 151]and as having a quasi‐narrative import of lineage and dynastic succession, probably having been commissioned to celebrate the birth of Lorenzo.27 Ames‐Lewis noted that all seven saints, including Anthony Abbot and Francis, with the addition of Saint Julian, are mentioned in the dedicatory introduction to an inventory of the possessions of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici dated 1465: Alnome sia dell’omnipotente dio et della sua gloriosa madre madonna sancta maria sempre vergine et di miss. sancto Giovanbatista et di miss. sancto Lorenzo et di miss. sancto Cosimo et miss. sancto Damiano et di mess. Sancto Antonio et di mess. sancto Piero martire et di mess. sancto Francescho et di mess. sancto Giuliano et universalmente di tucta latra celestiale corte di paradiso…28(In the name of God omnipotent and of His glorious mother Saint Mary, ever virgin, and of Saint John the Baptist and of Saint Lawrence and of Saints Cosmas and Damian and of Saint Anthony and of Saint Peter Martyr and of Saint Francis and of Saint Julian and universally of the whole heavenly court of paradise…) If one interprets the selection of saints in this invocation, and likewise that of the saints in the painting of the Seven Saints, as having a dynastic significance – since both include the name saints of the male members of the Medici family, either living or of the two preceding generations (see family tree, fig. 12) – this gives the painting a terminus ante quem of 1453, [page 152]the date of birth of Giuliano, as initially argued by Davies. Maria Grazia Ciardi Dupré dal Poggetto also saw the paintings as having been commissioned by Piero ‘il Gottoso’, between 1449 (the birth of Lorenzo) and 1453 (the birth of Giuliano).29

Fig. 11

Alesso Baldovinetti, The Virgin and Child with Saints, c. 1454. Tempera on wood, 176 x 166 cm. Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv. no. 487. © Fratelli Alinari, Florence. All rights reserved 2003 Photo: Scala, Florence - courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali e del Turismo

Fig. 12

Family tree of the early Medici.

Courtesy of Francis Ames‐Lewis (with author’s additions). © The National Gallery, London

In the context of the possible patronage of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici, it may be relevant that he ostentatiously showed his devotion to the miracle‐working image of the Annunciation in the church of Santissima Annunziata by refurbishing it with a marble tabernacle between 1448 and 1452.30

It is nevertheless impossible to dismiss entirely Jeffrey Ruda’s suggestion that the two paintings could have been commissioned by Pierfrancesco di Lorenzo di Giovanni di Bicci, who shared the five ‘ancestral’ saints at the centre of NG 667 and whose name saints, Peter Martyr and Francis, sit at either end of the composition; he received full ownership of the Casa Vecchia in 1456, which could possibly, although not necessarily, provide a terminus post quem of 1456.31

The assumption is usually that NG 666 and NG 667 were both painted at the same time, and their stylistic and technical similarities, as well as their formal and iconographic coherence, support this. Although some scholars have dated the panels early in Lippi’s career,32 comparisons have been made with the Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Michael (Cleveland Museum of Art; figs 13 and 14) and the Berlin Adoration of the Child: by Georg Pudelko in 1936, endorsed by Robert Oertel in 1942, by Mary Pittaluga in 1949, and most recently by Ruda in 1993.33 The two Cleveland panels are from an altarpiece commissioned by Giovanni di Cosimo de’ Medici in 1456 as a gift for Alfonso V of Naples.34 The altarpiece was the subject of a letter from Lippi to Giovanni di Cosimo in 1457 and was delivered in Naples in 1458.35 The head of Saint Anthony compares well with the head of that saint in NG 667 and the clear profile of Saint Michael is similar to that of the Angel Gabriel in NG 666. The treatment of drapery and the ‘floating’ position of Saint Michael and Saint Anthony in a flowery foreground are similar to those of Gabriel in NG 666. It is feasible to see NG 666 and NG 667 as leading up to the Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Michael, as probably painted c. 1450–3, and as designed for the new Medici palace, the building of which began in 1444/6.36

Figs 13 and 14

Fra Filippo Lippi, Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Michael, 1456–8. Tempera on wood, each 81.3 x 29.8 cm. Ohio, The Cleveland Museum of Art, inv. nos 64.151 and 64.150. © The Cleveland Museum of Art

Function

NG 666 and NG 667 have a similar viewpoint and were evidently designed as pendants for a domestic rather than liturgical setting. In their present condition it is impossible to be sure whether their arched shape is original, or whether the panels could once have been rectangular. Until this can be resolved, their original function remains impossible to determine, although it should be emphasised that in both panels the composition seems perfectly designed to fit within the arched shape. Marchini suggested that the paintings could have been either bedheads or overdoors,37 and their dynastic iconography would certainly be appropriate for bedroom furniture. Medieval and Renaissance bedheads, whether of lettiere (night beds) or lettucci (day beds), are generally rectangular in shape: there is a rectangular painted bedhead with the Virgin and Child and a donor, dated 1337, in Pistoia, Ospedale del Ceppo;38 the painted bedhead in Giovanni di Paolo’s painting of the Birth of John the Baptist (NG 5453; see p. 86) is also rectangular; the bedhead in NG 666 itself is rectangular and decorated with intarsia – but there is a documented example of a lunette‐shaped bedhead in 1458.39

Ames‐Lewis originally considered NG 666 and NG 667 to have been designed as overdoors and for public display,40 but subsequently wrote that ‘it may be that they were set into wall‐panelling, or into a piece of furniture such as a lettuccio, rather than that they were free‐standing overdoor panels’.41 Ruda believed that they were most likely overdoors, although his argument that NG 667 was to the left and perhaps closer to a light source because of its paler tonality42 must be treated with caution, given the condition of the painting – especially the probable degree of fading of the pigments (noted above). Maria Grazia Ciardi Dupré dal Poggetto thought they would have been sopraporte in the scrittoio or studiolo, complementing the ceramic scodelle (now in London, Victoria and Albert Museum) by Luca della Robbia in the vaults, showing the signs of the zodiac and the labours of the months, with the Annunciation there for the beginning of the Florentine calendar year and the Seven Saints showing the protection offered by the Medici saints throughout the year.43

[page [153]]

The Annunciation (NG 666), detail (© The National Gallery, London)

[page 154]

The absence of any damage such as scratches or dents on the paintings suggests that their location was remote from the wear that anything set into wall panelling or functioning as furniture might have received. The Annunciation was a suitable subject for an overdoor, presumably because of the implicit notion of welcoming a messenger or guest (see also under NG 248, p. 138), or of a prelude; an example painted by Giovanni dal Ponte within a semicircular lunette is found, for instance, at the top of stairs in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, outside the Sala del Dugento towards the courtyard.44

Provenance

Both NG 666 and NG 667 were acquired shortly before 1848 from Palazzo Riccardi by the Metzger brothers of Florence;45 NG 666 was seen at their shop by Eastlake in 1855, at which time NG 667 had already been sold to Alexander Barker.46 NG 667 is mentioned in Waagen’s supplement as in the Barker Collection;47 it was purchased from Alexander Barker in 1861. NG 666 was acquired by Sir Charles Eastlake in or after 1855, and was presented by him at the time that NG 667 was purchased.

Exhibited/Loaned

London 1858 (NG 667 only), BI (21);48 Cheltenham 1915–18, Art Gallery and Museum (long‐term loan); London 1972, NG , The Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael (no catalogue).

Select Bibliography

Notes

2. Edgerton and Steinberg, Artibus et Historiae, 1987, pp. 25–53, esp. pp. 34ff. See also Edgerton 1991, pp. 88–107. (Back to text.)

3. Ruda 1993, p. 203. For Gentile’s two versions of the Annunciation, see K. Christiansen in Gold Backs 1250–1480, exh. cat., Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd, London 1996, pp. 96–103, esp. fig. 1, with further bibliography. See also Knauer 1996, pp. 75–85, esp. pp. 80ff., where she makes the connection between the impregnating rays of light and the oculus. (Back to text.)

8. Cosmas and Damian, who were Christian doctors of Arab origin, are normally paired. See Kaftal 1952 , no. 77, and for their legend, see the Golden Legend , II, 1993, pp. 196–8. (Back to text.)

9. Lawrence was grilled, eventually beheaded, and buried in the same tomb as Saint Stephen, with whom he is often paired ( Kaftal 1952 , no. 182). (Back to text.)

10. For Saint Francis’s stigmatisation, which took place in 1224, see under NG 4760, p. 334. (Back to text.)

11. Saint Anthony was a hermit saint ( Kaftal 1952 , no. 24). See also the Golden Legend , I, pp. 93–6. (Back to text.)

12. Peter Martyr was stabbed to death by a heretic in 1252 and died reciting the Creed; he was canonised in 1253 ( Kaftal 1952 , no. 241; Golden Legend , I, pp. 254–66). (Back to text.)

13. I am extremely grateful to Francis Ames‐Lewis for reading this entry, and for his useful comments. (Back to text.)

14. Martin Davies ( Davies 1961 , p. 295, n. 1) pointed out that the device was not exclusive to the Medici. It was also used by, among others, the Rucellai (e.g. in Botticini NG 227); see also Ames‐Lewis, JWCI , 1979, pp. 126–31. However, in the light of the Medicean connections of the saints in the pendant panel it is beyond reasonable doubt that NG 666 and NG 667 were commissioned by a member of the Medici family. Davies ( Davies 1961 , p. 294, and p. 295, nn 2–5) discussed the use of this impresa by the various members of the family, and see note 23 below. The device is similar, but not identical, to the actual carved devices in the Palazzo Medici, illustrated in G. Cherubini and G. Fanelli (eds), Il Palazzo Medici Riccardi di Firenze, Florence 1990, p. 24, fig. 30. (Back to text.)

15. The selection of saints is distinctive, since Lawrence is normally paired with Stephen (see note 9) and Francis often with Dominic (see, for example, NG 215 and 216, p. 162). (Back to text.)

18. See also note 25 below. (Back to text.)

19. Reference to an in‐law and maternal ancestor, Francesco Tornabuoni, is unlikely in this context. See Ruda 1993, p. 446. (Back to text.)

[page 155]

20. Davies 1961 , p. 296, n. 10; see also Ames‐Lewis 1993, p. 216. (Back to text.)

21. See R. Wedgwood Kennedy, Alesso Baldovinetti: a critical and historical study, New Haven 1938, pp. 53ff; see also Kent 2000 (cited in note 16), pp. 148–9. In Baldovinetti’s painting Saints Francis and Peter Martyr are, as in NG 667, at either end of the group of saints, in this case singled out by being shown kneeling while the other saints stand. It is tempting to think that the castellated building in the background of NG 667 is the Medici Villa at Cafaggiolo. For the villa, see M. Pozzana in Giardini Medicei. Giardini di Palazzo e di Villa nella Firenze del Quattrocentro, ed. C. Acidini Luchinat, Milan 1996, pp. 153–6. (Back to text.)

22. Giles Robertson, in a review of the 1951 edition of Davies’s catalogue ( BM , XCV, 59, 1953, p. 28), called the argument concerning the birth of Lorenzo a flight of fantasy. However, in his 1961 catalogue (p. 296, n. 12) Davies stated that Robertson had misinterpreted his ideas and reiterated the argument ( ibid. , p. 294). (Back to text.)

23. Ames‐Lewis ( JWCI , 1979, pp. 133 and 140) suggested that the device ‘joined the vocabulary of Medicean imagery’ shortly after 1447. He also noted that it was not exclusive to the Medici ( ibid. , p. 130). Ruda (1993, p. 446) pointed out that the paintings are not listed in the Medici Palace inventory of 1492, though also noting that they might not have been listed if they were immobiliari. For the inventory of 1492, see M. Spallanzani and G.G. Bertelà (eds), Libro d’inventario dei beni di Lorenzo il Magnifico, Florence 1992. (Back to text.)

24. Ames‐Lewis 1993, pp. 207–20. (Back to text.)

25. J. Paoletti, ‘Donatello’s Bronze Doors for the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo’, Artibus et Historiae, 21, 1990, p. 61 and n. 31; Paoletti noted that Giovanni di Bicci’s patron saint was John the Evangelist rather than John the Baptist, arguing that the Baptist represented the visual joining of the Medici and the State. Ames‐Lewis (1995, p. 121) interpreted the central presence of John the Baptist as emphasising Cosimo as ‘the inheritor of authority in the Florentine state’. It is significant that it is John the Baptist and not the Evangelist who is among the seven Medici saints in the altarpiece by Baldovinetti (see fig. 11). Ames‐Lewis (1993, pp. 215 and 219, n. 23) points out that it was possible for both Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist to be named as the patron saint of Giovanni di Bicci. He cites a reference to ‘santo giovanni batista eva[n]gelista’ referred to in a contract for a new Medici bank of 1427, brought to his attention by John Paoletti. (Back to text.)

26. Ames‐Lewis 1993, p. 212; 1995, p. 121. (Back to text.)

27. Ames‐Lewis 1993, pp. 212–17; 1995, p. 121. Ames‐Lewis discusses NG 667 in the context of other Medicean commissions that invite what he terms ‘quasi‐narrative readings of dynastic succession’ (1993, p.212), and in particular analyses the gestures of the saints and their import. (Back to text.)

28. Ames‐Lewis 1993, p. 215. The document he cites is Archivio di Stato di Firenze, MAP 165 – published in E. Müntz, Les Collections des Médicis au quinzième siècle: le musée, la bibliothèque, le mobilier, Paris 1888, pp. 35–51, but without the invocation. (Back to text.)

29. Ciardi Dupré dal Poggetto (1996, I, p.149, n. 79) has misinterpreted Davies’s phrase that Giuliano was ‘not yet in existence’ ( Davies 1961 , p. 294) to mean that Davies thought Giuliano was already dead. (Back to text.)

31. Ruda 1993, p. 446. Ruda points out that Pierfrancesco’s only known commissions were in 1455, for his marriage in 1456 to Laudomia d’Iacopo Acciauoli, when he ordered a pair of chests and a tondo from Apollonio di Giovanni; see E. Callmann, Apollonio di Giovanni, Oxford 1974, pp. 35 and 79, no. 113. For Pierfrancesco’s life, Ruda cites A. Brown, ‘Pierfrancesco de’Medici, 1430–1476: A Radical Alternative to Elder Medicean Supremacy?’, JWCI , 42, 1979, pp. 81–103. The paintings are not mentioned in the inventories made for Pierfrancesco’s son and grandsons c. 1500, which do include immobiliari. (Back to text.)

34. For the Cleveland panels, see Ruda 1993, cat. 49, pp. 442–4. (Back to text.)

35. The letter was originally printed in J.W. Gaye (ed.), Carteggio inedito d’artisti dei secoli XIV, XV, XVI: pubblicato ed illustrato con documenti pure inediti, I, Florence 1839, pp. 175–6, and transcribed with corrections by Ruda 1993, p. 537 (English trans., ibid. , pp. 36 and 38). A slightly different English translation is given in M. Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy, Oxford 1972/paperback edn 1974, pp. 3–4, with an illustration of the accompanying sketch of the altarpiece which Lippi sent to Giovanni di Cosimo (fig. 1), and there are variations in the translation in C.E. Gilbert (ed.), Italian Art 1400–1500. Sources and Documents, Englewood Cliffs 1980/paperback edn 1992, pp. 7–8. For an excellent reproduction of the sketch, see Ruda 1993, p. 495, pl. 387, and for the documentation for the altarpiece, ibid. , pp. 536–8, no. 21. (Back to text.)

36. For the Medici Palace, see Cherubini and Fanelli 1990 (cited in note 14). NG 666 and NG 667 have also been linked by Pudelko and Ruda to the altarpiece of the Adoration of the Child painted by Filippo Lippi for the Medici Palace Chapel c. 1459 (Pudelko, Rivista d’Arte, 1936, cited in note 33, p. 54; Ruda 1993, p. 202). (Back to text.)

37. Marchini 1975, p. 206. (Back to text.)

39. For the painted ‘½ tondo…sopra la lettiera’ ordered from Apollonio di Giovanni by Filippo and Luca Rinieri, see E. Callmann, ‘Apollonio di Giovanni and Painting for the Early Renaissance Room’, Antichità Viva, anno XXVII, 1988, nn 3–4, p. 16. A lettuccio decorated with intarsia is mentioned among the possessions of Giovanni di Bicci in an inventory of 1417. See M. Spallanzani, Inventari Medicei 1417–1465. Giovanni di Bicci, Cosimo e Lorenzo di Giovanni, Piero di Cosimo, Florence 1996. p. 25. For lettucci, see M. Trionfi Honorati, ‘A proposito del “Lettuccio”’, Antichità Viva, anno XX, 3, 1981, pp. 39–47. (Back to text.)

40. Ames‐Lewis, JWCI , 1979, p. 127; Ames‐Lewis 1993, pp. 207–20, esp. pp. 209–12. (Back to text.)

41. Ames‐Lewis 1995, p. 120. The panels may be too small to have been part of a bed. The inventory of 1465 of the bedroom furnishings of Piero di Cosimo mentions fabric teste da letto, two measuring 8 braccia (Spallanzani 1996, cited in note 39, pp. 100, 121), while NG 666 and 667 are under 3 braccia. (Back to text.)

42. Ruda 1993, p. 202. (Back to text.)

43. See note 29 above. Francis Ames‐Lewis has pointed out to me that the scrittoio had only one door. (Back to text.)

44. A. Lensi, Palazzo Vecchio, Milan 1929, p. 21; N. Rubinstein, The Palazzo Vecchio, 1298–1532: government, architecture and imagery in the civic palace of the Florentine Republic, Oxford 1995, p. 57 and fig. 25. Christa Gardner von Teuffel (oral communication) considers that the unusual inclusion of a flight of stairs in the centre of the Annunciation could suggest that the two panels were situated at the top of a flight of stairs. (Back to text.)

45. Vasari, Vite, ed. Le Monnier , IV, 1848, p. 118, n. 3. (Back to text.)

46. Eastlake’s notebook, 1855 (in NG library). For Alexander Barker, see D. Sutton, ‘The Age of Robert Browning’, Apollo, 122, 1985, p. 104. See also p. xxxi of this catalogue. (Back to text.)

47. G.F. Waagen, Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain, IV, London 1857, pp. 71–2. (Back to text.)

48. See, besides the catalogue, Sir George Scharf, Artistic and Descriptive Notes on this exhibition (typed manuscript), 1858, p. 32, with an attribution to Filippo Lippi. The picture was then thought to contain portraits of Cosimo and Lorenzo de’ Medici, Savonarola, etc. Ruda (1993, p. 446) says that Saint Francis resembles portraits of Savonarola. This is pure coincidence, given that Savonarola was born only in 1452 (d. 1492). (Back to text.)

Glossary

bole
A red clay applied to the gessoed surface of a panel as an adhesive underlayer for gold leaf
intarsia
Inlaid wood
lake
A pigment made by precipitation onto a base from a dye solution, resulting in a comparatively transparent pigment often used as a glaze
mordant gilding
The process of applying gold leaf to an adhesive or mordant, usually done in the final stages of a painting
pentimento
Literally ‘repentance’ – used to describe changes made by the artist during the execution of a drawing or painting
pietra serena
Grey sandstone
scrittoio/ studiolo
AA study
sgraffito
Literally ‘scratched’ – the process whereby paint is applied to a gilded surface and the paint then scraped away to reveal the gold beneath, generally used to convey the texture or patterns of textiles
sopraporta
A painting sited above a doorway
terminus ante quem
AA fixed date before which (a painting must have been made)
terminus post quem
AA fixed date after which (a painting must have been made)
water gilding
Gold leaf applied to wetted bole and then burnished

Abbreviations

Institutions
NG
National Gallery, London
Periodicals
BM
Burlington Magazine, London, 1903–
JWCI
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes
Frequently cited works are given in abbreviated form throughout, as listed below:
Davies 1961
M. Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd revised edn, London 1961
Golden Legend
Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend, trans. W.G. Ryan, Princeton, NJ, 1993
Kaftal 1952
G. Kaftal, Iconography of the Saints in Tuscan Painting, Florence 1952
Vasari, Le Vite, ed. Le Monnier
G. Vasari, Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori, ed. Le Monnier, 14 vols, Florence 1846–70

List of archive references cited

List of references cited

Ames‐Lewis 1979b
Ames‐LewisF., ‘Early Medicean Devices’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 1979, 42122–43
Ames‐Lewis 1993
Ames‐LewisF., ‘Art in the Service of the Family. The Taste and Patronage of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici’, in Piero de’ Medici, ‘il Gottoso’ (1416–1469). Art in the Service of the Medici, eds A. Beyer and B. BoucherBerlin 1993, 207–20
Ames‐Lewis 1995
Ames‐LewisF., ‘Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi and the early Medici’, in The Early Medici and their artists, ed. F. Ames‐LewisLondon 1995, 107–24
Baxandall 1972
BaxandallMichaelPainting and Experience in Fifteenth‐Century Italy: A Primer in the Social History of Pictorial Style, Oxford University Press, 1972 (paperback edn, Oxford 1974)
Brown 1979
BrownA., ‘Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, 1430–1476: A Radical Alternative to Elder Medicean Supremacy?’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 1979, 4281–103
Callmann 1974
CallmannE.Apollonio di GiovanniOxford 1974
Callmann 1988
CallmannE., ‘Apollonio di Giovanni and Painting for the Early Renaissance Room’, Antichità Viva, 1988, XXVII3–45–18
Cavalcaselle and Crowe 1892
CavalcaselleG.B. and J.A. CroweStoria della pittura italianaFlorence 1892, V
Cherubini and Fanelli 1990
CherubiniG. and G. Fanelli, eds, Il Palazzo Medici Riccardi di FirenzeFlorence 1990
Christiansen 1996
ChristiansenK., in Gold Backs 1250–1480 (exh. cat. Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd), London 1996
Ciardi Dupré dal Poggetto 1996
Ciardi Dupré dal PoggettoM.G., ‘I dipinti di Palazzo Medici nell’inventario di Simone di Stagio delle Pozze: Problemi di committenza e di arredo’, in La Toscana al tempo di Lorenzo il Magnifico: Politica, Economia, Cultura, Arte. Atti del Convegno di Studi promosso dalle Università di Firenze, Pisa e Siena, 5–8 novembre 1992Pisa 1996, I131–62
Davidsohn 1965
DavidsohnR.Storia di Firenze8 volsFlorence 1965, IVIII
Davies 1950
DaviesM., ‘Fra Filippo Lippi’s Annunciation and Seven Saints’, Critica d’Arte, 1950, anno VIII5fasc. XXXI356–63
Davies 1961
DaviesMartinNational Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd revised edn, London 1961 (1st edn, London 1951)
Edgerton 1991
EdgertonS.Y.JrThe Heritage of Giotto’s Geometry: art and science on the eve of the scientific revolutionIthaca and London 1991
Edgerton and Steinberg 1987
EdgertonS.Y.Jr and L. Steinberg, ‘How shall this be? Reflections on Filippo Lippi’s Annunciation in London’, Artibus et Historiae, 1987, VIII1625–53
Gaye 1839–40
GayeJ.W., ed., Carteggio inedito d’artisti dei secoli XIV, XV, XVI: pubblicato ed illustrato con documenti pure inediti3 volsFlorence 1839–40
Gilbert 1980
GilbertC.E., ed., Italian Art 1400–1500. Sources and DocumentsEnglewood Cliffs, NJ 1980 (paperback edn, 1992)
Holmes 1999
HolmesM.Fra Filippo Lippi. The Carmelite PainterNew Haven and London 1999
Kaftal 1952
KaftalGeorgeIconography of the Saints in Tuscan PaintingFlorence 1952
Kent 2000
KentD.Cosimo de’ Medici and the Florentine RenaissanceNew Haven and London 2000
Knauer 1996
KnauerE.R., ‘Oculus und Maria Verkündigung: Eine Nachlese’, in Festschrift für Matthias Winner, eds V. Fleming and S. SchützeMainz 1996, 75–85
Kreytenberg 2001
KreytenbergG., ‘Eine unbekannte Verkündigungsmadonna als “Maria Gravida” von Andrea Pisano’, in Opere e giorni. Studi su mille anni di arte europea, eds K. Bergdolt and G. BonsantiVenice 2001, 147–54
Lensi 1929
LensiA.Palazzo VecchioMilan 1929
Liebenwein 1993
LiebenweinW., ‘Die “Privatisierung” des Wunders Piero de’ Medici in SS. Annunziata und San Miniato’, in Piero de’ Medici, ‘il Gottoso’ (1416–1469). Art in the Service of the Medici, eds A. Beyer and B. BoucherBerlin 1993, 251–90
Litta et al. 1819–1923
LittaPompeoet al.Famiglie celebri d’Italia2 seriesMilan and Turin 1819–1923
Mannini and Fagioli 1997
ManniniM.P. and M. FagioliFilippo Lippi. Catalogo CompletoFlorence 1997
Marchini 1975
MarchiniG.Filippo LippiMilan 1975
Mendelsohn 1909
MendelsohnH.Fra Filippo LippiBerlin 1909
Mengin 1932
MenginU.Les Deux LippiParis 1932
Müntz 1888
MüntzE.Les Collections des Médicis au quinzième siècle: le musée, la bibliothèque, le mobilierParis 1888
Neri Lusanna 1985
Neri LusannaE., ‘Un ciclo di affreschi domenicano e l’attività tarda di Pietro di Miniato’, Arte Cristiana, 1985, 73710301–14
Oertel 1942
OertelR.Fra Filippo LippiVienna 1942
Paoletti 1990
PaolettiJ.T., ‘Donatello’s Bronze Doors for the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo’, Artibus et Historiae, 1990, 2139–69
Pittaluga 1949
PittalugaM.Filippo LippiFlorence 1949
Pozzana 1996
PozzanaM., in Giardini Medicei. Giardini di Palazzo e di Villa nella Firenze del Quattrocentro, ed. C. Acidini LuchinatMilan 1996, 153–6
Pudelko 1936
PudelkoG., ‘Per la datazione delle opere di Fra Filippo Lippi’, Rivista d’Arte, 1936, XVIII45–76
Robertson 1953
RobertsonG., ‘review of the 1951 edition of M. Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, Burlington Magazine, January 1953, 9559828
Rubinstein 1995
RubinsteinN.The Palazzo Vecchio, 1298–1532: government, architecture and imagery in the civic palace of the Florentine RepublicOxford 1995
Ruda 1975
RudaJ., ‘The National Gallery Tondo of the Adoration of the Magi and the Early Style of Filippo Lippi’, Studies in the History of Art, 1975, 76–39
Ruda 1982
RudaJ., ‘Filippo Lippi Studies. Naturalism, Style and Iconography in Early Renaissance Art’ (PhD thesis), New York and London 1982
Ruda 1993
RudaJeffreyFra Filippo Lippi: Life and Work with a Complete CatalogueLondon 1993
Scharf 1858
ScharfGeorgeSirArtistic and Descriptive Notes On the most remarkable pictures in the British Institution exhibition of the ancient masters, Pall Mall, MDCCCLVIIILondon 1858
Spallanzani 1996
SpallanzaniM.Inventari Medicei 1417–1465. Giovanni di Bicii, Cosimo e Lorenzo di Giovanni, Piero di CosimoFlorence 1996
Spallanzani and Bertelà 1992
SpallanzaniM. and G.G. Bertelà, eds, Libro d’inventario dei beni di Lorenzo il MagnificoFlorence 1992
Supino 1902
SupinoI.B.Fra Filippo LippiFlorence 1902
Sutton 1985a
SuttonD., ‘The Age of Robert Browning’, Apollo, 1985, 12296–110
Thornton 1991
ThorntonPeterThe Italian Renaissance Interior (1400–1600)New York and London 1991
Trionfi Honorati 1981
Trionfi HonoratiM., ‘A proposito del “Lettuccio”’, Antichità Viva, 1981, XX339–47
Vasari 1846–70
VasariGiorgioLe Vite de’più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti, ed. F. Le Monnier14 volsFlorence 1846–70
Wedgwood Kennedy 1938
Wedgwood KennedyR.Alesso Baldovinetti: a critical and historical studyNew Haven 1938

List of exhibitions cited

London 1858
London, British Institution, 1858
London, National Gallery, The Archangels Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, 1972

The Organisation of the Catalogue
Chronological and geographical limits

Included in this volume are works by artists or workshops the bulk of whose surviving work falls within the first half of the fifteenth century, i.e. around 1400–60: Starnina (d. 1413), Lorenzo Monaco (d. c. 1423), Gregorio di Cecco di Luca (d. c. 1428), Masaccio (d. 1428/9), Masolino (d. c. 1436), Giovanni dal Ponte (d. 1437), Sassetta (d. 1450), Master of the Osservanza (active second quarter of fifteenth century), Francesco d’Antonio (active until 1452), Jacopo di Antonio (Master of Pratovecchio?) (d. 1454), Fra Angelico (d. 1455), Pisanello (d. 1455), Pesellino (d. 1457), Domenico Veneziano (d. 1461), Bono da Ferrara (active until 1461), Apollonio di Giovanni (d. c. 1465), Zanobi Strozzi (d. 1468), Filippo Lippi (d. 1469), Giovanni da Oriolo (d. by 1474), Uccello (d. 1475), Marco del Buono (d. after 1480), Giovanni di Paolo (d. 1482).

The exceptions to this are two paintings whose previous attributions were to artists represented in this catalogue but which are now attributed to artists active primarily in the second half of the fifteenth century. The Virgin and Child with Angels (NG 5581) used to be catalogued as by a follower of Fra Angelico. Now, it is generally accepted as being an early work of c. 1447 by Benozzo Gozzoli, and it is therefore included here. However, his work as an independent painter dates from 1450, and his altarpiece dated 1461 for Santa Maria della Purificazione, Florence, will be considered in a subsequent catalogue. A panel of the Nativity (NG 3648) used to be given to a follower of Masaccio, but technical evidence links it to the altarpiece attributed to the Master of the Castello Nativity (active mid‐fifteenth century), recently identified as Piero di Lorenzo di Pratese – a painter deeply enmeshed in the history of the Trinity altarpiece by Pesellino (NG 727 etc.) considered here.

The majority of the paintings included in this catalogue are from Tuscany, with the exception of those by Pisanello, his pupil Bono da Ferrara and his follower Giovanni da Oriolo. Because so few Venetian paintings in the collection date from the first half of the fifteenth century, those which do will be considered in another volume.

Artists: The artists are catalogued in alphabetical order. Autograph works precede those which are attributed.

Attribution: A painting is discussed under the artist where the attribution is not considered to be in doubt. ‘Attributed to’ implies a measure of doubt. ‘Workshop of’ indicates that the work has been executed by a member of the workshop, sometimes with the participation of the artist concerned.

Title: The traditional title of each painting has been followed, except where further research has made a more precise description possible.

Date: Reasons for the date given in the head matter are explained in the body of each entry.

Medium: This is generally assumed to be egg. Where this has been identified, it is stated.

Support: This is generally assumed to be poplar. Where this has been identified, it is stated.

Dimensions: The overall dimensions are given in the head matter. Height precedes width. More precise dimensions are given in the discussion of each work.

Restoration: The history of the restoration of a painting before it entered the National Gallery is not given unless specifically known.

Technique and condition: These are discussed together, since the condition of a painting is often the result of the techniques employed. Where pigments seemed unusual, samples were examined by Ashok Roy and in some cases the medium has been analysed by Raymond White.

Method: Every painting was examined and measured in the Conservation Department with a conservator – usually Jill Dunkerton, but in some instances Martin Wyld, Larry Keith and Paul Ackroyd. Some paintings were examined by Rachel Billinge with infra‐red reflectography (see p. 478).

X‐radiographs, infra‐red photographs and infrared reflectograms: The reader may find it frustrating that reference is sometimes made to X‐radiographs, infra‐red photographs and infra‐red reflectograms without their being illustrated. This is because once they are reduced to page size they are often no longer decipherable.

Bibliographical information: At the end of every catalogue entry is a Select Bibliography listing the main publications relevant to that entry, in chronological order. The works in this list are cited in abbreviated form in the notes following the entry. Full references to all works cited in the catalogue are given in the List of Publications Cited (pp. 435–55).

Comments: I have attempted to give as full an account as possible with regard to attribution, patronage, date, related panels, original location, subject matter, iconography, etc., and to make this information accessible and interesting to the lay reader as well as to the art historian. Inevitably the text contains some speculation – I have tried to make it clear when an argument is hypothetical. For ease of reference the comments are given subheadings, but their sequence varies according to the requirements of the argument.

Dating and Measurements

Dates – old style and modern

Dates are given in the modern style, but the old style (o.s.) is indicated where pertinent.

Florence:
The calendar year began on the feast of the Annunciation, 25 March.
Pisa:
The year began on 25 March, but anticipated the Florentine year by one year (i.e. 1 January–24 March = modern).
Pistoia (stile della Natività):
The year began on 25 December, anticipating modern style (i.e. 1 January–24 December = modern).
Siena:
The year began on 25 March, but sometimes followed the Pisan system.

(See A. Cappelli, Cronologia Cronografica e Calendario Perpetuo, 2nd edn, Milan 1930, pp. 11–16.)

Measurements

The Florentine braccio (fioretino da panno) was the standard unit of linear measurement in Florence from at least the fourteenth until the nineteenth century and was equal to approximately 58.4 cm. In Siena the braccio (per le tele) before 1782 was 60 cm, although Siena also used the braccio of 58.4 cm.

(See A.P. Favaro, Metrologia, Naples 1826, pp. 85 and 118; R. Zupko, Italian weights and measures from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century, Philadelphia 1981, p. 46.)

Infra‐red reflectography

Infra‐red reflectography was carried out by Rachel Billinge using a Hamamatsu C2400 camera with an N2606 series infra‐red vidicon tube. The camera is fitted with a 36mm lens to which a Kodak 87A Wratten filter has been attached to exclude visible light. The infra‐red reflectogram mosaics were assembled on a computer using an updated version of the software (VIPS ip) described in R. Billinge, J. Cupitt, N. Dessipris and D. Saunders, ‘A note on an improved procedure for the rapid assembly of infrared reflectogram mosaics’, Studies in Conservation, vol. 38, 11, 1993, pp. 92–8.

About this version

Version 1, generated from files DG_2003__16.xml dated 07/03/2025 and database__16.xml dated 09/03/2025 using stylesheet 16_teiToHtml_externalDb.xsl dated 03/01/2025. Structural mark-up applied to skeleton document in full; entry for NG583, biography for Uccello and associated front and back matter (marked up in pilot project) reintegrated into main document; document updated to use external database of archival and bibliographic references; entries for L2, NG215-NG216, NG1897, NG2862 & NG4062; L15, NG727, NG3162, NG3230, NG4428 & NG4868.1-NG4868.4; NG583; NG663.1-NG663.5; NG666-NG667; NG766-NG767 & NG1215; NG1436; NG2908; NG3046; NG4757-NG4763; NG5451-NG5454; NG5962-NG5963; and NG6579-NG6580 prepared for publication; entry for NG583 proofread and corrected.

Cite this entry

Permalink (this version)
https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E9N-000B-0000-0000
Permalink (latest version)
https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E6G-000B-0000-0000
Chicago style
Gordon, Dillian. “ NG 666–NG 667 , Medici (Overdoor?) Panels ”. 2003, online version 1, March 9, 2025. https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E9N-000B-0000-0000.
Harvard style
Gordon, Dillian (2003) NG 666–NG 667 , Medici (Overdoor?) Panels . Online version 1, London: National Gallery, 2025. Available at: https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E9N-000B-0000-0000 (Accessed: 19 March 2025).
MHRA style
Gordon, Dillian,  NG 666–NG 667 , Medici (Overdoor?) Panels (National Gallery, 2003; online version 1, 2025) <https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E9N-000B-0000-0000> [accessed: 19 March 2025]