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San Benedetto Altarpiece:
Catalogue entry

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Entry details

Full title
San Benedetto Altarpiece
Artist
Lorenzo Monaco
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

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 264.9 x 365.8 cm

NG 215, NG 216 and NG 1897 are fragments from the main tier of the high altarpiece painted by Lorenzo Monaco for the Camaldolese monastery of San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence, probably between 1407 and 1409;1 NG 2862, NG 4062 and L2 are fragments from the predella.

The centre main tier panel (NG 1897) shows the Coronation of the Virgin. Each side panel contains eight adoring saints arranged in three diagonal rows: three kneeling, three standing, and two in the last row whose heads only are visible. The arrangement is symmetrical;2 the monastic founders, Evangelists, mendicant saints, a bishop and a pope are in two pyramidal groups, which culminate at the top in the points of a mitre and a papal tiara.

The predella was devoted to scenes from the life of Saint Benedict.

[page 163][page 164]

NG 1897 
The Coronation of the Virgin

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 220.5 x 115.2 cm

Christ is about to place on the Virgin’s head a crown of six prominent trefoils surrounding a ribbed pinnacle cap of architectural form. They are seated on a grey throne consisting of a back with a low gable decorated with crockets, below which is an arch nearly semicircular in form. The vault of the arch is decorated with panels of inlay and the back is covered by a curtain suspended at five points (two of them visible). The sides of the throne are pierced by two large cusped openings. Its arms are covered with drapery. Around the throne on the paving beneath the plinth are seven kneeling angels; two of the angels swing censers and another plays a portative organ. The centre of the altarpiece is united with the side compartments (NG 215 and NG 216) by a tiled floor which runs across the whole altarpiece.

Along the grey step of the tiled dais are the remains of an inscription: … S.FLO…(PE?)R…ME…SUE.ET.SU.2

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Maximum height 220.5 cm, width 115.2 cm; thickness of panel approximately 3.7 cm.

On the back is a scribble with 1762 and various illegible words, which have no apparent connection with the history of the picture.

Like NG 215 and NG 216, the panel is made up of three planks with a vertical grain. The left edge has fragments of four half‐dovetail cavities in the back (one with the remains of the inserted butterfly key), which correspond to those in NG 215.

In the centre, at the bottom, is a modern replacement, approximately 26.5 x 15.5 cm, where a later arched tabernacle door was inset (figs 1 and 2). Unlike the tabernacle shutters in Lorenzo Monaco’s Coronation altarpiece in the Uffizi,3 the aperture in the London panel does not seem to be an original feature: there is no evidence in the X‐radiograph of any hinges or carpentry features around the periphery of the tabernacle opening, and there is a good deal of paint and ground loss in the original panel around its outer contours, suggesting an incision made well after the initial execution of the painting. Scientific examination of the pigments of the earliest of the several layers of restoration over the section cut for the tabernacle has identified mixtures of azurite and smalt in the blue draperies, a combination which became rare after the seventeenth century.4

Restoration

Cleaned and restored in 1948–9 and again in 1998.5

Condition and technique

The paint surface of NG 1897 is less damaged than that of the side panels, although the damage is similarly greater at the bottom of the panel, probably as a result of flooding. The figures of Christ and the Virgin are exceptionally well preserved, as are the heads of the three kneeling angels, although there is some abrasion of the Virgin’s robe and of the throne step where the marbling is worn. Extensive damage to the lateral angels was presumably caused when the altarpiece was dismantled. The hand and surrounding blue paint of the angel on the right holding a censer is badly damaged. As in NG 215 and NG 216, the tiled floor was at some stage overpainted with red, which was removed in a previous cleaning.

The gold background is somewhat abraded. The crown and the haloes are in good condition, except for damage at the left of the Virgin’s halo.

The mordant gilding is generally well preserved, particularly on the Virgin’s robe and blue veil, the throne decoration and the decoration of the border of Christ’s robe, but that on the kneeling angels is less so.

The sgraffito cloth of honour was painted with vermilion, which has blackened; the gold has been punched to suggest the raised gold threads of cloth of gold. The upper border of the cloth was painted in a pattern of blue, white and red (now faded) applied over the gold, into which was scratched a series of freely executed parallel lines to simulate a gold fringe. The cushion has been modelled with dense punching, similar to that in the altarpiece from San Bartolomeo at Monte Oliveto, Florence, completed in 1410 (Florence, Accademia, inv. no. 1890.468), for which see below.

The Virgin’s robe was originally lilac. The fading of the red lake, a mixture of lac lake, ultramarine and white, has been confirmed by scientific examination. Likewise, Christ’s robe, which has been identified as being painted with kermes and lac lakes, has faded considerably. His mantle is in ultramarine.6

An area of dark wash along the base of the throne (most clearly visible with infra‐red reflectography), painted over with the white and grey(?) of the throne step, seems to have been intended to create the impression of a shadow below the throne.

Provenance

With NG 215 and NG 216 in San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence. The three panels may have been together in 1557, when they all suffered from flood damage, but it seems that the Coronation of the Virgin had, by the time Vasari saw it in 1568, become separated from its side panels. Davies7 points out that Vasari and other writers who refer to the altarpiece mention only the Coronation of the Virgin and not the saints. The fact that NG 215 and NG 216 were both cut down to the same degree at the sides and base, while the centre was not cut down at all, suggests that at some stage the two side panels were separated from the central one but subsequently kept together.8 Milanesi described only three angels when he saw the central fragment in 1830 or 1840, and when Johann Anton Ramboux (1790–1866) made his drawing of it (see fig. 3), which has a terminus ante quem of 1843, the fragmentary side angels had already been painted out. It would seem that at an unknown date an attempt was made to disguise the fact that this was a fragment and it was used as an independent altarpiece (fig. 4).9

[page 165]

© The National Gallery, London

[page 166]
Fig. 1

Diagram of the structure of NG 1897, NG 215 and NG 216 (seen from the back), by P. Ackroyd and L. Keith (© The National Gallery, London)

Fig. 2

X‐radiograph of NG 1897 (© The National Gallery, London)

The Coronation of the Virgin was recorded by Vasari in the Alberti Chapel in the cloister of Santa Maria degli Angeli in 1568: ‘Dipinse similmente Don Lorenzo in una tavola che era nel monasterio di San Benedetto del medesimo ordine di Camaldoli fuori della porta Pinti, il quale fu rovinato per l’assedio di Firenze l’anno 1529, una coronazione di Nostra Donna, siccome aveva anco fatto nella tavola della sua Chiesa degli Angeli.’10 It was recorded there in 1657 by Stefano Rosselli,11 in 1677 by Bocchi‐Cinelli,12 in 1684 by Del Migliore,13 in 1710 by Farulli,14 in 1759 by Richa15 and in 1792 by Follini‐Rastrelli.16 No record of when it was removed has been found.

NG 1897 was discovered in 1830 or 1840 in a chapel of a former Camaldolese abbey at Elmo or Adelmo, near Cerreto – at that time a house for Camaldolese novices – which is said to have belonged at one time to the Camaldolese monastery in Florence.17 Adelmo is close to San Pietro at Cerreto, where the Uffizi Coronation was discovered,18 and is said to have been secularised under French dominion at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the building that housed the painting was purchased by the Landi family of neighbouring Certaldo, near Cerreto.19 NG 1897 was drawn by Ramboux on one of two Italian trips he made between 1818 and 1822 and between 1830 and 1843; the drawing is inscribed Di Lorenzo Monaco alla Badia virgo (?rubbed) Certaldo (Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Band V, f. 55; fig. 3).20 The painting was seen before or in 1864 in the Landi Collection by Crowe and Cavalcaselle.21 Purchased shortly before 1900 from eleven members of the Landi family by M. Galli‐Dunn of Florence, from whom purchased, Clarke Fund, 1902.

Exhibited

London 1947–8, NG , Cleaned Pictures Exhibition (14–16) (only NG 215 and NG 216 had then been cleaned).

[page 167]
Fig. 3

Johann Anton Ramboux, The Coronation of the Virgin (NG 1897), 1818–22, or 1830–43. Frankfurt, Städelsches Kunstinstitut. Album Ramboux, vol. V, f.55. © Städelsches Kunstinstitut Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main , Frankfurt am Main

Fig. 4

NG 1897 before cleaning (© The National Gallery, London)

[page 168]

NG 215 
Adoring Saints

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 194.5 x 104.8 cm

From left to right, front row:

  • 1. Saint Benedict ( c. 480–543), whose Rule the Camaldolites followed, holding rods (for corporal punishment), his book inscribed PASSI/ONIB’/XPI P/PATI ETIA/PATICI‐PEMUR/ [U/T R/E/G/NI EI/] MERE[AMUS ESSER CON‐SORTES] (‘Let us through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve to partake of his kingdom’) from the end of the Prologue of his Rule.22
  • 2. Saint John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, holding a staff.
  • 3. Saint Matthew, the Evangelist, dipping a quill pen into an ink pot, his book with an inscription from his Gospel: CUM N/ATUS / ESSET / YHS IBE/THLEM / IUDE IN / DIEBUS / [H/ER/OD]I/S RE/GIS (‘when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the King’, from Matthew 2:1).

Middle row:

  • 1. A male saint wearing a martyr’s crown and carrying a martyr’s palm – probably Saint Miniato, a patron saint of Florence.23
  • 2. Saint Stephen, deacon and early Christian martyr, with the stone of his martyrdom on his head and carrying a white banner with a red cross.24
  • 3. Saint Paul, carrying the sword with which he was beheaded, his book inscribed ad galathas ([Epistle] to the Galatians).

Back row:

  • 1. Saint Francis (d. 1226), founder of the Franciscan Order.25
  • 2. A bishop saint, probably Saint Zenobius, also a patron saint of Florence.26

Fragments of two angels are visible on the right.

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Maximum height, including added strip at bottom, 194.5 cm; width 104.8 cm; thickness of panel 3.7 cm.

The fragment consists of three planks with a vertical grain. The joins are not clearly visible at the back, since it has been covered with a gesso‐like material at some later date. A missing edge on the left side of the arched top has been filled out with a piece of wood, tapered from a maximum width of 2.7 cm at the spring of the arch to nothing at the apex. The top of the panel has been trimmed by an unknown amount; saw marks running through the panel and gesso at the outer left, as well as the cropping of the sleeve and robe of the crowned saint, show that the left outer edge has been cut (NG 216 has been similarly cut at the right‐hand edge). At the bottom the tiled floor is extended by a strip of modern wood 13.5 cm deep, with modern paint.

The remains of four dovetailed inset butterfly keys are visible on the back at the right edge, which correspond to similar traces on the left‐hand side of the central fragment (see under NG 1897 above). Additionally, on the front, by completing the circles of the two side angels’ fragmentary haloes, one may calculate that approximately 7 cm of the image is missing between the two panels.

Restoration

Cleaned and restored in 1940 and again in 1998.27

Condition and technique

The bottom half of the picture is extensively damaged and it may at some time have suffered from flooding (see p. 174). The tiled floor – at one stage overpainted with red, of which there remain traces in the cracks (as in NG 216 and NG 1897) – is badly abraded. A large vertical damage, corresponding to a join in the planks, runs from John the Baptist’s chin to the bottom of the panel. There is a large damage in the centre of Saint Matthew’s blue cloak, probably caused by a knot in the wood. Saint Benedict’s white robe was at some stage overpainted with a dark grey oil‐based paint28 and its removal at some date before acquisition caused a large vertical loss running down from the saint’s right wrist; traces of grey remain in the cracks. Much of the flesh paint is badly abraded, particularly the faces of Saints Paul, Stephen, John the Baptist and Francis and the beard of Saint Benedict. The best‐preserved figure is Saint Miniato at the left edge of the painting.

The haloes are generally well preserved, although those of Saints Benedict and John the Baptist are abraded and the punched decoration is worn down to the gesso in places.

The mordant gilding is well preserved in Saint Miniato’s collar, but elsewhere it is badly worn: the gold has flaked or been removed in a previous cleaning, revealing the white mordant beneath, which is particularly evident along the border of John the Baptist’s robe.

The red lakes have faded throughout and the vermilion in Saint Benedict’s book cover has blackened. While the pigment mixtures are not unusual, some are of interest: the green to yellow cangiante drapery of Saint Miniato is composed with a highlight of lead‐tin yellow ‘type II’ or giallorino, identified by X‐ray diffraction, while the basic green drapery colour was obtained through a mixture of azurite, lead‐tin yellow and lead white.29

Provenance

Presumably San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence (see pp. 1646); Cardinal Fesch Collection, 1839, cat. no. 15385, p. 93, no. 2283;30 sale catalogue, Galerie de Feu S.E. Le Cardinal Fesch (the sale was originally intended for 22–25 March 1844, but in fact took place in March–April 1845 in Rome), p. 242, lot 990–2283; bought by Satzbeuh (as Gaddo Gaddi in both catalogues; among the ‘Plusieurs Saints’ identified in the second catalogue are Saints Paul, John the Baptist and Stephen). Passed to William Coningham (1815–1884), who presented it together with NG 216 in 1848 (both as Taddeo Gaddi).31

[page 169]

© The National Gallery, London

[page 170]

NG 216 
Adoring Saints

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 197.2 x 101.5 cm

From left to right, front row:

  • 1. Saint John the Evangelist holding a quill pen, his book inscribed from his Gospel: IN PRINC/IPIO ER/AT VEB/UM. ET/VERB/UM E/RAT APUD/DEUM. ET DE/US ER/AT VER/BUM. HOC/ERAT (‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’, John 1:1).
  • 2. Saint Peter holding one(?) golden key, the key to Heaven.32
  • 3. Saint Romuald (d. 1027), founder of the Camaldolese Order, with a book and tau staff.33

Middle row:

  • 1. Saint Andrew holding a cross, symbol of his crucifixion.
  • 2. Saint Lawrence, deacon and early Christian martyr, holding the grill on which he was roasted.34
  • 3. An unidentified saint in red, holding a book.

Back row:

  • 1. Saint Gregory the Great (540–640), Benedictine pope, who wrote the earliest Life of Saint Benedict in the Dialogues (see pp. 1723), inspired by the Dove (Holy Spirit) whispering in his ear.
  • 2. Saint Dominic (d. 1221), founder of the Dominican Order, holding a lily, symbol of purity.35

Fragments of two angels are visible on the left.

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Maximum height, including the added strips top and bottom, 197.2 cm; width 101.5 cm; thickness of panel 3.8 cm.

Like NG 215, the panel is made up of three planks with a vertical grain. The black paint on the back is not original. As well as having been cut at the left, the panel has been trimmed at the outer right‐hand edge. Like NG 215, the bottom has a strip of modern painted wood extending the tiled floor by 15.6 cm. The arched top has been given a more pointed shape by the addition of a shaped piece of wood, maximum dimensions 3 x 26 cm. There are no signs of butterfly keys to connect NG 216 to the central panel (NG 1897), although by completing the angels’ haloes one may calculate that approximately 7 cm of the image is missing between the two panels.

Restoration

Cleaned and restored in 1940 and again in 1998.36

Condition and technique

The paint surface is considerably less damaged than that of NG 215; as in NG 215, the worst area is at the bottom of the panel. Particularly damaged are the tiled floor (which, as in NG 215 and NG 1897, seems at some stage to have been overpainted with red and the paint later removed, but with traces left in the cracks), Saint Romuald’s robe (which, like Saint Benedict’s robe in NG 215, was overpainted in dark grey)37 and the lower part of Saint John the Evangelist’s robe. There is a large diagonal damage across Saint Romuald’s head. All the flesh paint is well preserved, particularly compared with NG 215.

The condition of the water‐gilding is slightly worse than in NG 215, with many of the haloes, notably that of Saint Peter, considerably abraded. In general, the mordant gilding is better preserved than in NG 215.

The red lakes have faded and the presumed vermilion of the unidentified saint at the right has darkened considerably in the shadows.

Traces of underdrawing are visible in the yellow of Saint Peter’s robe and the pink of John the Evangelist’s robe. Kermes, a pigment widely used in manuscript illuminations, has been identified in the robe of Saint John the Evangelist.38

Provenance

Presumably San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence (see pp. 1646); taken from Florence to Rome on speculation; purchased there from J. Freeborn by William Coningham,39 by whom presented, together with NG 215, in 1848.

[page 171]

© The National Gallery, London

[page 172]

NG 2862 (© The National Gallery, London)

NG 4062 (© The National Gallery, London)

NG 2862 
Saint Benedict admitting Saints Maurus and Placidus into the Benedictine Order

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 30.5 x 40.5 cm

Maurus, a nobleman’s son, and Placidus were among Benedict’s youngest followers.

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Modern strips have been added all round; measurements (including added strips) 30.5 x 40.5 cm. The original panel varies in height from 28.5 cm at the left to 29 cm at the right; width 39 cm. Painted surface 28.8 x 38.8 cm. The panel has been planed down to a thickness of about 1.5 cm.

At the left‐hand side, the top and bottom corners were originally covered by a diagonal frame which, when removed, left unpainted triangles measuring 7 cm in height and width; these have since been infilled with modern paint. The adjoining scene (see fig. 8), now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome, was continuous with NG 2862 and its equivalent corners on the right‐hand side were similarly cut by the diagonal of the frame.

The main horizontals and verticals of the architecture in the scene have been incised.

Condition and technique

The surface is worn and the paint has become transparent with age. Some of the fine linear underdrawing, also visible in the infra‐red photograph, shows through the paint layers. The gilding is damaged and rubbed, and some red bole can be seen.

Subject

This is the only scene from Saint Benedict’s life in the predella that is not mentioned in the Golden Legend ; however, it is described in Saint Gregory’s Life of Saint Benedict in the Dialogues (Book II, chapter 3).40

This scene is not shown in the analogous Uffizi altarpiece (fig. 17), which opens with the Death of Saint Benedict.

Provenance

Presumably San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence (see pp. 1646); owned by 1854 by Captain James Stirling of Glentyan, Renfrewshire, who died in 1872 without issue;41 passed to his great‐nephew, Graham Charles Somervell; Christie’s, 23 April 1887 (lot 153, as by Masaccio); bought by Henry Wagner,42 by whom presented, 1912.

Exhibited

Edinburgh 1883, Old Masters and Scottish National Portraits Exhibition (509); London 1893–4, New Gallery (67); London 1911, Grafton Gallery (17).

NG 4062 
Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict:

Saint Maurus saves Saint Placidus from drowning, having been instructed to do so by Saint Benedict; Saint Benedict is detained overnight on a visit to Saint Scholastica by a rainstorm.

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 29.8 x 52.0 cm

On the left Saint Benedict blesses Saint Maurus and instructs him to go to the aid of Saint Placidus, who has gone, with a pitcher, to fetch water from the river and fallen in. His imminent death by drowning has been revealed in a vision to Saint Benedict while sitting in his cell.

In the centre Saint Maurus walks over the water, as if it were land, and seizes Saint Placidus by the hair.

On the right Saint Benedict visits his sister, Saint Scholastica. As they sit at table she asks him to stay overnight, but he refuses. He is subsequently detained by a rainstorm, which comes in answer to his sister’s prayers.

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Height 29.8 cm, width 51.9/52 cm. Along the top and bottom edges is a border of unpainted wood (0.4 cm), which suggests [page 173] that a moulding has been removed and that the height of the painted area remains unchanged. Painted surface 28.4 x 51.9/52 cm. The panel varies in thickness from 3.4 cm at the left to 3.5 cm at the right.

L2 (© The National Gallery, London)

On the back, original nails which once fixed a vertical strut into place are visible top and bottom. The X‐radiograph shows that the nails were hammered in from the front and covered in tin foil. Seen from the back the strut, measuring 3.5 cm in width, was placed 12 cm from the left edge and 36 cm from the right edge. The back appears to have been cleaned and the edges slightly planed. On the back is handwritten 469.

Condition and technique

The narrative scene was cut diagonally by the frame at the left‐hand corners (see also NG 2862 above), where the resulting unpainted triangles (measuring 7 cm in height and width) originally covered by the frame have since been infilled with modern paint.

Ragged pieces of a coarse open‐weave canvas applied to the panel before the gesso are visible in the X‐radiograph (see fig. 5). Most of the main architectural lines have been incised.

Saint Maurus’s halo was originally omitted; either the gilder failed to understand the complex pose of the figure, or it was simply forgotten. It was therefore added later, using the lead‐white oil mordant employed by Lorenzo Monaco elsewhere in the altarpiece.

The faces of the figures are worn and the paint has increased in transparency. Otherwise the picture is in good condition. There appears to be less underdrawing than in NG 2862, which seems to be by a different hand (see below).

Subject

Both of the episodes depicted are described in Saint Gregory’s Dialogues (Book II, chapters 7 and 33) and in the Golden Legend ,43 although they do not immediately follow one another, as is implied in the painting.

Provenance

Presumably San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence (see pp . 1646); purchased from Canon A.F. Sutton, Florence Fund, 1925.44

L2 
The Death of Saint Benedict

1407–9

Egg tempera on wood, 28.5 x 51.8 cm

Saint Benedict lies dying on a bier. On the right, an angel brings to a monk of his Order who is praying in his cell a vision of Saint Benedict’s soul being lifted to Heaven on a pall lit by torches.

Technical Notes
Panel construction

Height 28.5 cm, width 51.8 cm; the painted area measures roughly the same. The edges have all been planed. The panel varies in thickness from 3.5 cm at the left to 3.6 cm at the right.

There are no traces of nails or struts on the back. The number 468 written on the back is in the same hand as the 469 on NG 4062.

Condition and technique

The overall condition is good, but the flesh of the figures is worn. The triangles (measuring 7 cm in height and width) at the right‐hand corners which were originally cut off by the diagonal of the frame have been infilled with modern paint. The landscape is continuous with NG 4062 and the two scenes together, painted on the same plank, once formed an elongated octagon.

Subject

In the Golden Legend the vision of Saint Benedict’s death was granted to two monks, one of whom was in a monastic cell. They saw a shining road formed of palls (‘strata palleis’) and lit by countless lamps, rising towards the east from Benedict’s cell to Heaven. See also Saint Gregory’s Dialogues (Book II, chapter 37).45

Provenance

Presumably San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence (see pp. 1646); placed on indefinite loan to the National Gallery by Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, 2nd Bart, 1912.46

[page 174]
Figs 5 and 6

Reconstruction of the predella of Lorenzo Monaco’s San Benedetto altarpiece with X‐radiographs (above), but not taking account of missing part of central panel or intervening frame mouldings (© Muzeum Nardowe w Poznaniu/National Museum Poznan Photo: Jerzy Nowakowski)

© The National Gallery, London

Reconstruction of the Altarpiece

Reconstruction of the altarpiece has been deduced with reference to the Coronation of the Virgin (now in the Uffizi, Florence; fig. 17) signed by Lorenzo Monaco and dated February 1413 (modern style 1414), which he painted for the high altar of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the main church of the Camaldolese Order in Florence.47

The six surviving constituent panels of the altarpiece in the National Gallery (NG 215, NG 216, NG 1897, NG 2862, NG 4062 and L2) each have a different provenance, and they entered the Collection at different times. The present frame incorporating the centre and two side panels of the main tier is modern. It is not known when the altarpiece was dismembered. If the main tier did indeed suffer from flood damage in 1557 – as seems likely from the nature of the damage in the lower areas, which is not evident in the predella panels48 – this suggests that the dismemberment took place before the flood, probably at the time of its removal from its original location (San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti), which may have been in 1529 (see below).

The main tier

The altarpiece, of which the main tier is in the National Gallery, was initially reconstructed by Georg Pudelko.49 His identification of the Adoring Saints (NG 215 and NG 216) and the Coronation of the Virgin (NG 1897) as the complete main tier was confirmed by Martin Davies,50 after the cleaning of NG 215 and NG 216 in 1940, and of NG 1897 in 1948–9, revealed the painted floor that had been painted out in the side scenes (which was identical to that in the central panel) and also the wings, draperies and faces of four angels on either side of the throne that had been painted out in the side and centre panels (see figs 3 and 4). Each of these three main tier compartments is composed almost identically of three vertical planks (see diagram, fig. 1): two wide planks varying from 45 to 58 cm in width, and a narrow strip at the right‐hand side (as seen from the back). The planks are butt‐joined and glued. All the nail‐holes of the original battens are aligned across all three panels, confirming the association of all three. Furthermore, strips of canvas running across all three panels (visible in the X‐radiographs) confirm that they originally comprised a continuous unified surface. On the back of NG 1897 are the marks and remains of butterfly keys at the edge, with corresponding marks on NG 215. Approximately 7cm is missing between NG 215 and NG 1897, and between NG 216 and NG 1897.51

The unified picture surface of the main tier was disrupted by the losses incurred on separation of the panels.52 After the panels had been reunited, the areas of loss between the side and central panels of the main tier were filled with a neutral colour during the cleaning of 1948–9. During the cleaning of 1998 it was decided to restore the missing parts fictively in order to make clear the unified pictorial surface, but to leave a discernible gap that would show what is original paint and what restoration (see p. 163).53

Predella

By analogy with the Santa Maria degli Angeli altarpiece, the predella probably showed scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict, the titular of the church.

There is no doubt that Saint Benedict admitting Saints Maurus and Placidus into the Benedictine Order (NG 2862), together with a panel in Rome (Pinacoteca Vaticana, inv. no. 193[68]) showing A Young Monk tempted from Prayer and Saint Benedict raises a Young Monk (fig. 8),54 and also the Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict (NG 4062) and the Death of Saint Benedict (L2), are all fragments from the same predella. Originally, NG 2862 directly abutted the Vatican panel, with no intervening frame [page 175] [page 176] moulding. The Vatican panel (29.7 x 65 cm) has been cut at the left edge and has identical diagonal corners at the right (now overpainted): not only is the landscape continuous from NG 2862 to the Vatican panel, but X‐radiographs (see figs 5 and 6) further show that the pattern of wood grain is continuous from one fragment to the other, confirming that they were both painted on the same plank of wood. The same is true of NG 4062 and L2, which were painted on a single plank of wood that was subsequently sawn in two (probably at the same time as NG 2862 and the Vatican panel). The dense grain pattern running in a line some 5–6 cm from the top edge also continues through the two pairs, suggesting that the entire predella was originally painted on a single horizontal plank.

Fig. 7

Lorenzo Monaco, The Adoration of the Magi. Tempera on wood, 29 x 85 cm. Poznan, National Museum, inv. no. Mo 21. © Muzeum Nardowe w Poznaniu/National Museum Poznan Photo: Jerzy Nowakowski

Fig. 8

Lorenzo Monaco, A Young Monk tempted from Prayer and Saint Benedict raises a Young Monk. Tempera on panel, 29.7 x 65 cm. Rome, Pinacoteca Vaticana, inv. no. 40193. © Musei Vaticani, Archivio Fotografico, Vatican City, Photo: M. Sari Photo: © Scala, Florence

Fig. 9

Lorenzo Monaco, The Blessing Redeemer. Tempera on wood, 80 × 38 cm. London, reproduced courtesy of the Matthiesen Gallery. © The Norton Simon Foundation. Pasadena formerly with The Matthiesen Gallery. Photo: courtesy of The Matthiesen Gallery

Fig. 10

Lorenzo Monaco, The Virgin Annunciate. Tempera on wood, 80 × 45 cm. Pasadena, The Norton Simon Foundation, inv. no. M.1973.5.P. © Reproduced by Courtesy of Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd, 1995. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited Photo: Norton Simon Art Foundation, Gift of Mr. Norton Simon

Pudelko was the first to associate the four scenes from the Life of Saint Benedict with the Coronation of the Virgin and the Adoring Saints, and this has been accepted by all subsequent writers.55 The scenes were suitable in subject matter, given the dedication of the likely church of origin – San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti – to Saint Benedict; furthermore, the subject of Saint Benedict enthroned may have been the original intention for the central panel (see below). The scenes are also very similar to those from the Life of Saint Benedict in the predella of the Santa Maria degli Angeli altarpiece, and in view of the close relationship between the main tiers of the two altarpieces it seems likely, by analogy, that the London Coronation also had scenes from the life of Saint Benedict in its predella. Moreover, the widths of the two pairs of predella scenes (104 and 103.8 cm respectively) correspond closely to the widths of NG 215 and NG 216 (104.8 cm and 101.5 cm respectively).56

The London and Vatican fragments make up the parts of the predella that would have corresponded with the side panels. Pudelko57 suggested that the missing scene below the central main tier panel could have been Saint Benedict staying Three Years in the Desert. However, Martin Davies58 pointed [page 177] out that by analogy with the Uffizi altarpiece the missing central predella scene was likely to have been a Nativity and Adoration of the Magi. Marvin Eisenberg identified the central scene as the Adoration of the Magi in the National Museum, Poznań (fig. 7);59 this originally had similar diagonal corners at the left, which have been infilled with modern paint. Eisenberg records that the painting has been cut on both sides. The right side of the panel has been cut more drastically, and by taking the central pilaster of the arcaded wall in the background as the centre of the panel, Maria Skubiszewska has estimated the loss at the right to be approximately 20 cm, which would mean that the original width was about 115 cm – precisely matching the present width of the Coronation of the Virgin panel.60 The height of the Poznań Adoration panel is similar to that of the other predella panels. The association of this panel with the altarpiece and with the surviving fragments of its predella is therefore extremely likely.

Fig. 11

Lorenzo Monaco, Abraham. Tempera on wood, c. 66 x 43.1 cm. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gwynne Andrews Fund and Gift of G. Louise Robinson, by exchange, 1965 (65.14.1). © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Fig. 12

Lorenzo Monaco, Noah. Tempera on wood, c. 66 x 43.1 cm. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gwynne Andrews Fund and Gift of Paul Peralta Ramos, by exchange, 1965 (65.14.12). © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Fig. 13

Lorenzo Monaco, Moses. Tempera on wood, c. 66 x 43.1 cm. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gwynne Andrews Fund and Bequest of Mabel Choate, in memory of her father, Joseph Hodges Choate, by exchange, 1965 (65.14.13). © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Fig. 14

Lorenzo Monaco, David. Tempera on wood, c. 66 x 43.1 cm. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gwynne Andrews and Marquand Funds, and Gift of Mrs Ralph J. Hines, by exchange, 1965 (65.14.4). © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Pinnacles

Pudelko suggested that the Annunciate Virgin formerly in Vienna, Liechtenstein Collection, now Pasadena, Norton Simon Museum (fig.10), had originally been the right‐hand pinnacle.61 Davies felt that there was no evidence for this, nor indeed for any of the pinnacles or pilasters.62 However, the Annunciate Virgin has been accepted by Eisenberg on grounds of scale, style, an identical halo pattern to that of the adoring angels, decorative detail, the architectural spaces and the anatomy of the figures, and he suggests that, by analogy with the Uffizi altarpiece, the corresponding pinnacle on the left‐hand side was Gabriel and that in the centre the Blessing Redeemer. This panel has been identified as the Blessing Redeemer formerly in the collection of Charles Loeser, then of Carlo de Carlo, now in a private collection (fig. 9).63 Davies, Eisenberg and Laurence Kanter have all rejected Pudelko’s suggestion of a tondo of a saint – identified by him as Saint Cyprianus, but in fact representing Isaiah (formerly the Artaud de Montor Collection, now New York, Richard L. Feigen Collection; diameter 19.5 cm; fig. 20) – having gone below the Annunciate Virgin.64

Kanter has suggested an intermediary tier consisting of the panels of the Four Patriarchs: Abraham, Noah, Moses and David in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (figs 1114).65 In favour of his argument is the fact that the four paintings are undoubtedly contemporary with the San Benedetto altarpiece, and share the same halo patterns.

Pilasters

It has recently been suggested by Miklós Boskovits that a Jeremiah (New York, Richard L. Feigen Collection; fig. 21) came from one of the pilasters of the San Benedetto altarpiece.66

Attribution

Since the cleaning of the altarpiece, attribution has generally been given to Lorenzo Monaco, with workshop assistance. Davies saw the quality of the side panels with Adoring Saints as ‘less fine’ than the central panel with the Coronation of the Virgin.67 Eisenberg suggested other works that could have been painted by the assistant responsible for the Adoring Saints.68 Paul Ackroyd has observed that the pattern in the floor tiles differs slightly in the two side panels (figs 15 and 16), implying that two different hands were involved in their design.69 In the view of the present writer, the central panel is comparable in style to Lorenzo’s Monte Oliveto altarpiece of Saints Bartholomew, John the Baptist, Thaddeus and Benedict (Florence, Accademia, no. 468), which was begun in 1407 and completed in 1410.70 Not only is the style the same, but also, as Anabel Thomas has observed, iconographic elements are repeated – for example, [page 178] Mary’s gesture in NG 1897 is the same as Gabriel’s in the pinnacle in the Monte Oliveto altarpiece.71

Figs 15 and 16

Details of tiled floor in NG 215 (left) and NG 216 (right) (© The National Gallery, London)

© The National Gallery, London

Fig. 17

Lorenzo Monaco, The Coronation of the Virgin, signed and dated 1413. Tempera on wood, 447.5 x 506 cm. Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, formerly Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence. © Gabinetto Fotografico Soprintendenza per i beni artistici e storici per le provincie di Firenze, Prato e Pistoia Photo: © Scala, Florence

The central panel of the London altarpiece is mainly attributable to Lorenzo himself, while the side panels seem to have been executed by his workshop with intervention by Lorenzo himself. The quality of the predella panels is uneven, and there is a sharp difference between the scenes on the left (NG 2862 and the Vatican panel), which have a pinkish golden palette, and those on the right (NG 4062 and L2), which are greyer and more sombre, this being particularly evident in the different pigment mixtures used for the white habits. Two separate painters seem to have been responsible and there is almost certainly extensive workshop intervention, as in the main tier.72 Consistent with the division of hands in the main tier, and with the central part of the altarpiece being by Lorenzo himself, is the fact that the Poznań Adoration of the Magi seems also to be by him and echoes the brilliant palette of the robes of the figures in the main tier above.

Iconography

The National Gallery painting almost certainly established the model for the Uffizi altarpiece. The Coronation of the Virgin was already a widespread and popular image in Florence. The iconography of the Benedictine scenes seems to have been taken from a variety of sources. Martin Davies suggested that it may have been influenced by the series of frescoes by Spinello [page 179] Aretino in the sacristy of San Miniato al Monte that are datable to soon after 1387.73 However, the derivation is a loose one, although Lorenzo certainly seems to have looked at this series as the most extensive cycle of Benedictine scenes.74 While some scenes, such as the Young Monk tempted from Prayer and Saint Benedict raises a Young Monk, and the Death of Saint Benedict, bear a superficial resemblance to the equivalent frescoes by Spinello, the scene with Saint Placidus saved from drowning is totally different.75 Particularly skilful in the San Benedetto altarpiece is the interweaving of the indoor and outdoor settings. Although Eisenberg76 says that the scenes are in chronological order, this is not quite accurate, since the scenes of the rescue of Saint Placidus and of Saint Benedict with Saint Scholastica have been displaced and the sequence of the whole predella corresponds to the Dialogues, Book II, chapters 3, 4, 11, 7, 33 and 37. (The sequence of these narratives in the Golden Legend follows that in the Dialogues.) The predella of the San Benedetto altarpiece seems to emphasise Saint Benedict’s followers and the subsidiary members of the Order, focusing on Saints Maurus and Placidus and on the role of youthful monks. The scenes buttressed by Saint Benedict admitting Saints Maurus and Placidus into the Benedictine Order and the Death of Saint Benedict further appear to stress the powers of prayer and obedience. These subjects [page 180]would have been eminently suitable for San Benedetto as a recently founded dependence of the mother house of Santa Maria degli Angeli.

Fig. 18

Detail of the head of the Virgin from NG 1897 (© The National Gallery, London)

Fig. 19

Detail of the head of Saint Lawrence from NG 216 (© The National Gallery, London)

Fig. 20

Lorenzo Monaco, The Prophet Isaiah. Tempera on wood, diameter 19.5 cm. New York, Richard L. Feigen. © Courtesy of Richard L. Feigen, New York Photo: Heritage Images / Fine Art Images / akg-images

Fig. 21

Lorenzo Monaco, The Prophet Jeremiah. Tempera on wood, 22.5 x 12 cm. New York, Richard L. Feigen. © Courtesy of Richard L. Feigen, New York

Original Location, Patron and Date

It seems likely that the altarpiece described above is indeed the altarpiece of which possibly only the central panel was seen in the Alberti Chapel in Santa Maria degli Angeli by Vasari and described there until 1792 (see Provenance under NG 1897). In both Vasari and Bocchi‐Cinelli the altarpiece in the Alberti Chapel is said to be simile to the high altarpiece – that is, a Coronation of the Virgin.

It further seems likely that the altarpiece came originally from the Camaldolese church of San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, as stated by Vasari in 1568, Rosselli in 1657 and Del Migliore in 1684.77 Vasari implies that the removal of the painting from San Benedetto was occasioned by the siege of 1529, a then recent event about which his information is likely to be accurate. On 23 December 1442 a Bull of Eugenius IV had unified San Benedetto and Santa Maria degli Angeli so that the monks could move from one monastery to the other, and in 1530, after San Benedetto was destroyed in order to build fortifications during the siege, the monks moved to Santa Maria degli Angeli with their possessions, including church furnishings and relics: ‘I suoi beni uniti al Monastero degli Angeli ove si ritirarano tutti Monaci di S.Benedetto con i loro mobili, sacri arredi e reliquie.’78 This is the likely time of the transferral of the altarpiece to Santa Maria degli Angeli. Although the terms he uses suggest that he is basing himself on Vasari, Del Migliore inserts the additional information that another painting by Lorenzo Monaco in Santa Maria degli Angeli also came from San Benedetto: he was therefore probably also using an independent source,79 and Martin Davies wrote that it was ‘difficult to doubt’ that the altarpiece came from San Benedetto.80

The main reasons to support Vasari’s statement that the altarpiece came from San Benedetto are as follows: the presence of the titular Saint Benedict and of Saint Romuald, founder of the Camaldolese Order, both of whom are in the white habit worn by this reformed Benedictine Order, indicating a Camaldolese foundation; the fragmentary inscription recording that the donor was a Florentine (see below); the close relationship with Santa Maria degli Angeli reflected in the designs of the two altarpieces; the position of honour accorded to Saint Matthew, to whom the site on which the monastery was founded had been briefly dedicated; and the relationship of the drawing to NG 215, discussed below, which suggests that the initial idea for the main tier was to show Saint Benedict enthroned.

San Benedetto was founded on 24 January 1400 in imitation of Santa Maria degli Angeli: in 1400 Francesco di Iacopo de Ricci, whose brother Alessandro was a monk at the Angeli, left money for a monastery to be founded in the city of Florence or outside the city walls. The monastery was founded with seven monks and four lay brothers; on 18 June 1401 it was incorporated into the Order by the General of the Camaldolites, Don Andrea da Faenza,81 and its first prior, Romualdo di Vanni, was elected.82 The church built between 1401 and 1407 was 28 braccia (16.3 m) wide, 42 braccia (24.5 m) long and 30 braccia (17.5 m) high, with a polygonal apse.83 In 1404 one of its founding monks, Bernardo di Gucciocio Ricci, gave the monastery of San Benedetto a tabernacle for the host, which was gilded with pure gold on the inside and painted with figures of saints on the outside.84

Recent archival research has established that the high altarpiece for San Benedetto was commissioned in 1407. No painter is mentioned in the document and the crucial question is whether or not this document relates to the London version of the Coronation of the Virgin. In 1975 M.‐L. Frawley found a collection of notes made in the eighteenth century by the antiquarian Giovanni Battista Dei in which he states: ‘La Tavola dell’Altare maggiore fu fatta l’anno 1407 da Luca di Piero di Rinieri dei Beni [sic] Cittadino Fiorentino.’85 Dei said that his notes were taken from the Registro of the monastery. This Registro86 still exists in the Archivio di Stato in Florence. Divided into several sections, it describes the origins of the foundation, the building of the monastery and chapels, and everything relevant to the divine cult, as well as listing priors (with dates of their election) and monks of the monastery, together with details of purchases and donations, privileges and testaments; it contains extracts from documents dating from 1401 to 1509. A number of different hands contributed over the years, interpolating information in various sections.

The Register contains a scripta (private record of a transaction) describing how in 1407 ‘Luca Pieri Rainerii [i.e. Rinieri] de Berris civis florentinus’ decided to commission an altarpiece depicting saints for the high altar: ‘deliberavit tabulam maioris altaris cum sanctorum picturis facere.’87 Luca was to pay for the entire altarpiece, with the exception of 50 gold florins left to the monastery by the notary Christophoro de Barbarino, to be used towards the ornamentation of the main altar in accordance with the wishes of Luca, who had allocated this sum to the altarpiece. In order to perpetuate the memory of Luca and his heirs, the altarpiece was to bear an inscription in gold letters: ‘voluit scribi in ipsa tabula licteris aureis. Hoc opus fecit fieri lucas pieri rainerii de berris civis florentinus etc.’ This corresponds to the fragments of inscription (few though they are) remaining on the altarpiece: …(CIVI)S FLO(RENTINUS)…(P)R(O) (MEMORIA) (ANI)ME SUE ET SU(ORUM HEREDUM), the final words fulfilling the agreement that the altarpiece was to commemorate not only Luca but also his heirs: ‘Et quod dicta tabula semper dicatur et sit ipsi luce et suorum descendentium.’ There were to be no personal arms on the altarpiece. It was never to be moved from the high altar and no one else would ever be permitted to have one made for the high altar. There is a change of tense within the summary, indicating that the altarpiece was completed and handed over: for the initial undertaking of the patron to provide an altarpiece and the reciprocal promises made by the monks, the past tense is used (‘deliberavit’, ‘promiserunt’), and likewise for the delivery of the altarpiece (‘ipsam tabulam contulit huic monasterio. Et fratres ex altera parte ipsam receperunt’), but the present tense is used to record the continuing obligations of the monks concerning the future of the altarpiece (‘obligamus nos’).

[page 181]

The altarpiece was probably completed by 1409. The Registro states that after the death of an earlier benefactor, Luca Gerii Gerii, the monks moved the choir (stalls) from the chapel built by him into the main church: ‘Post mortem vero dicti luce cum tabula maioris altaris completa esset simulque altare ibi esset positum, volentes fratres in maiori ecclesia die noctuque officium celebrare disposuerunt dictum corum de capella sancti luce in ecclesiam transferire ut id comodius agere possent.’88 Luca Gerii Gerii, who died on 28 April 1409,89 had provided all the necessary furnishings for his chapel (dedicated to Saint Luke), with the exception of the chalice, and the choir stalls had been among the last items to be supplied (‘Ultimo fecit chorum in dicta cappella’).

A new prior of San Benedetto, Raffaele di Guido of Florence, was elected on 24 July 1407; he remained prior until July 1412.90 It is presumably no coincidence that the agreement with Luca di Piero dates from the year Raffaele became prior and was drawn up by him; he may well have been the stimulus behind the commission, feeling that the main church needed a high altarpiece, all the more so because the chapels dedicated to Saint Luke and Saint Anthony both already had altarpieces.91 Furthermore, Luca di Piero’s father had probably only recently died: two documents concerning Luca’s brother Philip (who is also named in the scripta of 1407), dated 1407 and 1408 respectively, call him ‘Filippus olim Pietri Ranierii campsor’.92 (For Philip, see also p. 373.) It may be that the death of his father left Luca with the funds to pay for the altarpiece.93 Luca was, like his brother, a member of the bankers’ guild, the Arte del Cambio, so placing Saint Matthew, patron saint of the Arte del Cambio, in a position of honour might particularly have appealed to him, although the primary reason stemmed from the dedication of the monastery (see above).94

It seems reasonable to accept that the London altarpiece is the one referred to in the document of 1407: if it did indeed come from San Benedetto, then it was probably from the high altar – it is a fairly large work and the monastery, being relatively small, would probably not have had two such altarpieces; furthermore, the few fragments of the inscription correspond to that required in the document. A patron’s name saint did not necessarily figure in the altarpiece, as is shown by the example of the altarpiece commissioned by Domenico Francesco Corsi for the chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony in San Benedetto (now in the Accademia in Florence), which shows the Virgin and Child with Saints Anthony, John the Baptist, Lawrence and Julian.95 The Evangelist beside the Virgin in the National Gallery Coronation is Saint Matthew, to whom the monastery was briefly dedicated until it officially became part of the Camaldolese Order in 1401 (see above).96 Christa Gardner von Teuffel has suggested to me that the phrase ‘tabulam…cum sanctorum picturis’ could refer to the first concept of the altarpiece being for Saint Benedict enthroned with Adoring Saints (see below for the possibly connected drawings), since it seems unlikely that a description of the Coronation would have been omitted, had this been planned from the outset.

Before Frawley’s discovery of the documentation, discussion of the chronological relationship between the two altarpieces had focused on stylistic comparisons. Whether one accepts the 1407 documentation as relating to the National Gallery altarpiece depends partly on how one assesses the extent of workshop intervention, and partly on whether one sees it as a stage in the progression towards the Santa Maria degli Angeli altarpiece or as the degenerative form of a design executed as a replica ‘in modo et forma’ of the Santa Maria degli Angeli work.97

Some writers have dated the London panels earlier. Osvald Sirén98 dated the Adoring Saints to before 1408, but he was judging them before cleaning. Most writers have in the past taken the date of the Uffizi altarpiece as a terminus post quem for the San Benedetto altarpiece, as is implicit in Vasari’s wording.99 In his monograph on Lorenzo Monaco, Eisenberg dated the altarpiece c. 1415–20.100

After Frawley’s discovery of documentation for the date of 1407, Kanter – both in his review of Eisenberg’s monograph and in a catalogue entry for the Four Patriarchs – confirmed that in his view the altarpiece was datable to c. 1407 on stylistic grounds as well.101 Most recently, Boskovits has taken the view that the altarpiece was painted shortly before 1407.102

Relationship with the Uffizi Version

It seems probable that the National Gallery altarpiece predates the Uffizi version and is the altarpiece commissioned in 1407. Wherever direct comparisons are possible, the Uffizi version is more confident and more competent: its main tier figures are more elegant and willowy and are situated in a more convincing three‐dimensional space, and its decorative elements are superior in every respect. The Uffizi version is more sophisticated and elaborate not only because the mother house that commissioned it was richer and more demanding, but also because of the experience Lorenzo Monaco had gained by the execution of the earlier version and from having completed the Monte Oliveto altarpiece during the same years, 1407–10.

In the predella, changes in the spatial orientation – from the oblique buildings of the London compositions to more straightforward ‘face‐on’ spatial organisation in the Uffizi [page 182] panels – seem to suggest that the scenes have been adapted to fit the more refined shape of the barbed quatrefoils of the Uffizi predella, whose oblique angles would not comfortably accommodate oblique architecture or oblique disposition of the figures.

Fig. 22

Lorenzo Monaco, Scene from the Life of Saint Benedict from the predella of the Coronation of the Virgin (fig. 17). © photo: SCALA, Florence

Fig. 23

Lorenzo Monaco, Saint Maurus rescuing Saint Placidus. Detail from fig. 22. © photo: SCALA, Florence

Fig. 24

Lorenzo Monaco, Saint Maurus rescuing Saint Placidus. Detail from NG 4062. © The National Gallery, London

It has already been noted that the halo of Saint Maurus bending to rescue the drowning Saint Placidus in NG 2862 was originally omitted (fig. 24). This awkward and unsuccessful pose differs from that in the Uffizi version (figs 22 and 23) of the same scene and suggests that the London version was rejected in favour of a simpler and more elegant solution. The sequence of scenes also suggests that the Uffizi version is later. In the London version the scenes are, with one exception (see above), in chronological order, beginning with the acceptance into the Order of Saints Placidus and Maurus and ending with the death of Saint Benedict: the Uffizi version begins with the death of Saint Benedict and ends with the resuscitation of the monk killed by falling masonry. The natural order would be the correct chronological one and any change would suggest subsequent selection for a different purpose.

If the Coronation of the Virgin now in the National Gallery is indeed the altarpiece commissioned in 1407 and completed by 1409, then it was finished approximately five years before completion of the Uffizi altarpiece in 1414 (old style 1413) and the period between the completion of the London version and the commencement of the Uffizi one could have been no more than two or three years.103

Although many of the heads in the National Gallery and Uffizi versions are ostensibly similar, both within and between the two altarpieces, there is no evidence of the use of cartoons. Infra‐red examination of the London altarpiece shows no traces of the pouncing or schematic tracing of underdrawn elements that would be the most likely result of cartoon transfer, and the fluid brushed‐in underdrawing is most consistent with a freely drawn composition. The National Gallery’s MARC imaging technology, whereby compositional elements can be overlaid or inverted in a precisely scaled comparison, was used to look for evidence of the use of cartoons. In almost all the examples studied there was no proof of the use of large‐scale drawings. For example, the heads of the National Gallery Saint Stephen and Saint Lawrence are seemingly analogous to their Uffizi counterparts, yet when overlaid to scale they showed significant variation from one another in scale, detail and outline. The same negative result was obtained when comparisons were made of several other figures. In only one instance was a more or less exact coincidence of outline found: namely, in the head of the angel at the top right of the National Gallery central panel and that of the angel on the far left uppermost tier of the Uffizi central section. But even in this case, although the inverted outline is very similar, the actual placement of the eyes is not precisely aligned. The apparent similarity of numerous head types, despite their actual considerable variation from one another, strongly suggests the use of common source drawings on a smaller scale. The use of a collection of patterns of some sort, showing basic physiognomic and drapery types, would seem most in keeping with the available technical evidence.104

[page 183]
Drawings

Two small‐scale drawings (figs 25 and 26) are related to the San Benedetto and Santa Maria degli Angeli altarpieces: a Study of Six Kneeling Saints (including Saint Benedict) and a Study of Saint Benedict enthroned (Florence, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe, 11E recto and 11E verso respectively). These studies have been used in the argument regarding the relative chronology of the two altarpieces.105 The fact that they are on the recto and verso of the same sheet and are technically similar suggests that they are closely related in both time and concept. The pen‐and‐ink study of Saint Benedict almost certainly preceded the Six Kneeling Saints, as it is highly unlikely that Saint Benedict would have been represented so prominently twice in the same altarpiece.

The relationship of the drawing of Six Kneeling Saints to the National Gallery left‐hand panel showing Adoring Saints (NG 215) is extremely complex. Degenhart and Schmitt, followed by Eisenberg,106 argued that it was a preparatory study for the finished painting. However, the function of the drawing, which evolved in several different stages and with the contribution of several hands, is by no means straightforward.107 The Six Kneeling Saints gives the impression of having been drawn by one or more pupils, perhaps copying piecemeal from Lorenzo Monaco’s initial ideas for the grouping of the saints in the San Benedetto altarpiece, with the master himself adding corrective lines in ink. It would therefore be unwise to use it in any discussion of the chronology of the two altarpieces, and Bellosi and Bellini’s argument to the effect that the inclusion in the drawing of a reference to the rainbow in the Uffizi altarpiece ‘proves’ that this altarpiece came first108 does not seem valid. The arc of the floor was rejected for this commission, but used for the arched rainbow in the Santa Maria degli Angeli altarpiece; instead, the scene takes place on a tiled floor, hinted at by a horizontal line in the preliminary sketch.

The strong and confident study of Saint Benedict on the other side of the sheet may be connected with the same commission, particularly as it is executed with a quill pen.109 Degenhart and Schmitt, followed by Eisenberg, plausibly suggested that it is attributable to Lorenzo Monaco himself, that it represents the first idea for the central panel of the London altarpiece (namely, Saint Benedict Enthroned), and that when the subject was changed to the Coronation of the Virgin, only the design of the throne was retained. Even here the design was not adopted in toto but in a rather general way, and selected elements, such as the cusped arch and pyramidal tops to the sides, were used for the Santa Maria degli Angeli altarpiece.

Fig. 25

Lorenzo Monaco, Six Kneeling Saints. Metal point, pen and ink on paper, 24.5 x 17.5 cm. Florence, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv. no. 11E (recto). © Gabinetto Fotografico Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino , permission courtesy of Ministero della Cultura, all rights reserved

Fig. 26

Lorenzo Monaco, Saint Benedict enthroned. Metal point, pen and ink on paper, 24.5 x 17.5 cm. Florence, Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe, Galleria degli Uffizi, inv. no. 11E (verso). © Gabinetto Fotografico Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino , permission courtesy of Ministero della Cultura, all rights reserved

[page 184]

Select Bibliography

Notes

1. I am grateful to Larry Keith and Paul Ackroyd, who cleaned and restored the main tier of the National Gallery altarpiece and on whose research, together with that of Ashok Roy and David Saunders of the National Gallery Scientific Department, the technical information is based. See Ackroyd and Keith in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, pp. 151–6. (Back to text.)

2. Note missing in original. (Back to text.)

2. As read by Davies 1961 , p. 306, but now very difficult to decipher. (Back to text.)

3. See Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 19, n. 18, and p. 21. I am extremely grateful to Cecilia Frosinini and her colleagues at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e di Restauro, Florence, for allowing me to see this altarpiece during cleaning and restoration and for all their help given in discussions of the relationship between the two altarpieces. (Back to text.)

5. See notes 1 and 27. (Back to text.)

7. Davies 1961 , p. 309, n. 10. He did not consider that the altarpiece had necessarily been broken up at an early stage. (Back to text.)

8. As noted under NG 215 (Condition and Technique), in all three main tier panels the floor was at some stage overpainted with red, presumably after the altarpiece had been removed from its original site, and possibly to repair damage caused by flooding (see also note 48). (Back to text.)

9. The painting over of the fragments of the angels in NG 215 and 216, and possibly also the painting over with red of the tiled floor, was presumably done at the same time. (Back to text.)

10. Not in 1550 edition, only in 1568 edition – see Vasari, Vite, 1568, ed. Milanesi , II, 1878, p. 19; Vasari, Vite, eds Bettarini and Barocchi , II, 1967, p. 304. (Back to text.)

11. Stefano Rosselli, Sepoltuario Fiorentino, 1657 ( ASF , Manoscritti 625, p. 1326: ‘Nella cappella delli Alberti…a man dritta entrando è una Tavola della Coronazione di Nostra Donna di mano di D. Lorenzo Monaco, la quale era anticamente nel monastero di S. Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, che fu rovinato per l’Assedio l’anno 1530’; and he cites Vasari, whom he is quoting here. (Back to text.)

12. F. Bocchi (ed. G. Cinelli), Le Bellezze della Città di Firenze, 1677, p. 492, where it is said to be simile to the high altarpiece; it is not mentioned in the 1591 edition by Bocchi alone. (Back to text.)

13. F.L. del Migliore, Firenze, Città Nobilissima, Florence 1684, p. 332: ‘Vi è una Tavola dipinta in sull’asse di quelle che stavan già fuor di Porta della Chiesa di S. Benedetto rovinata per l’Assedio, fattura del precitato Lorenzo Monaco, del quale è ancora quella che si vede nella stanza del Camarlingho, che fu estratta dalla medesima Chiesa statavi collocata fin dell’Anno 1456 ad una Cappella de Villani detti di Leo a differenza de’ Villani degli Storiografi, che si chiamarono Stoldi per aggiunta al Casato.’ If this was in fact dated 1456, as described in the Sepoltuario, it could not have been by Lorenzo Monaco (see also note 79). (Back to text.)

15. Richa, Chiese Fiorentine , VIII, 1759, p. 163: ‘avvi una tavola della Incoronazione di Maria dipinta sull’asse, di quelle, che stavano nel Monastero di S. Benedetto rovinto per l’assedio, ella è di mano del Monaco Don Lorenzo.’ (Back to text.)

16. Follini‐Rastrelli, Firenze Antica e Moderna Illustrata, IV, 1792, pp. 83–4: ‘vi è in essa cappella una Tavola dipinta sull’asse, fattura di D. Lorenzo Monaco, che vi espresse l’Incoronazione di Maria, ed è una di quelle Tavole che erano nel monastero di S. Benedetto posto fuori di Porta a Pinti.’ (Back to text.)

17. Vasari, Vite, 1568, ed. Milanesi , II, 1878, pp. 19–20, n. 1, as 1830 (date given on p. 18. n. 4): ‘in una cappella della già Badia Adelmi, poco distante dall’altra di Cerreto ed una volta appartenuta anch’essa ai monaci camaldolensi di Firenze… questa tavola è stata adatta ad un moderno ornamento; ed ora non resta se non la parte di mezzo colla Incoronazione della Vergine, accompagnata da soli tre angeli inginocchiati dinanzi a lei’; in Vasari, Vite, ed. Le Monnier , II, 1846, p. 211, n. 1, in the 1840s (the date given on p. 210, n. 1). Information that Elmo was a house for Camaldolese novices is in a letter from C.A. de Cosson, 26 November 1901, in the NG archive. See also L. Pecori, Storia della Terra di San Gimignano, 1853, p. 408, for the ‘badia d’Elmi’ under Santa Maria degli Angeli by 1595. (Back to text.)

18. The Santa Maria degli Angeli painting is thought to have been moved to San Pietro in the sixteenth century and came into the Uffizi in 1864; see Cecchi in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, pp. 31–3. San Pietro was attached to the Angeli by a Papal Bull of 1414; see also J.B. Mittarelli and A. Costadoni, Annales Camaldulenses Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, VI, 1761, p. 284. San Pietro, Cerreto, was suppressed by Innocent X in 1652 (Annales Camaldulenses, VIII, 1764, p. 355). (Back to text.)

[page 185]

19. See the letter from C.A. de Cosson 1901, cited in note 17. (Back to text.)

20. The inscription was kindly confirmed on my behalf by Mr Michael Kollod at the Graphische Sammlung, Frankfurt, who also provided the information that the volumes of drawings are inscribed by Ramboux as having been produced during two trips to Italy between 1818 and 1822, and between 1830 and 1843. Ramboux also drew the Uffizi Coronation when it was in San Pietro, Cerreto; Cecchi in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 31 and fig. 2. For Ramboux in Italy, see P.O. Rave, ‘Ramboux und die Wiederentdeckung altitalienischer Malerei in der Zeit der Romantik’, in Wallraf‐Richartz Jahrbuch, XII–XIII, 1943, pp. 231–58. (Back to text.)

22. For Saint Benedict, see the exhibition catalogue Iconografia di San Benedetto nella Pittura della Toscana. Immagini e aspetti culturali fino al XVI secolo, Centro d’Incontro della Certosa, Florence 1982. (Back to text.)

23. The crowned saint on the left has in the past been identified as Saint Catherine or Saint Reparata, patron saint of Florence ( Davies 1961 , pp. 305 and 307). However, it seems certain that the figure is a male and represents Saint Miniato (for whom see Kaftal 1952 , no. 220), as suggested to me by Cecilia Frosinini of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure e di Restauro, Florence. (Back to text.)

24. Saint Stephen was stoned to death outside Jerusalem ( Kaftal 1952 , no. 293). He often carries a white banner with a red cross, which was the banner of the city of Florence; A white banner with a red cross was also associated with the resurrected Christ (see p. 19 of this catalogue). Saint Stephen is often paired with Saint Lawrence, with whom he was buried. See p. 154, note 9. (Back to text.)

25. For Saint Francis, see also under Sassetta, NG 4757 etc., pp. 328ff. (Back to text.)

26. In type, he resembles Saint Zenobius in Lorenzo Monaco’s altarpiece for Santa Maria degli Angeli (for which see p. 174 and fig. 17), where his identity is confirmed by the Florentine lilies in his halo pattern. See also Kaftal 1952 , no. 319. (Back to text.)

28. It is possible that, after being separated from the central panel (see p. 164), NG 215 and NG 216, in which the white Camaldolese habits were overpainted with dark grey, may at some stage have belonged to black‐habited Benedictines. The links between the Camaldolites (who followed the Rule of Saint Benedict) and black Benedictines were close, as demonstrated by the Abbey of Rosano, which was black Benedictine but at some stage subject to San Giovanni Evangelista, Pratovecchio. See Annales Camaldulenses (cited in note 18), IV, 1759, pp. 196–7, and G. Raspini, I Monasteri nella Diocesi di Fiesole, Fiesole 1982, pp. 253–67. (Back to text.)

29. See Ackroyd and Keith in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 156. For lead‐tin yellow ‘type II’, see A. Roy in D. Bomford et al. , Art in the Making. Italian Painting before 1400, exh. cat., National Gallery, London 1989, pp. 37ff. (Back to text.)

30. For the Fesch Collection, see D. Thiébaut, Ajaccio, musée Fesch. Les primitifs italiens [series: Inventaire des collections publiques françaises], Paris 1987, pp. 5–43, and p. 182 for the inventories of 1839 and 1841. See also p. xxvi. (Back to text.)

31. For Coningham, see F. Haskell, ‘William Coningham and his collection of Old Masters’, BM , 133, no. 1063, October 1991, pp. 676–81, esp. p. 679 for NG 215 and NG 216; also D. Sutton, ‘From Ottley to Eastlake’, Apollo, 122, 1985, pp. 93–4, and p. xxviii of this catalogue. (Back to text.)

32. The keys to Heaven were given to him by Christ (Matthew 16:19). (Back to text.)

33. A tau staff (named from the Greek alphabet T) is often shown held by hermits, most commonly Saint Anthony Abbot. In Camaldolese altarpieces, Romuald ( Kaftal 1952 , no. 272) is commonly paired with Saint Benedict (as here in NG 215). See also NG 580 on p. 108. (Back to text.)

34. Saint Lawrence is commonly paired with Saint Stephen; see note 24 above. (Back to text.)

35. Saint Dominic is here paired with Saint Francis (in NG 215), founder of the other main mendicant Order. For Dominic, see Kaftal 1952 , no. 88. (Back to text.)

36. See notes 1 and 27. (Back to text.)

37. See note 28. (Back to text.)

39. Letter from William Coningham in the Gallery archives, dated 14 October 1848. This letter refers to Freeborn as the consul at Rome, so his initial could be supplied from The Royal Calendar. J. Freeborn was in Rome by 1839 and during the 1840s. See also note 31. (Back to text.)

41. Seen by Waagen (1854, III, p. 314) and attributed to Masaccio. Waagen says that he collected his paintings on the advice of Messrs Irvine and Colombo in Rome and the painter Dyce. (Back to text.)

42. For Henry Wagner, see D. Sutton, ‘Discoveries’, Apollo, 122, 1985, p. 123. (Back to text.)

43. Gregorii Magni Dialogi, cited in note 40, pp. 89–90 and 125–6; Legenda Aurea, ed. Maggioni, 1998, pp. 312–13 and 319. (Back to text.)

44. For Canon A.F. Sutton, who also owned Masaccio NG 3046, see p. 222, note 124. (Back to text.)

45. Gregorii Magni Dialogi, cited in note 40, pp. 132–3: ‘viderunt namque qui strata palleis adque innomeris corusca lampadibus via recto orientis tramite ab eius cella in caelum usque tendebatur.’ Ryan in the Golden Legend , I, p.193, translates ‘viam pallis stratam’ as ‘strewn with rugs’. A slightly different transcription is given in Legenda Aurea, ed. Maggioni, 1998, p. 320: ‘viderunt namque viam pallis stratam atque innumeris, coruscantem lampadibus.’ (Back to text.)

46. It is possible that this is the painting described as the ‘Pre‐Raphaelite picture bought in Italy by the late Thomas Barrett Lennard Esq.’ (1788–1856) in a privately printed catalogue of Belhus, Descriptive Catalogue of Portraits and Pictures at Belhus by Thomas Barrett‐Lennard (later 3rd Bt), 1876, p. 31. It must have been in the same sale as NG 4062, since they have similar and consecutive numbers on their backs. (Back to text.)

48. Although A. Conti (‘Quadri Alluvionati 1333, 1557, 1966’, Paragone, no. 215, 1968, p. 13) also saw evidence of flood damage in the craquelure of the predella panels. The church of Santa Maria degli Angeli is recorded as having been flooded in 1557 (Annales Camaldulenses, cited in note 18, V, 1760, p. 395). According to L. Landucci (ed. I. Del Badia), Diario Fiorentino dal 1450 al 1516 di Luca Landucci. Continuato da un Anonimo fino al 1542, Florence 1883, pp. 309–10, the altarpiece of the cappella maggiore of San Benedetto had two holes made in it by lightning on 13 June 1511, but there is no evidence of this on the surviving parts of the altarpiece, although there may have been on the lost sections. (Back to text.)

49. G. Pudelko, ‘The stylistic development of Lorenzo Monaco’, BM , 73, no. 429, December 1938, pp. 247–8. He wrongly stated that NG 215 and NG 216 were in the Liechtenstein Collection in Vienna. (Back to text.)

50. Davies, Critica d’Arte, 1949, pp. 202–8. The connection between the Adoring Saints and the Coronation of the Virgin had first been made by Crowe and Cavalcaselle ( 1864 , I, p. 554) and denied by O. Sirén (Don Lorenzo Monaco, Strasbourg 1905, pp. 63–8), and by Van Marle (vol. IX, 1927, p. 164), who considered that, because of the relationship of the Adoring Saints to the two drawings discussed below, NG 215 and NG 216 must have been on either side of a Saint Benedict enthroned, although Sirén (p. 65) had already pointed out that it was unlikely that the saint would have been repeated in both side and centre panels. (Back to text.)

51. For the structure, see Ackroyd and Keith in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, pp. 151–4. (Back to text.)

52. For a discussion of the unified picture surface in Florentine painting from the end of the fourteenth century, see Eisenberg 1989, pp. 122–3 and idem, The ‘Confraternity Altarpiece’ by Mariotto di Nardo. The Coronation of the Virgin and The Life of Saint Stephen, exh. cat., The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo 1998, pp. 51–5. (Back to text.)

55. Pudelko, BM , 1938 (cited in note 49), pp. 247–8, and subsequently Davies, Critica d’Arte, 1949, pp. 207–8, and Davies 1961 , p. 310, with a note of caution; M. Boskovits, La Pittura Fiorentina alla Vigilia del Rinascimento 1370–1400, Florence 1975, p. 348; Eisenberg 1989, pp. 139 and 166. (Back to text.)

56. Although there were a number of Camaldolese monasteries in central Italy, there seems little doubt that these predella scenes were part of the same altarpiece as NG 1897, 215 and 216. For lists of Camaldolese foundations, see, for example, S. Razzi O. Camald., Le Vite de’ Santi e Beati dell’Ordine di Camaldoli, Florence 1600, appendix, pp. 156 verso ff. (Back to text.)

57. Pudelko, BM , 1938 (cited in note 49), p. 247, n. 32. (Back to text.)

58. Davies 1961 , p. 310. (Back to text.)

59. Eisenberg 1989, pp. 141 and 161–2. (Back to text.)

60. M. Skubiszewska, Italian Painting before 1600. Catalogue of the National Museum in Poznań Collection, vol. 4, Poznań 1995, pp. 128–34. I owe this reference to Christa Gardner von Teuffel. Skubiszewska gives the provenance as the collection of Samuel Festetits, Vienna, before it was purchased by Atanazy Raczyń ski in 1863. It entered the Museum in 1903. (Back to text.)

61. Pudelko, BM , 1938 (cited in note 49), p. 247; Eisenberg 1989, p. 158. (Back to text.)

62. Davies 1961 , p. 311, n. 1. Pudelko ( BM , 1938, p. 248, n. 33) further suggested for the pilasters: Saint Stephen – top left, Saint Francis – bottom left, Saint Lawrence – top right, Saint Dominic – bottom right, all four in Braunschweig Museum, all rejected by subsequent writers (Davies, loc. cit. ). Since these are all saints who appear in the main tier of the altarpiece, it is unlikely that they would have been shown twice. See also Eisenberg 1989, pp. 181–2. Pudelko also suggested that in the centre had been a Salvator Mundi. (Back to text.)

63. See Kanter 1994, p. 260; and Boskovits, Arte Cristiana, 1994, p. 353 and fig. 8. Sale catalogue Eredi Carlo de Carlo, III, Florence, 15 December 2001, lot 27. Eisenberg (1989, p. 198) does not accept the attribution of this panel to Lorenzo Monaco. (Back to text.)

64. Eisenberg 1989, pp. 140 and 149–50. The head of Isaiah was originally part of N.8458 in the Galleria Accademia, Florence (see Eisenberg 1989, pp. 103ff.). Related by Kanter (1994, p. 270) to Lorenzo Monaco’s San Procolo altarpiece. (Back to text.)

65. Kanter in his review of Eisenberg’s monograph of 1989 on Lorenzo Monaco, BM , 135, no. 1086, 1993, p. 633. For a discussion of these panels, see Eisenberg 1989, pp. 151–3, and Kanter 1994, pp. 253–9, no. 32a. In a letter dated 27 February 1995 Kanter adds to his catalogue entry the evidence of ‘slivers of wood adhering to the backs of the three of the panels, …vertical in grain, which would have been used to fix the Patriarch panels to the subjacent panels’. (Back to text.)

66. Kanter 1994, p. 261, no. 32b. (Back to text.)

67. Davies 1961 , p. 307. (Back to text.)

68. Eisenberg 1989, p. 143. (Back to text.)

69. Oral communication. (Back to text.)

70. Eisenberg 1989, pp. 100–1. (Back to text.)

71. Oral communication. (Back to text.)

72. M. Levi d’Ancona suggested doubtfully that the predella scenes could be by Matteo Torelli (‘Some New Attributions to Lorenzo Monaco’, AB , 40, no. 3, 1958, p. 180, n. 25). She refuted the attribution of the London panels to Lorenzo Monaco himself, saying that the London saints combine the heavy contour line of the early period of Lorenzo Monaco with the luministic effects of his middle period. She dated the altarpiece to the 1420s. In the same year she again refuted the attribution to Lorenzo Monaco, and also rejected the attribution to Matteo Torelli, although she said that the scene of Maurus and Placidus being received into the Benedictine Order is close to his style (M. Levi d’Ancona, ‘Matteo Torelli’, Commentari, IX, 1958, pp. 257–8). (Back to text.)

73. Davies 1961 , p. 310. (Back to text.)

74. There is no discernible influence of the Saint Benedict predella panels by Giovanni del Biondo, with the possible exception of the Death of Saint Benedict. For the predella panels, see Offner and Steinweg, Corpus, section IV, vol. IV, Giovanni del Biondo, part I, pp. 73ff. (Back to text.)

75. It may have been adapted from the predella panel of the Vision of Saint Bernard by the Maestro della Cappella Rinuccini (Florence, Accademia; see L. Marcucci, Gallerie Nazionali di Firenze: I Dipinti Toscani del Secolo XIV, Rome 1965, p. 94 and fig. 54). For the frescoes in San Miniato al Monte, see Claudio Paolini, ‘Scene della Vita di San Benedetto in Toscano dal XIV al XV secolo. Problemi iconografici’, in Iconografia 1982 (cited in note 22), pp. 127ff.; and Stefano Causa, ‘La Sagrestia’, in F. Gurrieri, L. Berti and C. Leonardi (eds), La Basilica di San Miniato al Monte a Firenze, Florence 1988, pp. 217ff. (Back to text.)

76. Eisenberg 1989, p. 141. (Back to text.)

77. See notes 1013 above. (Back to text.)

78. Farulli 1710 (cited in note 14), p. 286; F. Masetti, Teatro Storico del Sacro Eremo di Camaldoli, Lucca 1723, pp. 258 and 280; see also Annales Camaldulenses (cited in note 18), VII, Venice 1762, p. 207; the union was confirmed in 1474 ( ibid. , p. 291). (Back to text.)

79. An altarpiece by Zanobi Strozzi is also stated by Vasari ( Vasari, Vite, 1568, ed. Milanesi , II, 1878, pp. 520–1) to have come to Santa Maria degli Angeli from San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti. It is tempting to identify this with an altarpiece described in the Sepoltuario of Stefano Rosselli of 1657: ‘Nella stanza del Camarlingho che è nel Chiostro Grande è una Tavola assai antica stata levata di qualche altro luogo’ (‘In the room of the chamberlain, which is in the large cloister, is an ancient panel which has been removed from some other location’) and inscribed ‘Hoc opus fecit fieri Jacobus Ludovici ser Jacobi Domino dei Villanis pro remedio Anime sue et D. Magdalena uxoris eius Anno Domini 1456’ (‘This work was commissioned by Jacob Lodovico, [son] of master Jacob Villani, for the salvation of his soul and that of Magdalena, his wife, 1456 AD’) ( ASF , Manoscritti 625, f. 1325), which Del Migliore says came from San Benedetto della Porta Pinti (see note 13 above). (Back to text.)

80. Davies 1961 , p. 307. (Back to text.)

81. For the published history of San Benedetto, see D. Moreni, Notizie Istoriche dei Contorni di Firenze, VI, Florence 1795 (reprinted Rome 1972), pp. 55–70. See also Richa, Chiese Fiorentine , VIII, 1759, pp. 271ff., for a briefer account of the founding of the monastery. He says that the original foundation dated back to the eleventh century. For the history of the foundation, see also the Registro cited in note 86 below, and the Annales Camaldulenses (cited in note 18), IX, 1773, pp. 87ff. (Back to text.)

82. See the Registro (cited in note 86), f. XXIV, and the Annales Camaldulenses (cited in note 18), IX, pp. 92ff. (Back to text.)

84. Registro (cited in note 86), f. X. Cecilia Frosinini, in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 19, n. 18, points out in relation to Santa Maria degli Angeli that the tabernacle for the host would not have been kept on the main altar, but to the side; the host was only reserved on the high altar after the Council of Trent. Tabernacles with relics could be kept on the high altar. (Back to text.)

85. Florence, ASF , Manoscritti 183, Raccolta di Giovanni Battista Dei, no. 6, Memorie del Monastero di S. Benedetto de Camaldolensi fuori della Porta Pinti. Frawley 1975. (Back to text.)

86. Florence, ASF , Conventi Soppressi dal Governo Francese, 86, no. 94. See Gordon and Thomas, BM , 1995, pp. 720–2 (in which Frawley’s discovery is incorrectly given as 1977 instead of 1975; p. 720, n. 13), and Gordon, ibid. , pp. 723–7. Christa Gardner von Teuffel has drawn my attention to the fact that part of the Registro was published in the Addenda et Emendanda to the Annales Camaldulenses (cited in note 18), IX, 1773, pp. 87–102. (Back to text.)

87. See the Registro cited in note 86 above, f. X. See Gordon and Thomas, BM , 1995, p. 722 (appendix), for a transcription of the relevant passages of the scripta. This part of the Registro was not transcribed in the Annales Camaldulenses. (Back to text.)

88. See the Registro cited in note 86, f. III, and the Annales Camaldulenses, IX, 1773, p. 94. (Back to text.)

89. See Masetti 1723 (cited in note 78), p. 264. (Back to text.)

90. See the Registro cited in note 86, f. XXIV. (Back to text.)

91. Luca Gerii Gerii had provided everything for the chapel dedicated to Saint Luke, including an ‘oculum vitreum cum figura maiestatis’ (‘a glass oculus with a figure in majesty’) and a ‘tabulam altaris pictam cum cortina et etiam picturam in muro iuxta [page 187]altare’ (‘a painted altarpiece with a curtain and also a painting on the wall next to the altar’), and the silk merchant Domenico Francesco Corsi had, c. 1404, provided extensive furnishings and an altarpiece for his chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony: ‘Item fecit tabulam altaris cum picturis cum cortina’ (Registro, ff. VIIII and VIIII verso; Annales Camaldulenses, IX, 1773, pp. 94–6). The altarpiece from the Corsi chapel is the altarpiece dated 1404, sometimes attributed to Lorenzo di Niccolò (documented 1392–1411), which was moved from San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti to the chapel of the same family in Santa Maria degli Angeli; it shows the Virgin and Child with Saints Anthony Abbot, John the Baptist, Lawrence and Julian, and is now in the Accademia, Florence (inv. no. 1890.8610). See U. Procacci, La R(egia) Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. Itinerari dei Musei e Monumenti d’Italia, Rome 1936, p. 35. For the Corsi chapel of 1364 in Santa Maria degli Angeli, also dedicated to Saint Anthony, see Davies, rev. Gordon , 1988, p. 90 and p. 92, n. 21. In Stefano Rosselli’s Sepoltuario of 1657 ( ASF , Manoscritti 625, f. 1323, no. 12) the altarpiece in Santa Maria degli Angeli bearing the Corsi arms with a rampant lion is described as ill‐fitting on the altar – ‘è assai grande, e pare sproporzionato a questo Altare’ – consistent with its having been moved from another location, and as bearing the inscription ‘Sancta Maria Orate pro nobis 1304’. The author notes ‘Nel sepoltuario antico dice 1464’; in fact, the date should be 1404, as cited above. The altarpiece has also been attributed to Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (Boskovits 1975, cited in note 55, p. 408). See also note 79 for an altarpiece commissioned by Jacopo Villani. Other surviving paintings from San Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti include a small double‐sided panel, now in the Fogg Art Museum, showing Christ taking leave of his Mother and the Lamentation, attributed to Lippo di Benivieni (E.P Bowron, European Paintings before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Mass. 1990, p. 283, nos 486 and 488), which Bellosi (L. Bellosi, ‘Un Cimabue per Piero de’ Medici’, Prospettiva, 67, 1992, pp. 49–52) recognised as being described in a book of Ricordanze as that which passed into the possession of Piero de’ Medici in 1490. Bellosi illustrates a map of c. 1470 showing the monastery of San Benedetto (p. 49, fig. 1). The book of Ricordanze, begun in 1482, was published by L. Pagliai, ‘Da un libro del monastero di San Benedetto’, Rivista d’Arte, III, 1905, pp. 152–4. (Back to text.)

92. Florence, ASF , Diplomatico, S. Maria Novella, 1407, 17 December, and 1408, 30 January. Kindly checked for me by Rolf Bagemihl. (Back to text.)

93. Luca di Piero’s son paid for an altarpiece by Francesco d’Antonio c. 1430, which was inscribed QUESTA TAVOLA A FATTO FARE RINIERI DI LUCA DI PIERO RINIERI CITTADINO FIORENT. P(R)O AN(IMA) SUA. See M. Laclotte and E. Mognetti, Avignon, Musée du Petit Palais. Peinture italienne, 3rd edn, 1987, no. 69, pp. 89–91, with a slightly different reading of the inscription. There it is said that Luca was the patron of the Avignon altarpiece; in fact, it was his son, Rinieri. The correct information is given by J. Roman (Inventaire Général. Richesses d’Art de la France. Musée. Bibliothèque de Grenoble, Paris 1892, p. 70), who says that according to the catasto records, Rinieri was born in 1382; Luca was born in 1347 and died in 1430. Roman implies that the death of his father left Rinieri in a financial position to commission an altarpiece, as here suggested for Luca. I am grateful to Esther Moench for obtaining a photocopy of Roman’s catalogue entry for me. (Back to text.)

94. For information on Luca, see Gordon and Thomas, BM , 1995, p. 722, n. 17. Luca’s sons were Rinieri, Stoldo and Bartolomeo. See also note 93 above. (Back to text.)

95. See note 91 above for the Corsi altarpiece. (Back to text.)

96. Martin Davies (Critica d’Arte, 1949, p. 207) had already pointed out that the site had been dedicated to Saint Matthew. In the Registro cited in note 86 this is stated on f. III. See also Annales Camaldulenses, cited in note 18, VI, 1761, p. 200, and IX, 1773, p. 92. (Back to text.)

97. Anabel Thomas ( BM , 1995, p. 722, n. 21) does not accept that the evidence is conclusive. She believes that the 1407 documentation may refer to an earlier altarpiece which could have been displaced, contrary to the contract stipulation, by the National Gallery altarpiece. See also A. Thomas, The Painter’s Practice in Renaissance Tuscany, Cambridge 1995, pp. 213–20, for why she believes the London version to post‐date the Uffizi version. (Back to text.)

98. Sirén 1905 (cited in note 50), pp. 63 and 67. Sirén, before the cleaning of 1947, doubted the attribution of the Coronation of the Virgin to Lorenzo himself. (Back to text.)

100. Eisenberg 1989, p. 145. Professor Eisenberg has informed me that he still considers the San Benedetto altarpiece to post‐date that from Santa Maria degli Angeli (letter of 12 June 1996). (Back to text.)

101. Kanter, BM , 1993 (cited in note 65), p. 633; and Kanter 1994, pp. 259–60. (Back to text.)

102. Boskovits, Arte Cristiana, 1994, pp. 352–4. Boskovits apparently thought that the monastery officially became part of the Camaldolese Order in 1407, citing (p. 363, n. 21) Moreni 1795 (cited in note 81), VI, p. 68, and pp. 236–7 of the Annales Camaldulenses (cited in note 18), VI. However, it is clear from both these sources that this was the date when the way of life of the monks was confirmed. See note 81 above for the date of 1401 when the monastery officially became part of the Camaldolese Order. (Back to text.)

103. G. Bent (Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Arts: Patronage, Production and Practice in a Trecento Florentine Monastery, unpublished thesis for Stanford University, 1993, pp. 502–3) argues that the monks of Santa Maria degli Angeli used the Roman calendar, which began on 1 January, and not the Florentine calendar, which began on 25 March, and that therefore the Uffizi altarpiece was painted in 1413. However, for the arguments against this, see Frosinini in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 19, n. 19. (Back to text.)

104. For the information cited here, see Ackroyd and Keith in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 155. (Back to text.)

105. Bellosi and Bellini 1978 (cited in note 99), pp. 28–9, no. 28; Eisenberg 1989, pp. 124–5. (Back to text.)

106. Degenhart and Schmitt, Corpus , 1968, vol. I‐2, kat. 170; Eisenberg 1989, p. 145. (Back to text.)

107. Anabel Thomas has also noticed that more than one hand contributed to the drawing of kneeling saints and at different times. See also Gordon in Ciatti and Frosinini (eds) 1998, p. 148. (Back to text.)

108. Bellosi and Bellini 1978 (cited in note 99), p. 28–9. (Back to text.)

109. However, numerous manuscript illuminations show Saint Benedict enthroned (for example, Don Silvestro dei Gherarducci in an illumination for Santa Maria Novella; see Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence, exh. cat., Florence 1994, p. 133, fig. 48). The drawing could also have been a sketch for an illumination. (Back to text.)

Glossary

barbe
The raised lip of gesso which remains on the painted surface after the removal of an engaged frame moulding when the panel and frame have been gessoed at the same time. Its presence is an indication as to whether the image (but not necessarily the panel) retains its original dimensions
bole
A red clay applied to the gessoed surface of a panel as an adhesive underlayer for gold leaf
cangiante
Literally ‘changing’ – used to describe shot colours, especially for drapery
Catasto
Records of Florentine tax returns
lake
A pigment made by precipitation onto a base from a dye solution, resulting in a comparatively transparent pigment often used as a glaze
mitre
A liturgical hat worn by a bishop
mordant gilding
The process of applying gold leaf to an adhesive or mordant, usually done in the final stages of a painting
papal tiara
The triple‐tiered crown worn by popes
scripta
AA private written record of a transaction
sepoltuario
A written or visual record of tomb monuments
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
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
ASF
Archivio di Stato, Florence
NG
National Gallery, London
Periodicals
BM
Burlington Magazine, London, 1903–
NGTB
National Gallery Technical Bulletin
Frequently cited works are given in abbreviated form throughout, as listed below:
Crowe and Cavalcaselle 1864
J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, 2 vols, London 1864
Davies 1961
M. Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd revised edn, London 1961
Davies revised Gordon
M. Davies revised D. Gordon, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1988
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
Richa, Chiese Fiorentine
G. Richa, Notizie istoriche delle Chiese Fiorentine, 10 vols, Florence 1754–62
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
Vasari, Le Vite, ed. Milanesi
G. Vasari, Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti, ed. G. Milanesi, 8 vols, Florence 1878–85
Vasari, Le Vite, eds Bettarini and Barocchi
G. Vasari, Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 & 1568, eds R. Bettarini and P. Barocchi, vol. II, Florence 1967; vol. III, Florence 1971

List of archive references cited

List of references cited

Ackroyd and Keith 1998
AckroydP. and L. Keith, in Lorenzo Monaco. Tecnica e Restauro. L’Incoronazione della Vergine degli Uffizi. L’Annunciazione di Santa Trinita a Firenze, eds M. Ciatti and C. FrosininiFlorence 1998, 151–6
Ackroyd, Keith and Gordon 2000
AckroydP.L. Keith and D. Gordon, ‘The Restoration of Lorenzo Monaco’s “Coronation of the Virgin”: Retouching and Display’, National Gallery Technical Bulletin, 2000, 2143–57
Barrett‐Lennard 1876
Barrett‐LennardThomas(later 3rd Bt), Descriptive Catalogue of Portraits and Pictures at Belhus, 1876
Bellosi 1984
BellosiL., ‘Due note in margine a Lorenzo Monaco miniatore: il “Maestro del Codice Squarcialupi” e il poco probabile Matteo Torelli’, in Studi in Onore di Mario RotiliNaples 1984, I307–14
Bellosi 1992
BellosiL., ‘Un Cimabue per Piero de’ Medici’, Prospettiva, 1992, 6749–52
Bellosi and Bellini 1978
BellosiL. and F. BelliniI disegni antichi degli Uffizi: i tempi del Ghiberti (exh. cat.), Florence 1978
Bellosi and Chelazzi Dini 1978
BellosiL. and G. Chelazzi Dini, ‘La Pittura a Firenze al Tempo della Porta Nord’, in Lorenzo Ghiberti. Materia e ragionamenti (exh. cat. Museo dell’Accademia e Museo di San Marco), Florence 1978, 141–3
Bent 1993
BentG., ‘Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Arts: Patronage, Production and Practice in a Trecento Florentine Monastery’ (unpublished thesis), Stanford University, 1993
Bent 2000
BentG., ‘A patron for Lorenzo Monaco’s Uffizi Coronation of the Virgin’, Art Bulletin, 2000, 82348–54
Bocchi 1591
BocchiF.Le Bellezze della Città di FiorenzaFlorence 1591 (reprinted, with an introduction by ShearmanJ., 1971; 2nd edn, Amersham 1984)
Bocchi 1677
BocchiF.Le Bellezze della Città di Firenze: dove a pieno di pittura di scultura, di sacri templi, di palazzi, i più notabili artifizi, e più preziosi si contengono, ed. G. CinelliFlorence 1677
Boskovits 1975
BoskovitsMiklósLa Pittura Fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento 1370–1400Florence 1975
Boskovits 1994b
BoskovitsM., ‘Su Don Lorenzo, pittore camaldolese’, Arte Cristiana, 1994, 82764–5351–64
Bowron 1990
BowronE.P.European Paintings before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum. A summary catalogue including paintings in the Busch‐Reisinger MuseumCambridge, Mass. 1990
Burnstock 1988
BurnstockA., ‘The Fading of the Virgin’s Robe in Lorenzo Monaco’s “Coronation of the Virgin”’, National Gallery Technical Bulletin, 1988, 1258–65
Causa 1988
CausaS., ‘La Sagrestia’, in La Basilica di San Miniato al Monte a Firenze, eds F. GurrieriL. Berti and C. LeonardiFlorence 1988, 215–31
Ciatti and Frosinini 1998
CiattiM. and C. Frosinini, eds, Lorenzo Monaco. Tecnica e Restauro. L’Incoronazione della Vergine degli Uffizi. L’Annunciazione di Santa Trinita a FirenzeFlorence 1998
Conti 1968
ContiA., ‘Quadri Alluvionati 1333, 1557, 1966’, Paragone, 1968, XIX2153–22
Crowe and Cavalcaselle 1864
CroweJoseph Archer and Giovanni‐Battista CavalcaselleA New History of Painting in Italy 2 volsLondon 1864
Davies 1949
DaviesM., ‘Lorenzo Monaco’s “Coronation of the Virgin” in London’, Critica d’Arte, 1949, fasc. XXIX202–10
Davies 1961
DaviesMartinNational Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd revised edn, London 1961 (1st edn, London 1951)
Davies rev. Gordon 1988
DaviesMartinrevised by D. GordonNational Gallery Catalogues: The Early Italian Schools Before 1400, revised edn of Davies 1961, London 1988
Degenhart and Schmitt 1968
DegenhartBernhard and Annegrit SchmittCorpus der italienischen Zeichnungen. 1300–14504 volsBerlin 1968
Del Migliore 1684
Del MiglioreF.L.Firenze, città nobilissima illustrata: prima, seconda, e terza parte del primo libroFlorence 1684
Eisenberg 1989
EisenbergM.Lorenzo MonacoPrinceton, NJ 1989
Eisenberg 1998
EisenbergM.The ‘Confraternity Altarpiece’ by Mariotto di Nardo. The Coronation of the Virgin and The Life of Saint Stephen (exh. cat. The National Museum of Western Art), Tokyo 1998
Farulli 1710
FarulliG.Istoria cronologica del nobile ed antico Monastero degli Angioli di FirenzeLucca 1710
Follini and Rastrelli 1792
FolliniV. and M. RastrelliFirenze Antica e Moderna IllustrataFlorence 1792, IV
Frawley 1975
FrawleyM.‐L., ‘Lorenzo Monaco and his patrons’ (unpublished MA report), Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, 1975
Gordon 1995
GordonD., ‘The altar‐piece by Lorenzo Monaco in the National Gallery, London’, Burlington Magazine, 1995, 137723–7
Gordon et al. 1998
GordonD.P. Ackroyd and L. Keith, ‘The Coronation of the Virgin by Lorenzo Monaco in the National Gallery, London’, in Lorenzo Monaco. Tecnica e Restauro. L’Incoronazione della Vergine degli Uffizi. L’Annunciazione di Santa Trinita a Firenze, eds M. Ciatti and C. FrosininiFlorence 1998, appendix143–56
Gordon and Thomas 1995
GordonD. and A. Thomas, ‘A new document for the high altar‐piece for S. Benedetto fuori della Porta Pinti, Florence’, Burlington Magazine, November 1995, 1371112720–2
Iconografia 1982
Iconografia di San Benedetto nella Pittura della Toscana. Immagini e aspetti culturali fino al XVI secolo (exh. cat. Centro d’Incontro della Certosa, Florence, 1982), Florence 1982
Jacopo da Voragine 1998
MaggioniGiovanni Paolo, ed., Iacopo da Varazze. Legenda Aurea2 vols, 2nd edn, Florence 1998
Kaftal 1952
KaftalGeorgeIconography of the Saints in Tuscan PaintingFlorence 1952
Kanter 1993
KanterL., ‘review of Eisenberg’s monograph on Lorenzo Monaco’, Burlington Magazine, 1993, 1351086632–3
Kanter 1994a
KanterL., in Painting and Illumination in Early Renaissance Florence 1300–1450 (exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art), New York 1994, 253–62
Kirby and White 1996
KirbyJo and Raymond White, ‘The Identification of Red Lake Pigment Dyestuffs and a Discussion of their Use’, National Gallery Technical Bulletin, 1996, 1756–80
Laclotte and Mognetti 1977
LaclotteM. and E. MognettiAvignon, musée du Petit Palais. Peinture italienneInventaire des collections publiques françaises, 2nd edn, Paris 1977 (3rd edn, Paris 1987)
Landucci 1883
LanducciL.Diario Fiorentino dal 1450 al 1516 di Luca Landucci. Continuato da un Anonimo fino al 1542, ed. I. del BadiaFlorence 1883
Levi d’Ancona 1958a
Levi d’AnconaM., ‘Some New Attributions to Lorenzo Monaco’, Art Bulletin, September 1958, 403175–91
Levi d’Ancona 1958b
Levi d’AnconaM., ‘Matteo Torelli’, Commentari, 1958, anno IX244–58
Masetti 1723
MasettiF.Teatro Storico del Sacro Eremo di CamaldoliLucca 1723
Mittarelli and Costadoni 1759–73
MittarelliJ.B. and A. CostadoniAnnales Camaldulenses (Ordinis Sancti Benedicti) (vol. IV, 1759; vol. V, 1760; vol. VI, 1761; vol. VII, 1762; vol. VIII, 1764; vol. IX, 1773), Venice 1759–73
Moreni 1792–5
MoreniD.Notizie istoriche dei contorni di Firenze (vol. III, 1792; vol. V, 1794; vol. VI, 1795), Florence and Rome 1792–5, 1972
Moricca 1924
MoriccaU., ed., Gregorii Magni Dialogi. Fonti per la Storia d’Italia. Istituto Storico ItalianoRome 1924
Offner and Steinweg 1967
OffnerRichard and Klara SteinwegThe Fourteenth Century. Giovanni del BiondoA Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine PaintingSection IVIVINew York 1967
Pagliai 1905
PagliaiL., ‘Da un libro del monastero di San Benedetto’, Rivista d’Arte, 1905, III152–4
Paolini 1982
PaoliniC., ‘Scene della Vita di San Benedetto in Toscano dal XIV al XV secolo. Problemi iconografici’, in Iconografia di San Benedetto nella Pittura della Toscana. Immagini e Aspetti Culturali Fino al XVI Secolo (exh. cat. Centro d’Incontro della Certosa di Firenze), Florence 1982
Pecori 1853
PecoriL.Storia della Terra di San GimignanoFlorence 1853
Pietrangeli, de Strobel and Mancinelli 1993
PietrangeliC.A.M. de Strobel and F. MancinelliLa Pinacoteca Vaticana: catalogo guidaVatican City 1993
Procacci 1936
ProcacciU.La R (egia) Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. Itinerari dei Musei e Monumenti d’ItaliaRome 1936
Pudelko 1938
PudelkoG., ‘The stylistic development of Lorenzo Monaco – 1’, Burlington Magazine, December 1938, 73429237–9
Raspini 1982
RaspiniG.I Monasteri nella Diocesi di FiesoleFiesole 1982
Rave 1943
RaveP.O., ‘Ramboux und die Wiederentdeckung altitalienischer Malerei in der Zeit der Romantik’, Wallraf‐Richartz Jahrbuch, 1943, XII–XIII231–58
Razzi 1600
RazziS.Ord. Camald.Le Vite de’ Santi e Beati dell’Ordine di CamaldoliFlorence 1600
Richa 1754–62
RichaGiuseppeNotizie istoriche delle Chiese Fiorentine divise ne’ suoi quartieri (I, 1754; IV, 1756; VIII, 1759; IX, 1761), 10 volsFlorence 1754–62
Roman 1892
RomanJ.Inventaire Général. Richesses d’Art de la France. Musée. Bibliothèque de GrenobleParis 1892
Rosselli 1657
RosselliStefanoSepoltuario Fiorentino, 1657
Sirén 1905
SirénO.Don Lorenzo MonacoStrasbourg 1905
Skubiszewska 1995
SkubiszewskaM.Italian Painting before 1600. Catalogue of the National Museum in Poznań CollectionPoznań 1995, 4
Sutton 1985
SuttonDenys, ‘From Ottley to Eastlake’, Apollo (Aspects of British Collecting, Part IV, no. XIV), 1985, 12228284–95
Sutton 1985b
SuttonD., ‘Discoveries’, Apollo, 1985, 122118–29
Teubner 1975
TeubnerH., ‘Zur Entwicklung der Saalkirche in der florentiner Frührenaissance’ (doctoral dissertation), Heidelberg 1975
Thiébaut 1987
ThiébautD.Ajaccio, musée Fesch. Les primitifs italiensInventaire des collections publiques françaisesParis 1987
Thomas 1995
ThomasA.The Painter’s Practice in Renaissance TuscanyCambridge 1995
Vasari 1550
VasariG.Le Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti italiani, da Cimabue insino ai tempi nostri3 parts in 2 volsFlorence 1550
Vasari 1846–70
VasariGiorgioLe Vite de’più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architetti, ed. F. Le Monnier14 volsFlorence 1846–70
Vasari 1878–85
VasariGiorgioLe Vite de’più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori, ed. Gaetano Milanesi9 volsFlorence 1878–85
Vasari 1967–71
VasariGiorgioLe Vite de’più eccellenti pittori, scultori ed architettori, eds R. Bettarini and P. BarocchiFlorence 1967 (I and II), 1971 (III)
Volbach 1987
VolbachW.F.Catalogo della Pinacoteca VaticanaVatican City 1987, II, Il Trecento. Firenze e Siena

List of exhibitions cited

Edinburgh 1883
Edinburgh, Old Masters and Scottish National Portraits Exhibition, 1883
London 1911
London, Grafton Gallery, Exhibition of Old Masters in aid of the National Art‐Collections Fund, 1911
London, National Gallery, An Exhibition of Cleaned Pictures (1936–1947), 1947–8

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/0EA8-000B-0000-0000
Permalink (latest version)
https://data.ng.ac.uk/0E67-000B-0000-0000
Chicago style
Gordon, Dillian. “NG 215, NG 216 and NG 1897 and NG 2862, NG 4062 and L2, The San Benedetto Altarpiece”. 2003, online version 1, March 9, 2025. https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EA8-000B-0000-0000.
Harvard style
Gordon, Dillian (2003) NG 215, NG 216 and NG 1897 and NG 2862, NG 4062 and L2, The San Benedetto Altarpiece. Online version 1, London: National Gallery, 2025. Available at: https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EA8-000B-0000-0000 (Accessed: 19 March 2025).
MHRA style
Gordon, Dillian, NG 215, NG 216 and NG 1897 and NG 2862, NG 4062 and L2, The San Benedetto Altarpiece (National Gallery, 2003; online version 1, 2025) <https://data.ng.ac.uk/0EA8-000B-0000-0000> [accessed: 19 March 2025]