Francesco Pesellino and Fra Filippo Lippi and workshop, 'The Pistoia Santa Trinità Altarpiece', 1455-60
About the group
Overview
This large altarpiece – one of the few in the National Gallery which is almost complete – has had an eventful life. It was commissioned in 1455 from the Florentine painter Francesco Pesellino, and is his only surviving documented work. He died in 1457 and it was finished by Fra Filippo Lippi and his workshop. We know a lot about how and why it was made from the records of the confraternity who commissioned it.
From 1465 it sat on the high altar of the church of the Holy Trinity at Pistoia, but in 1793 the confraternity was suppressed and the altarpiece was taken apart, with the main panel sawn into pieces, and dispersed. Most of it was gradually acquired by the National Gallery and the altarpiece reassembled.
This is the earliest pala (an altarpiece with a single main panel) in the National Gallery.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Pistoia Santa Trinità Altarpiece
- Artist
- Francesco Pesellino and Fra Filippo Lippi and workshop
- Artist dates
- 1422 - 1457; born about 1406; died 1469
- Date made
- 1455-60
- Inventory number
- L15, NG727, NG3162, NG3230, NG4428, NG4868.1-NG4868.4
- Collection
- Main Collection
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Works in the group
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Francesco Pesellino and Fra Filippo Lippi and WorkshopThese saints come from a large pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century and later reassembled in the National Gallery. Look closely and you can see lines where the fragments were put back together. The altarpiece was begun by Frances...Not on display -
Francesco Pesellino and Fra Filippo Lippi and workshopThis large pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) was painted for a church in Pistoia but was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century; most of it was later reassembled in the National Gallery. Look closely and you can see lines where the separate fragments were put back together.I...Not on display -
This angel comes from a pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century, but reassembled by the National Gallery in the 1930s. In a particular light you can see the joins where the parts have been stuck together.The altarpiece was made for...Not on display -
This angel comes from a pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century but reassembled by the National Gallery in the 1930s. It was made for a confraternity of priests, and shows the Trinity (God the Father, Christ and the Holy Ghost as a...Not on display -
This large pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) was painted for a church in Pistoia, but sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century. It was reassembled in the National Gallery – look closely and you can see lines where the fragments were put back together.Two fourth-century saints...Not on display -
Fra Filippo Lippi and workshopA young saint has been locked up with four lions. This is Saint Mamas of Caesarea, a Greek martyr who was tortured and executed for his faith by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. According to his legend he was imprisoned and then thrown to lions – although not at the same time, as here.This is one of f...Not on display -
Fra Filippo Lippi and workshopSaint James kneels in prayer; behind him a vigorous executioner raises his sword. James the Great was the first of Christ’s apostles to die for his faith, being put to death by King Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem in AD 44.This is one of five scenes from the predella, the bottom tier, of the Pistoia S...Not on display -
Fra Filippo Lippi and workshopA bishop saint – Saint Zeno, Bishop of Verona in the fourth century – is exorcising a demon from a young girl; you can see the little black figure jumping out of her mouth. Her parents watch anxiously. Her father, wearing a crown, kneels beside her: he is Emperor Gallienus. According to Zeno’s le...Not on display -
Fra Filippo Lippi and workshopSaint Jerome sits in the wilderness, carefully removing a thorn from the paw of a very endearing lion – it went on to be his companion. This was a popular subject in medieval art, although Jerome is usually just shown with the lion as a pet, rather than actually treating it.This is one of five sc...Not on display
Images
More works by Francesco Pesellino
This long and fantastically detailed painting is a precious survivor of Renaissance interior decoration – and it gives us an idea of just how spectacular this could be. It is one of a pair telling the story of David, King of Israel, who started life as a shepherd boy but rose to fame and fortune...
Not on display
A fantastic procession winds its way through a Tuscan landscape dotted with hills and walled towns. Extravagantly dressed nobles ride prancing horses, while their hounds, a hunting cheetah and even a bear trot along beside them.Although it looks like medieval Italy, this actually shows a biblical...
Not on display
More works by Fra Filippo Lippi
This panel shows a twelfth-century monk, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, having a vision of the Virgin Mary. It is shaped like an ‘overdoor’ – a picture designed to hang above a doorway – and was probably made to decorate the Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall) in Florence; Saint Bernard was patron saint...
Not on display
Seven saints – all patron saints of members of Florence’s ruling family, the Medici – talk and interact as though Lippi was painting an animated portrait of a group of historical figures.On the far left is Saint Francis. His meditation on the suffering of Christ was so profound that he developed...
Not on display
The Archangel Gabriel, huge peacock-feather wings outstretched behind him, kneels in front of the Virgin Mary, his head bowed in reverence. He has arrived with the news that she will conceive a child, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost.A small dove, the symbol of the Holy Ghost, flies towards t...
Not on display
Fra Filippo Lippi and workshop
The Christ Child lies in the Virgin Mary’s arms and holds a small bird to his lips. This tender image was intended to show the bond between Christ and his mother.Christ’s pose is found in paintings of the Virgin adoring the Child that were produced by Lippi and his workshop, such as the so-called...
Not on display
Imitator of Fra Filippo Lippi
The design of this tender image of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child and an angel is derived from a picture by Fra Filippo Lippi, the Florentine painter and monk. It was a popular composition in Florence and there are numerous versions of it by different artists. The semi-transparent veil wit...
Not on display