Gaudenzio Ferrari, 'Saint Andrew (?)', about 1540

Christ rising from the Tomb and Saint Andrew (?) were parts of the high altarpiece painted in about 1540 for the church of S. Pietro at Maggianico, near Lecco, on the shore of Lake Como in northern Italy. Christ rising from the Tomb was the central panel of the altarpiece. Christ’s fluttering white pennant marked with the sign of the Cross symbolises his victory over death.

It is not easy to reconstruct the original appearance of the altarpiece, which consisted of several panels – a type of altarpiece known as a polyptych. It seems that on the right of Christ rising from the Tomb was a panel showing Saint Roch, and on the left was Saint Christopher carrying the infant Christ.

A panel almost certainly of Saint Andrew, which is also in the National Gallery’s collection, was in the centre of the lower part of the altarpiece with Saints Peter, Bernard, Ambrose and Anthony at its sides. Andrew’s cross is usually depicted as an X-shaped saltire, but here it is T-shaped.

The lowest row of panels (known as the predella) is in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan. It is monochrome and depicts scenes of Christ and the apostles. Monochrome predella panels were a particular feature of sixteenth-century art from this region. All the panels of the altarpiece were enclosed in a gilded frame.

The altarpiece was situated above the high altar, which was made of a similar pink marble to that of Christ’s painted tomb, creating a clear visual connection between the risen body of Christ depicted in the altarpiece and the Eucharist – the body of Christ – on the altar during Communion.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the altarpiece was removed from the church and broken up, and the panels were sold. We do not know the whereabouts of the larger panels, apart from the two now in the National Gallery, which did not enter the collection at the same time. Christ rising from the Tomb was bought by the Gallery in 1895, but Saint Andrew (?) was bought in 1896 by Ludwig Mond, who bequeathed it to the National Gallery in his will; it was presented to the Gallery by his widow in 1924.

A triptych by a collaborator of Gaudenzio Ferrari of Saints Ambrose, Anthony Abbot and Jerome remains in the church of S. Pietro at Maggianico, which has caused further confusion. However, this was not part of the original high altarpiece. The triptych was commissioned by the Ghislanzoni family for the altar of Saint Anthony.