Overview
The creation of works of art during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance was often a collaborative process. This triptych was painted by two artists:
It is not difficult to see the difference in style between the two painters. Allegretto’s Anthony is serious—even the colors are sober. Puccio, on the other hand, has a sunnier palette. Notice how Mary who, per tradition, points to her son as the way of salvation, also seems to be chucking his plump, little chin.
Learn more about artistic collaborations during this period from other works in the National Gallery of Art. Huge commissions—like Duccio’s Maestà altarpiece in Siena’s cathedral (see
Entry
This
The composition at the center, with tiered angels and saints flanking the enthroned Madonna, was probably based on a model developed in a portable triptych from the shop of
It is not known at whose suggestion this triptych, on its appearance in a London sale catalog of July 25, 1916, was cited as “A Triptych . . . attributed to Allegretto Nuzi da Fabriano.” Presumably,
The doubts can be traced back to Raimond van Marle, who in 1924 detected in the triptych the presence of elements of Daddesque culture that he found incompatible with the attribution to Allegretto.
The execution of an altarpiece by two different artists can hardly have been a rarity in the practice of fourteenth-century painters: one of the most famous examples of such a collaboration is that of
Though its style and other data suggest that Puccio should be given credit for the overall planning of the triptych, the parts executed by the two masters can be clearly distinguished. The ornamentation of the two lateral panels—a decorative frieze delimiting the gold ground; a series of miniature lunettes around the arches, within each of which an elegant foliated motif is inserted;
A very different humanity is evident in the image of Saint Venantius
Miklós Boskovits (1935–2011)
March 21, 2016
Inscription
left panel, on Saint Anthony's halo: .S[AN]C[TU]S.ANTONIVS.D[E].VIENA; middle panel, on the Madonna's halo: .S[AN]C[T]A.MARIA.MATER.DEI.; middle panel, on the Child's halo: IIS . XRO . M;[1] middle panel, along the base: [MCCC]LIIII.QUESTA TA[VOLA HA F]ATTA F[A]RE. FRATE GIOVANNI DA [...] (1354, this picture was commissioned by Fra Giovanni); right panel, on Saint Venantius's halo: .S[AN]C[TU]S . VENANCIVS . M[A]RTIRI (Saint Venantius Martyr)
Inscription Notes
[1] Fern Rusk Shapley, Catalogue of the Italian Paintings, 2 vols., Washington, DC, 1979: 1:383, read HS.XRO. [LUX] M[VNDI]. Presumably the first letters were intended to be IHS, the frequently used traditional abbreviation of the name of Jesus, formed, at least partially, of the letters of the Greek version of the name: ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. The second group of letters is again an incorrect transcription of the letters of the word Christus in Greek: ΧΡΙСΤΟС; see Hans Feldbusch, “Christusmonogramm,” in Reallexikon zur deutschen Kunstgeschichte, edited by Otto Schmitt and Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte München, 10 vols., Stuttgart, 1937-2003: 3(1954):707-720. The meaning of the final letter M, which might be an abbreviation of various words, is difficult to interpret.
Provenance
Probably commissioned for the high altar of the demolished church of Sant’Antonio Abate fuori Porta Pisana, Fabriano;[1] apparently by the early years of the nineteenth century it was no longer in this church, presumably having passed into a local private collection.[2] Joseph Russell Bailey [1840-1906], 1st Baron Glanusk, Glanusk Park, Breconshire, Wales; by inheritance to his son, Joseph Henry Russell Bailey [1864-1928], 2nd Baron Glanusk, Glanusk Park; sold in 1915.[3] (sale, Sotheby’s, London, 25 July 1916, no. 137, Attributed to Allegretto Nuzi); purchased by Walter Dowdeswell[4] for (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); Carl W. Hamilton [1886-1967], New York, in the early 1920s; (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris), by 1929;[5] sold 15 December 1936 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[6] gift 1937 to NGA.
Exhibition History
- 1926
- Sesquicentennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1926.
Technical Summary
The
Bibliography
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- Serra, Luigi. Le gallerie comunali delle Marche. Rome, 1925: 132.
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- 1967
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- 1972
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- 1973
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- 1982
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- 1983
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- 1984
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- 1984
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- 1985
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- 1986
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- 1988
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- 1989
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- 1991
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- 1997
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- 1997
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- 1998
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- 1998
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- 2001
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- 2001
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- 2003
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- 2003
- Moretti, Fabrizio, ed. Da Ambrogio Lorenzetti a Sandro Botticelli. Exh. cat. Galleria Moretti, Florence, 2003: 38, 42-43.
- 2004
- Marcelli, Fabio. Allegretto di Nuzio: pittore fabrianese. Fabriano, 2004: 12-14 (repro.), 34, 36.
- 2004
- Strehlke, Carl Brandon. Italian Paintings, 1250-1450, in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2004: 22.
- 2005
- Boskovits, Miklós, and Daniela Parenti, eds. Da Bernardo Daddi al Beato Angelico a Botticelli: dipinti fiorentini del Lindenau-Museum di Altenburg. Exh. cat. Museo di San Marco. Florence, 2005: 192.
- 2005
- Costanzi, Costanza, ed. Le Marche disperse: repertorio di opere d’arte dalle Marche al mondo. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2005: 120.
- 2005
- Moretti, Fabrizio, and Gabriele Caioni, eds. Da Allegretto Nuzi a Pietro Perugino. Exh. cat. Galleria Moretti, Florence, 2005: 30, 36.
- 2005
- Tartuferi, Angelo, ed. Da Puccio di Simone a Giottino: restauri e conferme. Exh. cat. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, 2005: 17, 50, 52.
- 2008
- Boskovits, Miklós, and Johannes Tripps, eds. Maestri senesi e toscani nel Lindenau-Museum di Altenburg. Exh. cat. Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, 2008: 218.
- 2008
- Gregori, Mina. "Angeli e Diavoli: genesi e percorso di Giovanni da Milano." In Giovanni da Milano: capolavori del gotico fra Lombardia e Toscana. Edited by Daniela Parenti. Exh. cat. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, 2008: 37.
- 2008
- Tartuferi, Angelo, ed. L’eredità di Giotto: arte a Firenze 1340-1375. Exh. cat. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 2008: 128, 132.
- 2009
- Boskovits, Miklós, ed. The Alana Collection, Newark, Delaware, USA. Vol. 1 (of 2), Italian Paintings from the 13th to 15th Century. Florence, 2009: 1:12, 172, 175.
- 2009
- Tomei, Alessandro, ed. Giotto e il Trecento: il più Sovrano Maestro stato in dipintura. 2 vols. Exh. cat. Museo Centrale del Risorgimento, Rome. Milan, 2009: 2:226.
- 2016
- Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 338-348, color repro.
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