Galleria Nazionale

Rooms 22 - 28

The new staircase next to the Cappella dei Priori leads down to these largely undistinguished rooms on the middle floor of the palace.

Room 22

Tezi Altarpiece (1500)

The inscriptions that form part of the predella of this altarpiece record that Berardino di ser Angelo commissioned it in 1500 for his family chapel in Sant’ Agostino. (By the 18th century, this family had acquired the surname "Tezi"). The altarpiece is usually attributed to Perugino, but was generally regarded as a workshop production until its recent restoration revealed its quality. It remained in its original location until 1653, when it was moved and subsequently dismembered.

The main panel, which depicts the Madonna and Child with SS Nicholas of Tolentino and Bernardino, remained in the church until 1863, when it was transferred to the gallery.
The predella, which depicts the Last Supper, seems to have been a workshop production. It was probably stolen during the French occupation of Perugia in 1797. It turned up in a private collection in Frankfurt in 1833, when it was sold to the Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Gonfalon of the Madonna della Giustizia (1496)

Recently discovered documentation records that the Confraternita di San Bernardino made a payment to Perugino in 1496 for the painting of a processional banner, for which the confraternity received a donation from the Commune. This banner would have been kept in the Oratorio della Confraternita di San Bernardino near Porta Eburnea until 1537, when the confraternity merged with the Confraternita di Sant’ Andrea and moved to the Oratorio di SS Andrea e Bernardino. The banner was moved to the gallery in 1879.

The usual name given to the work derives from the fact that it was, for a period, confused with a second banner (now lost) that the Confraternita di Sant’ Andrea (which was also known as the Confraternita della Giustizia) commissioned in 1501.

The banner depicts the Madonna and Child on a cloud with angels, with SS Francis and Bernardino kneeling in a meadow below. St Francis commends to the Virgin a group that includes the priors and their families as well as members of the confraternity. The road behind them leads to Porta Eburnea and the buildings of Colle Landone that were subsequently demolished.

Gonfalon della Consolazione (1496-8)

The Confraternita della Consolazione commissioned this banner from Perugino, using a series of subventions from the Commune. When not in use for processions, the banner adorned the altar of their oratory in the crypt of Santa Maria Novella (later known as San Benedetto dei Condotti). However, this was considered to be an unsuitable location for such a prestigious work of art and, in 1500, they built a new oratory, the Oratorio di Santa Maria della Consolazione in what is now Corso Garibaldi to house it.

When the confraternity was suppressed in 1797, one of its members hid the banner in his home in order to avoid confiscation by the French. The confraternity re-opened and merged with the Confraternita di San Pietro Martire in 1801, and the banner was moved to their oratory (see Walk IV) . It entered the gallery in 1863.

The banner, which has been recently restored, depicts the Madonna and Child seated in a rural landscape and flanked by a pair of praying angels, with members of the confraternity kneeling to the sides.

Room 23

Madonna della Cucina (ca. 1515)

This fresco of the Madonna and Child enthroned with SS Herculanus and Constantius, which is generally accepted as a late work by Perugino or his workshop, came from the kitchen (cucina) of the Palazzo dei Priori. It was detached in the 19th century and moved to other locations in the palace before passing to the Accademia di Belle Arti and then, in 1861, to the gallery. It was restored in 1947.

St John the Baptist Altarpiece (ca 1510)

Giorgio Vasari saw this altarpiece by Perugino on an altar in San Francesco al Prato that was presumably dedicated to St John the Baptist. Although it was listed among works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, it was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church. It entered the gallery in 1863.

The panel depicts St John the Baptist standing in a landscape, flanked by SS Francis, Jerome, Sebastian and Antony of Padua. The figure of St Sebastian is curiously dressed and has been adapted, somewhat opportunistically, from a cartoon used in Perugino's frescoes (ca. 1500) in the Collegio di Cambio. Two other stylistic considerations provide circumstantial evidence for the dating to ca. 1510:

The composition, and in particular the figures of SS Francis and Jerome seem to derive from the Madonna di Loreto (1507), which Perugino painted for Santa Maria dei Servi (and now in the National Gallery, London).

Mariano d’ Antonio used the figure of St John the Baptist in the altar frontal (1512) that he painted for the Cappella di San Giovanni Battista of the Collegio di Cambio.

St Jerome (16th century)

The earliest surviving reference to this panel, in which it is attributed to Perugino, dates to 1784, when it was in the sacristy of Sant' Ercolano. It passed to the Compagnia di San Martino in 1836 and entered the gallery in 1863.

St Jerome is depicted as a hermit, kneeling in contemplation of a Crucifix, with a stone in his hand and his lion and cardinal’s hat on the ground nearby. The figure is set in a rural landscape.

Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1504)

The frescoed lunette, which is attributed to Perugino, came from the Cappella della Natività at the Convento di Monte Ripido. This was one of two chapels that the friars built in 1498-9 in the cloister facing the facade of their church. The arms of Ercolani family of Panicale were sculpted in relief on one of the pilasters of the chapel, and they probably commissioned the fresco along with two others (of the annunciation to the shepherds and the adoration of the Magi) in the lunettes of the chapel walls. The three frescoes were detached in 1856 but the other two were subsequently lost.

The composition of the surviving fresco is related to two other frescoes of this subject:

the fresco (1496-1500) in the Collegio del Cambio; and

the fresco (1503) in San Francesco, Montefalco.

It was probably painted shortly afterwards.

In the fresco, the baby Jesus lies on the ground, adored by the Virgin and St Joseph and four kneeling shepherds. The fresco, which is badly damaged, was restored as far as possible in 1994.

Monte Ripido Altarpiece (1503-4)

The friars of the Convento di Monte Ripido commissioned this double-sided altarpiece from Perugino to complement a polychrome wooden Crucifix (ca. 1460) attributed to Giovanni Tedesco that already decorated the high altar.

On the side facing the friars in the choir, mourning figures of the Virgin, SS Mary Magdalene, John the Evangelist and Francis and angels were painted to form the backdrop to the Crucifix.

On the side facing the congregation, the Apostles witness the Coronation of the Virgin, which takes place in a mandorla supported by angels.

There was also a predella, subsequently lost, that included representations of SS Bernardino da Siena and Bernardino da Feltre.

Agostino Tofanelli selected the altarpiece for the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812. It was returned to Perugia in 1817 and ceremonially translated to its original position on the high altar in 1822. It entered the gallery in 1863 and was restored in 1994.

Transfiguration (1517)

Adriana Signorelli commissioned this altarpiece from Perugino for the chapel in Santa Maria dei Servi in which her husband, Francesco di Bartolomeo Graziani had been buried some three years earlier. The Servites took it to Santa Maria Nuova when they moved there in 1540. Adriana left further money in her will of 1544 for the restoration of the altarpiece, which had been struck by lightening, and her brother Panfilo paid for this work in the following year. The panel entered the gallery in 1863.

The panel is based on the fresco (1496-1500) of the Transfiguration that Perugino had painted in the Collegio del Cambio, with the addition of a rural landscape and a mandorla of seraphim around the transfigured Christ.

Three small panels (the Annunciation; the Nativity; and the Baptism of Christ), which also came from Santa Maria Nuova in 1863 and are separately exhibited in this room, seem to have belonged to the predella of this altarpiece. It is possible that there were originally one or two others that have been lost.

Room 24

Santa Maria dei Fossi Altarpiece (1496)

This altarpiece was executed for the high altar of Santa Maria degli Angeli (or dei Fossi) in compliance with the will of Melchiorre di Goro. In 1492, his heirs commissioned Mattia di Tommaso da Reggio to build the frame of the altarpiece in accordance with a design provided by the Prior. By 1495, this altarpiece, with its panels still unpainted, was in place on the high altar.

The original legacy had turned out to be insufficient for the canons to proceed with the commission, and they were forced to find other means of raising the necessary money. It seems that Pinturicchio had been associated with the project for some time, and that he had designed the frame and probably planned the composition. However, it was only in 1495 that funds were in place to support a formal contract. This altarpiece seems to have been his first commission after Pinturicchio's return to Umbria from his successful sojourn in Rome, where he had worked for Pope Alexander VI.

This was the most important commission that Pinturicchio ever received in his native Perugia, and it received extraordinary acclaim when it was unveiled. It was influential with other contemporary artists, including the young Raphael. It was still in situ in 1732 but had been dismembered by 1784, when its components were in the choir. The panels escaped the Napoleonic expropriations and were reconstituted in the original frame in 1863, when the Galleria Nazionale was instituted.

The contract specified the iconography of the altarpiece, which was to tell the story of the incarnation of Christ as a prelude to the redemption of mankind. Pinturicchio was faithful to this theme:

Small panels flanking the upper part of the central panel depict the figures of the Annunciation.

The central panel depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned with the young St John the Baptist, who hands a reed Cross to the baby Jesus as a sign of His fate. Christ holds a pomegranate, the symbol of redemption. The inscription underneath reads: “O holy child [i.e. St John], give this cross to the Child. You will not carry it to God on behalf of the world; there will be another”. The throne is lavishly decorated and set in a landscape.

The central predella panel, which depicted the baptism of Christ, was lost in the 18th century when the polyptych was dismembered (see below).

The panel in the top register depicts the Pietà, with angels holding the arms of the dead Christ, revealing His wounded hands. The inscription below, which may not be original, translates: “Look, O mortal, by what blood you have been redeemed. Make sure that it has not been shed in vain”.

Two of the doctors of the church are shown in meditation in the main side panels:

The presence of St Jerome was specified in the will of Melchiorre di Goro. He is dressed as a cardinal, is accompanied by his lion, and carries a model of a centrally-planned church with a portico. This church, which is repeated in the landscape to the left of the throne, does not seem to represent Santa Maria degli Angeli but might have represented the Pantheon, Rome. In the predella panel below, St Jerome is shown as a hermit in the dessert, contemplating the Crucifixion.

St Augustine, the founder of the order to which the canons of Santa Maria degli Angeli belonged, carries an apple as a symbol of redemption. In the predella panel below, he speaks to a child who is trying to pour the sea, cup by cup, into a hole in the sand. The story goes that, when St Augustine asked her how she could hope to succeed in this immense task, she asked him how he could hope to understand the mystery of Christ’s incarnation.

Only the predella differed from the terms of the original contract, which had specified the presence of 18 figures that included Pope Alexander VI and four saints: SS Ubald (the patron saint of Gubbio); Bernard (probably St Bernard of Rodez since he was to be dressed as a regular canon); Joseph; and “Dignamerita”. It is not clear that these panels were ever painted. (If the representation of Pope Alexander VI had been included, it would have been politically expedient to remove it in 1503, when he died and when Gianpaolo Baglioni retook Perugia from his son, Cesare Borgia).

Gonfalone di Sant'Agostino (1499)

The Confraternita di Sant’ Agostino commissioned this silk banner from Pinturicchio for the Oratorio di Sant'Agostino. It later passed into the ownership of Silvestro Friggeri Boldrini, and he donated it to the Accademia di Belle Arte in 1868.

The banner depicts St Augustine enthroned with three kneeling figures of members of the flagellant confraternity.

Baby Jesus (ca. 1492)

This recently discovered fragment of a fresco attributed to Pinturicchio seems to have come a work described by Giorgi Vasari: “ Over the door of [the Borgia Apartment in the Vatican, Pinturicchio] portrayed the Signora Giulia Farnese [the mistress of Pope Alexander VI] in the countenance of the Madonna and, in the same picture, portrayed the head of Pope Alexander in a figure adoring her”.

The fragment belongs to the Fondazione Guglielmo Giordano and is on loan to the gallery.

Mystic Marriage of St Catherine (1498)

This damaged fresco is one of three that were detached in 1878 from the parish church of San Nicolò (later San Giorgio dei Tessitori) just before the church was demolished to make way for the Istituto di Pena Maschile. The frescoes are dated by inscription and attributed to Fiorenzo di Lorenzo.

The fresco exhibited here depicts the mystic marriage of St Catherine, with St Nicholas of Bari. The others from the series, which are in the deposit of the gallery, depict:

the Nativity, in which the new born baby Jesus lies naked in a meadow in front of the stable, venerated by the kneeling Virgin and St Joseph; and

figures of SS Sebastian, Francis and John the Baptist.

Room 25

Panels from the Sant' Agostino Polyptych (1502-23)

Mattia di Tommaso da Reggio built the frame for this huge, double-sided altarpiece for the high altar of Sant’ Agostino in 1495 -1500. Its design seems to have been based on that of Pinturicchio’s Santa Maria dei Fossi Altarpiece (see Room 24 above).

Perugino was commissioned in 1502 to paint some 30 panels for the polyptych. Progress was slow and the friars resorted to litigation, before renewing Perugino’s contract in 1512. They returned to the fray again in 1520, pressing him to complete his work by 1521. It must have been largely complete by the time of his death in 1523 because his executors requested final payment. (As part of this final payment, the friars promised to move Perugino’s body from the Oratorio dell’ Annunziata, Fontignano to Sant’ Agostino, but this promise was never honoured.)

The altarpiece was dismantled in 1654 and displayed in various locations in the church. They ended up in a store room as part of the restoration of the 1794.

Napoleon's commissioner, Jacques-Pierre Tinet selected seven of the panels for confiscation in 1797, and they were subsequently dispersed (see below).

The remainder were moved to the gallery in 1863.

The restoration of the panels in the gallery in 1997 allowed their original locations and the sequence in which they were painted to be established:

The twelve panels in the double-sided predella were integral to the structure of the frame, and they were probably in place by 1512. Since Perugino had been away from Perugia for most of the period 1502-12, these panels were probably largely the work of his workshop.

The panels that formed the central register of the side of the altarpiece facing the nave seem to have been painted and installed soon after 1512.

The panels that formed the central register of the side of the altarpiece facing the friars’ choir seem to have been painted and installed over an extended period that probably culminated in ca. 1520.

The last substantial panels to be painted seem to have been those of the two upper registers.

The main panels from the side of the polyptych facing the congregation were:

God the Father (in the top register, exhibited here);

SS Philip and Augustine (now in the Musée des Augustins, Toulouse),

with the Archangel Gabriel (exhibited here) above;

the Baptism of Christ (the main panel, exhibited here); and

SS Herculanus and James (now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon).

A panel of the Virgin Annunciate that was the pendant to the Archangel Gabriel was among those taken to France in 1797, but was subsequently lost.

The main panels from the side of the polyptych facing the friars were:

the Pietà (taken to France in 1797 and returned to Perugia in 1816, when it was given to the monks of of San Pietro);

SS Mary Magdalene and Jerome (exhibited here),

with St Bartholomew above (now in the Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama).

the Adoration of the Shepherds (the main panel, exhibited here); and

SS Sebastian and Irene (now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Grenoble),

with a young saint (possibly St Martin of Tours) with a sword above (now in the Louvre, Paris).

The twelve predella panels are now in the gallery, although only two are displayed (see Room 26).

Room 26

Flagellation of Christ (ca. 1480s)

This important bronze relief, which probably came from Urbino, is attributed to Francesco di Giorgio Martini, not only on stylistic grounds but also because the architectural background of the composition echoes buildings that this versatile artist designed in Urbino for Duke Federico da Montefeltro. Count Demetrius Bourtourlin gave it to the city between 1872 and 1875.

Martini drew on earlier works by Donatello for the technique used for the background, in which the surrounding buildings are “sketched” in shallow relief. The main action occurs in the middle ground, where Christ is whipped before Pilate. Two other prisoners sit on the steps in the foreground, apprehensively waiting their turn to be whipped, while the Virgin and her women (on the left) and St John the Evangelist (on the right) sorrowfully witness the scene.

Predella Panels from the Sant' Agostino Polyptych (1502-23)

These two (of the original twelve) predella panels from Perugino’s Sant’ Agostino Polyptych (see Room 25) depict:

the presentation of Jesus at the Temple, and

the wedding at Cana.

Room 27

San Girolamo Altarpiece (ca. 1510)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Giovan Battista Caporali, was recorded on the high altar of San Girolamo in the 17th century. Agostino Tofanelli, the director of the Musei Capitolini selected it for dispatch to Rome in 1811, probably on the basis of an attribution to Perugino. It was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church. It was moved to the back wall of the apse in 1822 and entered the gallery in 1863.

The altarpiece depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned, with two flying angels and the heads of three cherubs above. The scene is set in a landscape, with SS Francis and John the Baptist to the left and SS Jerome and Antony of Padua to the right. The document on the steps below the throne contains the lyric of a popular Marian hymn.

Predella Panel (ca. 1513)

This recently discovered predella panel, which is attributed to Berto di Giovanni, seems to have belonged to the altarpiece of SS Antony Abbot, Francis and Bernardino of Siena (1513). This altarpiece (now in the deposit of the gallery) was commissioned from Eusebio da San Giorgio in 1513 for San Francesco al Prato according to the will of Carlo Berardelli.

The predella panel depicts the Pietà with St Mary Magdalene and a female martyr in tondi.

St John the Evangelist Altarpiece (ca. 1518)

This altarpiece, which is attributed to Berto di Giovanni, was first recorded in 1683 on an altar on the left wall of Santa Giuliana. Agostino Tofanelli, the Director of the Musei Capitolini too the main panel to Rome in 1811. It remained there until ca. 1822, when it was reunited with the other panels in the church. They entered the gallery in 1863.

The panels depict:

St John the Evangelist writing his gospel on the island of Patmos (the main panel)
God the Father (the lunette panel); and

scenes from the life of St John the Evangelist (the predella panels).

Madonna del Libro (ca. 1510)

This altarpiece by a follower of Raphael was recorded in the sacristy of Santa Maria della Misercordia in the 18th century, and was donated to the gallery in 1863. The composition, which is based on Raphael’s Conestabile Madonna (now in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg), depicts the half-length Madonna and Child set in a landscape. The Madonna holds a book that the baby Jesus reads.

Adoration of the Magi (1505)

Giorgio Vasari recorded this altarpiece, which he attributed to Eusebio da San Giorgio, in Sant’ Agostino. Later authors added that it in the Cappella degli Oddi there. Vasari's attribution is generally accepted, although it is sometimes given to Eusebio da San Giorgio and a collaborator. The inscription on the hem of the Virgin’s gown records the date. The predella of the altarpiece was lost in 1863, when the main panel was moved to the gallery.

The present frame, which is dated by inscription to 1490, originally belonged to another altarpiece that was probably in a Franciscan church.

Copy (1609) of Raphael’s Baglioni Deposition

A lost inscription records the fact that Atalanta Baglioni commissioned the original altarpiece from Raphael in 1507. Giorgio Vasari records that Raphael made the cartoon in Florence and then returned to Perugia to paint the altarpiece in Atalanta' chapel, the Cappella di San Matteo in San Francesco al Prato. The commission, which had been made in ca. 1505, was almost certainly related to the murder of Atalanta's son, Grifonetto in 1500.

The main panel (which was the only one described by Vasari) depicts the transfer of the body of Christ to the sepulchre. The Franciscans somewhat controversially sold it to Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1608. (The French took it from Rome to Paris in 1797, but it was subsequently returned to the Galleria Borghese). Cardinal Borghese promised to send a copy to Perugia, and made a payment to Giovanni Lanfranco for the work. However, the copy that he actually sent to Perugia in 1609 (along with five silver lamps by way of additional compensation) is attributed to the Cavalier d' Arpino.

The copy was recorded in 1784 in San Franceso al Prato, probably in the original frame, with the original predella (now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome) and a copy of the original upper panel (see below). Although it was listed among works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, it was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church. It entered the gallery in 1863.

Copy (ca. 1608) of Raphael’s God the Father

This seems to be a copy of the upper panel of the altarpiece (1507) that Raphael painted for Atalanta Baglioni (see above), and to be based on a preparatory design by Raphael that is now in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Lille.

The fate of the original, which might have been executed to Raphael’s design by Domenico Alfani or another follower, is unknown. (Domenico Alfani was associated in some way with the commission: a note that Raphael addressed to him on the back of a sketch (ca. 1507) of the Holy Family that is now in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Lille asks him (among other things) to obtain payment on his behalf from Atalanta Baglioni).

The copy, which is attributed to Stefano Amadei, was recorded in 1784 in San Francesco al Prato, probably in the original frame, with the copy of the main panel by the Cavalier d’ Arpino (see above) and the original predella. The predella was taken to France in 1787, at which point the original frame was probably dismembered. The copy of the upper panel was recorded again in 1822, when it was mounted above a panel by Domenico Alfani (see below), with part of the original frame (exhibited in this room) acting as a predella. It entered the gallery in 1863.

Scenes from the life of the Virgin (1525)

The nuns of Santa Maria di Monteluce commissioned these six predella panels from Berto di Giovanni in 1505 at the same time that they commissioned Raphael to paint the main panel of the Coronation of the Virgin. In 1516, the nuns sent Berto di Giovanni (who seems to have represented Raphael’s interests in Perugia) to Rome to press Raphael to begin work, and the contract was duly renegotiated. Berto provided a carpenter in 1518 to make the frame and a "cassa” (probably a cover that would protect the altarpiece when it was not in use).

However, the execution of the panels was still outstanding when Raphael died in 1520. Giulio Romano took over Raphael's responsibilities under the contract and duly produced a panel of the Coronation of the Virgin (1523-5). This panel and the six predella panels by Berto di Giovanni were finally installed on the high altar in 1525.

The altarpiece was dismantled in 1750.

The main panel was installed in a new frame on the back wall of the tribune and remained there until 1797, when it was taken to France. It was returned to Italy in 1815 and is now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome.
The predella panels were moved to the sacristy in 1750. Agostino Tofanelli moved them to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812. Two of them (depicting SS Francis and Clare) were subsequently lost. The other four were returned to the church in 1817 and moved to the gallery in 1863.

The surviving predella panels depict the birth, presentation, marriage and death of the Virgin.

Room 28

Sant' Agnese Altarpiece (1517)

This altarpiece, which is dated by inscription, is attributed to Berto di Giovanni. It was first recorded in 1801, when the nuns of Sant’ Agnese gave its main panel to those of Santa Maria di Monteluce in return for the hospitality given to them after their suppression in 1798.

This main panel, which depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with SS Peter, John the Baptist and Jerome on the left and SS Francis, Paul and Herculanus on the right, was then installed it on the high altar of Santa Maria di Monteluce, where it replaced the panel on the same subject that had been confiscated in 1797 (see above). It was listed among works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, but it was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church. It was moved to the gallery in 1863.

The smaller panels from the altarpiece remained in Sant’ Agnese, although some were moved to the Accademia di Belle Arti in 1810. Eight of them entered the gallery in 1863 and are now displayed together but separately from the main panel.

The original disposition of the smaller panels is unknown, and there might have been others that have been lost:

Four in the format of vertical rectangles that probably came from the pilasters of the frame depict:

SS Cosmas and Damian;

St Bernardino of Siena preaching;

St Clare; and

St Louis of France.

Four in the format of horizontal rectangles that probably came from the predella depict:

the adoration of the shepherds;

the adoration of the Magi;

the Last Supper; and

the Pietà.

Predella panels from the Santi Quattro Coronati Altarpiece (1506-12)

The “Maestri Lombardi di Pietra e Legname” (the guild of Lombard stone masons and carpenters) commissioned this altarpiece from Giannicola di Paolo for the Cappella dei Lombardi in Santa Maria dei Servi in 1506. It was installed in 1512 and moved to their new chapel in Santa Maria Nuova in 1540.

Dominique-Vivant Denon, the Director of the Musée Napoleon, selected the main panel for confiscation after the Napoleonic suppression of 1810 and it remains in what is now the Louvre, Paris.

The predella panels, which remained in Perugia and subsequently passed to the Accademia di Belle Arti, depict:

SS Herculanus and Constantius;

three scenes from the martyrdom of the “quattro coronati”; and

SS Bernardino and Sebastian.

Panels from a polyptych (ca. 1510)

These two damaged panels, which are attributed to Giannicola di Paolo, were first recorded in the 19th century in San Domenico. They entered the gallery in 1863. The panels depict:

St John the Evangelist and the Virgin; and

SS Mary Magdalene and Sebastian.

All the figures are grieving, so they probably flanked a Crucifixion or perhaps a Pietà.

Blessed Colomba da Rieti (ca. 1505)

This panel, which is attributed to Giannicola di Paolo, was painted soon after the death of the Blessed Colomba and was probably placed over the altar in San Domenico that housed her relics. It was subsequently moved to the adjacent convent and entered the gallery in 1863. There is a copy (18th century) of this panel in the Cappella della Beata Colomba (the 1st on the right) in San Domenico.

The panel depicts the Blessed Colomba standing on a terrace set in a landscape. She holds a dove, a rosary, a small wooden cross and a lily. The hand of Jesus appears in the top right hand corner, offering her the Host. The inscription along the bottom that identifies her seems to be a later addition.

Pala dell’ Ognissanti (1506-7)

This altarpiece (of All Saints) by Giannicola di Paolo was commissioned for a chapel in San Domenico according to the terms of the will (1493) of Margherita della Corgna, the wife of Baglione di Ugolino dei Montevibiani. Giorgio Vasari recorded it in situ in the 16th century.

Although the altarpiece was listed among the works to be sent to the Musei Capitolini, Rome in 1812, it was subsequently decided that it should remain in the church. It entered the Accademia di Belle Arti in 1810.

In the upper part of the altarpiece, Christ appears in glory in a mandorla between the Virgin and St John the Baptist, with pairs of musical angels to the sides. A number of saints witness the scene from below: those that can be identified include SS Jerome, Nicholas of Bari, John the Evangelist, Paul, Peter, Sebastian, Peter Martyr, Stephen, Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalene.