Works of Art Removed from
San Francesco al Prato
The original floor plan of San Francesco al Prato was similar to that of the upper church of San Francesco, Assisi: i.e. it was in the form of a Latin cross, with a nave, transepts and a polygonal apse. Modern scholarship has revealed that the friars at Perugia also followed the liturgical practice of the mother church in Assisi, which required the high altar to be placed at the junction of the nave and the transepts. This suggests that the high altar was double-sided:
one side served the friars in a retro-choir in the apse and crossing ; and
the other side served the congregation in the nave.
Panels from a polyptych (ca. 1272)
Six panels in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 1a) and another four that survive in
other galleries constitute less than half those that originally
belonged to a double-sided polyptych from San Francesco al Prato. This
polyptych, which is the first double-sided altarpiece of which we are
aware and which is attributed to the Maestro di San Francesco, almost certainly stood in a monumental frame on the high altar. (It would not have
constituted a complete barrier between
the two parts of the church, but it would have shielded the consecrated
host on one side of the altar from any activity underway on the
other).
The polyptych was replaced in 1403 (see below) and
subsequently dismembered. Five of the panels found their way to the gallery in the decades up to 1932, while a sixth (of St Peter) was acquired by the gallery in 2001.
Crucifix with St Francis (1272)
This large painted Crucifix, which is the only dated work that is attributed to the Maestro di San Francesco, almost certainly hung above the high altar. It was moved to the adjacent Oratorio di San Bernardino in 1737, when the church suffered subsidence. It entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 1a) in 1863.
Frescoes (14th century)
These frescoes, which are the autograph works of the so-called Maestro di San Francesco al Prato (not to be confused with the Maestro di San Francesco - see above) were re-discovered in the crypt in 1888 and detached in the period 1921-33. They depict:
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the Crucifixion with Franciscan saints (originally on the wall behind the altar); and
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the marriage and the dormition of the Virgin (originally in niches to the sides.
The Crucifixion is now in the deposit of the Galleria Nazionale while the other frescoes are exhibited in Room 1.
Double-Sided Altarpiece (1403)
This polyptych, which was signed by Taddeo di Bartolo di Mino
and dated, replaced the original on the high altar. Like its
predecessor, it was double-sided. However, it was much taller, and
would have almost completely separated the friars in the retro-choir
from the congregation in the nave. This
polyptych was probably removed from the high altar and dismantled
in 1536, the date at which the altar itself was moved backwards into
the apse and re-consecrated.
The individual panels were subsequently transferred to the sacristy before their dispersal. They were subsequently split into the 42 individual images. Most of the main panels entered the the Accademia di Belle Arti in 1810 and passed to the Galleria Nazionale (Room 5) in 1863.
Altarpiece of the Blessed Giles (ca. 1439)
This altarpiece, which is attributed to Mariano d’ Antonio, was commissioned in ca. 1439 as part of the renovation of the shrine of the Blessed Giles.
During this renovation, the sarcophagus was placed under an altar in
the left transept, for which this altarpiece was commissioned.
(According to tradition, it was painted on the wooden panel upon which
Giles’ body had been carried from his hermitage on the site that later
became the Convento di Monteripido to San Francesco al Prato). The altarpiece was moved to the sacristy in ca. 1513 and is now in the deposit of the Galleria Nazionale.
Panels from a polyptych (ca. 1455)
These six panels, which were first recorded in 1810 when they were transferred from the church to the Accademia di Belle Arti , are attributed to Mariano d’ Antonio. They are now in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 7).
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Four of the panels, which depict miracles of St Antony of Padua, probably came from the predella of a polyptych; and
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the other two, which depict SS John the Baptist and Bernardino of Siena, probaly came from the pilasters.
Scenes of the Passion (ca. 1455)
Two of these three small panels, which are attributed to Mariano d’ Antonio, were moved from the sacristy to the
Accademia di Belle Arti in 1810 and the second was acquired in the
market in 1865. These panels, which are now in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 18), probably came from the predella of an altarpiece in the church.
Madonna and Child (ca. 1460)
This originally polychrome terracotta statue of a half-length Madonna
holding a standing, animated figure of the baby Jesus is attributed to Agostino di Duccio.
According to a late 19th century record, it originally occupied a niche
on the facade, although there is no mention of it there in descriptions
of the church.
The statue, which was probably executed while Agostino di Duccio was at work on the facade (1457-26) of the adjacent Oratorio di San Bernardino, passed to the Museo Civico at an uncertain date and entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 11) in 1910.
Gonfalon di San Francesco al Prato (1464)
The Commune commissioned this banner, which is attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli, during an outbreak of plague in 1464. It was credited with miraculous powers, and became the object of a cult dedicated to Santa Maria della Pace. As the outbreak subsided, the Commune sent ambassadors to the newly elected Pope Paul II to seek (among other things) the granting of an indulgence for those attending further occasions on which the banner was used in processions during outbreaks of disease.
The friars of San Francesco
al Prato were closely involved with these moves, following which they
instituted a lay confraternity to officiate at the cult. This
confraternity built the Cappella del Gonfalone against the facade of the church, and
the banner was housed in a tabernacle over its altar. In 1923, the banner was
transferred from this chapel (prior to its demolition) to the Cappella
degli Oddi, the chapel that abuts the left transept of the church,
which offered direct public access. It was moved to the Oratorio di San Bernardino in 1996.
Angels offering roses (ca. 1464)
Each of these four panels, which are attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli, depicts two angels bearing baskets of roses. The panels entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 14) as two pairs:
One pair came from the Oratorio di SS Andrea e Bernardino in 1863.
The other pair came from the Cappella del Gonfalone in 1909, the year in which the chapel was closed.
Modern
scholarship has determined that the panels were originally arranged in
pairs, one above the other, and that they probably decorated two sides
of a tabernacle. All of the angels would have looked inwards towards
whatever was housed in the tabernacle: the presence of two of the
panels in the Cappella del Gonfalone suggests that this was probably
the Gonfalon di San Francesco al Prato (see above).
Angels with instruments of the Passion (15th century)
These four panels, each of which depicts depicts a pair of angels holding instruments of the Passion of Christ, have recently been attributed to Benedetto Bonfigli. They were transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 as two pairs:
They probably came originally from a niche in the church that housed a Crucifix or a statue of the Pietà. They are now very damaged and kept in the deposit of the Galleria Nazionale.
Madonna and Child and SS Francis and Jerome (late 1460s)
These three panels from a triptych, which are attributed to Giovanni Francesco da Rimini, were documented in the late 18th century in the sacristy. The inscription on the base of the Madonna's throne identifies the commissioner as Luca Alberto di Francesco. The panels are now in the Galleria Nazionale (Room 12).Miracles of St Bernardino (1473)
These eight panels, which are dated by inscription, were first recorded in 1784 in the sacristy of San Francesco al Prato. They were then attributed to Pisanello
and said to have come from a niche that had housed a statue of St
Bernardino. The scenes depicted were derived from the “Lo Specchio de
l’ Ordine Minore”
(otherwise known as La Franceschina), which was published by the
Observant Franciscan Giacomo Oddi
in 1474.
The panels were removed from Perugia after the Napoleonic suppression 0f 1810:
- Dominique-Vivant Denon, the Director of the Musée Napoleon (later the Musée du Louvre) selected two of them (marked ** below), and they were duly shipped to Paris. Antonio Canova recovered them in 1815.
Agostino Tofanelli, the Director of the Museo Capitolino, took the other six to Rome.
These panels are the earliest surviving works in Perugia that fully reflect the aesthetic of Renaissance Florence and of the courts at Urbino and Rimini, and it is extremely surprising that works of such importance went unrecorded for so long. The error in attributing them to an artist as early as Pisanello (died 1455) was first noted at about the time that they were returned to Perugia. They were then recognised to be the work of at least four different painters, although clearly conceived as part of a coherent program. The identities proposed for this so-called Workshop of 1473 have varied over time: the attributions currently proposed by the gallery are Perugino, Pinturicchio, Sante di Apollonio and Pierantonio di Nicolò del Pocciolo.
Candidates for the original location of the niche include:
- San Franceso al Prato:
- the Oratorio di San Bernardino; and
- the Cappella di San Bernardino in the Duomo.
Niche from San Francesco al Prato (1487)
An inventory of 1737 (just before the remodelling of the churchin 1740-8) recorded this niche on the right wall of the church. At that time, it housed a statue of St Francis. The polygonal niche, which contains an inscription that refers to St Francis as a venerated servant of the Church, is surrounded by painted panels inside a larger Renaissance frame. These panels are signed by Fiorenzo di Lorenzo and dated.
The components of this niche (but not the statue) were recorded in the sacristy in the late 18th century, and they were reassembled in 1863 after they had been moved to the Galleria Nazionale (Room 15/16).
Resurrection of Christ (1499)
Bernardo di Giovanni da Corneto commissioned this altarpiece from Perugino for his chapel. It was one of three in Perugia that were earmarked for confiscation by the French under the Treaty of Tolentino (1797). Antonio Canova recovered it in 1815, but it remained in Rome.
For the last forty years, the altarpiece has been housed in the Pope's private library. However, it was exhibited in the Museo Vaticano for a short period in 2004 after its latest restoration and is illustrated on a number of websites that relate to that event.
Pala Oddi (ca. 1503)
Giorgio Vasari reported that Maddalena
(the daughter of Guido degli Oddi) commissioned this altarpiece from Raphael for the Cappella degli Oddi. Her sister-in-law Alessandra (the daughter of Braccio Baglioni) is recorded as its owner in 1512, and
she may well have been associated with the original commission. Her
husband (and Maddalena's brother) Simone degli Oddi had died in 1498,
and one or both of the women probably commissioned the altarpiece in
his memory.
The altarpiece is generally accepted to have been painted early in Raphael's career: its commission might have coincided with the short period in 1503 during which the Oddi exiles were allowed back into Perugia under the protection of Cesare Borgia, although it is possible that the female members of the family remained in Perugia during the exile of their men.
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| Cappella Oddi between the left transept and the left wall of the church |
The Cappella degli Oddil comprises two connected rooms and originally had an altar in each:
the Altare dell' Assunta in the outer room; and
the Altare della Santissima Trinità in the inner room.
The altarpiece was originally in the former, but a document dated 1640 records that it had by this time been moved to the latter, where it received more light. It was one of three in Perugia that were earmarked for confiscation by the French under the Treaty of Tolentino (1797). Antonio Canova recovered it in 1815, when it was secured for the the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome.
Pala Baglioni (1507)
A lost inscription records the fact that Atalanta Baglioni
commissioned this altarpiece from Raphaelin 1507 for the Cappella di San
Matteo (which was directly opposite the Cappella degli Oddi). Giorgio Vasari
records that Raphael made the cartoon in Florence and then returned to
Perugia to paint the altarpiece (which is signed and dated) 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 of the altarpiece depicts the transfer of the body of
Christ to the sepulchre. Two men carry the body on a sheet, one near
His head and the other near His feet. The second of these is
particularly prominent and might by a portrait of Grifonetto.
The Franciscans somewhat controversially sold the main panel of the altarpiece to Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1608, having moved it first to the sacristy because the Cappella di San Matteo was subsiding. The French took it from Rome to Paris in 1797, but it was subsequently returned Italy. It is now in the Galleria Borghese, Rome.
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 (see below).
The subject of the upper panel of the altarpiece is known only:
from a preparatory design by Raphael in the Palais des Beaux Arts, Lille; and
from what seems to be a copy (early 17th century) that is attributed to Stefano Amadei (see below).
Both of these depict the figure of God the father, who would have looked down across the intervening frame at the face of His dead son. The fate of the original (which might have been executed to Raphael's design by Domenico Alfani) is unknown.
These two copies were recorded in 1784 in the crossing of San Franceso al Prato, probably in the original frame and with the original predella panels in grisaille that depict personifications of Hope, Charity and Faith. Napoleon's commissioner, Jacques-Pierre Tinet selected the predella panels for confiscation in 1797. Antonio Canova recovered them in 1815, when they were secured for the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome.
The
original frame was probably dismembered in 1787, when the predella
panels were removed. The copy of the upper panel was recorded again in
1822, when it was mounted above a panel of the Nativity with St Anne
(1536) by Domenico Alfani
(see below), with part of the original frame acting as a predella.
Both of the copies and the surviving part of the original frame were
moved to the Galleria Nazionale (Room 27) in 1863.
St John the Baptist Altarpiece (ca 1510)
Giorgio Vasari saw this altarpiece by Perugino on an altar in the church 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 Galleria Nazionale (Room 23) in
1863.
SS Antony Abbot, Francis and Bernardino (ca. 1513)
This altarpiece seems to have been commissioned from Eusebio da San Giorgio in 1513 according to the will of Carlo Berardelli. It passed to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now in the deposit there. A recently discovered predella panel attributed to Berto di Giovanni that is now exhibited in the gallery (Room 27) seems to have belonged to this altarpiece.
Martyrdom of St Sebastian (1518)
Giuliano and Sinibaldo Martinello commissioned this altarpiece from Perugino in 1505 for their family chapel. It was not completed until 1518, the date inscribed on the base of the
column to which the saint is tied, and Perugino was forced to litigate
in 1520 to obtain the final payment.
The altarpiece was moved from its
original location at some time in the 16th century, and subsequently
suffered serious damage. It therefore escaped requisition by the
French. It was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now in the deposit there.
Crucifixion (ca. 1513)
This panel, which is attributed to Pompeo Cocchi, was originally in the Altare delle Crispolti in the left transept. The altar was dedicated to the Blessed Giles and
housed his sarcophagus. The
sarcophagus and the altarpiece were moved to another altar in the
transept after the rebuilding of the church in the 1730s.
Dominique-Vivant Denon, the Director of the Musée Napoleon, selected the altarpiece for confiscation after the Napoleonic suppression of 1810 on the basis of an attribution to Pinturicchio. (The present attribution was put forward in 1985). Antonio Canova was unable to recover it in 1815 because it had been moved to the private collection of the newly restored King Louis XVIII. It remains in what is now in the Louvre, Paris.
This panel depicts the Crucifixion with
two angels set in a landscape, with the Virgin, St John the Evangelist
and the Blessed Giles kneeling at the foot of the Cross.
Nativity with St Anne (1536)
This altarpiece was probably the work that Cardinal Francesco Armellini commissioned from Domenico Alfani in 1536. 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. The predella has been lost, but the main panel entered the Galleria Nazionale (Room 32) in 1863.
Madonna and Child with saints (ca. 1537)
This altarpiece is attributed to Domenico Alfani. Napoleon's commissioner, Jacques-Pierre Tinet selected it for confiscation in 1797. Antonio Canova recovered it in 1815 and it was returned to the church.
- The main panel was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now the deposit there.
- The predella, which does not seem to have been sent to France, has been lost.
Immaculate Conception (16th century)
This altarpiece, which is attributed to Dono Doni, was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1872 and is now the deposit there.
Last Judgement (16th century)
The Baldeschi family seem to have commissioned this altarpiece, which is attributed to Dono Doni, for their family chapel. It was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now the deposit there.
Mystical Marriage of St Catherine (ca. 1549)
This altarpiece by Orazio Alfani was recorded in the Cappella del Gonfalone in 1597. Dominique-Vivant Denon, the Director of the Musée Napoleon, selected it for confiscation after the Napoleonic suppression of 1810. Antonio Canova was unable to recover it in 1815 because it had been moved to the private collection of the newly restored King Louis XVIII. It is now in the Louvre, Paris.
Trinity with the Virgin and Saints (1553)
Sforza di Lionello degli Oddi commissioned this documented altarpiece from Vincenzo and Lattanzio Pagani and Tommaso Papacello for the Cappella degli Oddi. It was transferred to the Galleria Nazionale in 1863 and is now the deposit there.
Adoration of the Magi (1564)
Adriano di Nicola Montemelini commissioned this altarpiece, which is signed by Hendrik van den Broeck (called Arrigo Fiammingo da Malines) and dated, for his chapel in San Francesco al Prato. It was moved to the Duomo in 1813, returned to San Francesco in 1817 and passed to the Galleria Nazionale (Sala Podiani) in 1863.
Return to San Francesco al Prato.