Works of Art Removed from

San Pietro

Double-sided altarpiece (1333)

The altarpiece by Meo da Siena, which is signed and dated, was painted for the high altar "in the time of Abbot Ugolino".  This was Ugolino di Nuccio da Montevibiano, who was abbot in the period 1330-57.

  • One side depicts the Madonna and Child enthroned with angels, flanked by saints whose relics the monastery possessed.  The donor, Abbot Ugolino is portrayed in his white Benedictine habit, portrayed kneeling at the foot of the throne . 

  • The other side depicts Christ enthroned, flanked by the twelve Apostles. 

The altarpiece was probably removed from the high altar in 1436.  Its two sides, which were separated in the 18th century, remained at San Pietro until the 1830s.  They are now in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt and one of them is illustrated in the institute's website.

San Pietro Polyptych (1495-1500)

The history of this huge polyptych from the high altar begins in 1483, when an Olivetan monk, Giovanni Domenico da Verona was commissioned to build the frame.  Perugino was commissioned in 1495 to paint the panels and to gild the frame.  The altarpiece was installed at some time before 1500, the year in which the high altar was re-consecrated.

The altarpiece was removed and dismantled in 1608, during the remodeling of the church.  From this time, the main panel of the Ascension was hung in the apse, and the other panels were distributed within the church. 

Napoleon's commissioner, Jacques-Pierre Tinet selected most of the panels (except five predella panels of saints that escaped his attention) for confiscation  in 1797, and they were sent to Paris.  They were subsequently dispersed:

  • The main panel of the Ascension of Christ was sent to Lyon in 1811 and is now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon.  It is and illustrated in the museum webite.

  • The lunette of God the Father with angels was installed in the Parisian church of St Gervais in 1811.  It was reunited with the main panel in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon in 1952.

  • Tondi of the prophets David and Isaiah, which possibly came from protective doors that covered the altarpiece, were sent to Nantes in 1809 and are now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Nantes.

  • The predella panels of the Adoration of the Magi, the Baptism of Christ and the Resurrection were sent to Rouen in 1803 and are now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Rouen).

  • Antonio Canova recovered the predella panels of SS Benedict, Placidus and Justina (the patron saint of the Cassinese Congregation) in 1815, when they were secured for the Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome.

Predella panels of SS Scolastica (the sister of St Benedict); Peter Vincioli (the founder of San Pietro); Maurus; Herculanus; and Constantius remained in San Pietro until 1811, when Agostino Tofanelli secured them for the Musei Capitolini, Rome.  They were returned to Perugia in 1815 and are now in the sacristy.

Panels attributed to Raphael

Two panels that were (somewhat dubiously) attributed to Raphael ,were confiscated from the church by the French in 1797 and subsequently lost.  They depicted:

  • the Pietà; and

  • the Madonna and Child with angels.

In recompense, they were given (in 1816) a panel of the Pietà by Perugino that is now on the altar of the 5th bay of left aisle.

Immaculate Conception (ca. 1650)

This panel by Giovanni Battista Salvi (Sassoferrato), which depicts the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, was in the left aisle of the church.  Dominique-Vivant Denon, the Director of the Musée Napoleon (later the Musée du Louvre) selected it for confiscation after the Napoleonic suppression of 1810, and it was duly shipped to Paris.  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 deposit of Musée Massey, Tarbes.

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