|
Date : 1505
Sizes : 53 cm x 23 cm
Material : Oil on poplar
Acquisition : Purchase (1983)
| Item 19 on 18
Italian Painting
Painting
Area related
Perugia (Italy)
| |  | |
| Description |  |
The altarpiece's division into harmonious thirds is the result of careful geometrical planning. Surprisingly, however, the lofty vaulted architecture was an afterthought, added when the painting was well advanced. The brilliance of Raphael's solution was to create the illusion of a chapel-like space where none may have existed.
This is the only surviving scene from the predella of the Ansidei altarpiece (dated 1505) in the church of S. Fiorenzo, Perugia, which hangs nearby. It was placed beneath the image of Saint John in the main altarpiece, who is here shown in the same costume.
Saint John preaches to a throng of male listeners, several brilliantly characterized. His pointing gesture refers to Christ's coming but would also have indicated the identically dressed Baptist in the main panel of the altarpiece above.
| Item(s) related | |
|
